Correspondence (incoming): begging letters, Wi-Wo

bills. Oh my dear dear Lady help us I know it is much but you know how much good you will do with this. Oh help me borrow one 1000 dollars for one year. I pay it back to you. Oh do not say no, my last hope are you. In your last minute you feel that aur childrens all ways did pray for you and now can not say more thans count the days till your help can come. Oh my dear Lady I thank you thousand times in advance

Respectfully Mrs Sibilla Wolf 4338 Germantown Ave.

Charls H Fisk Esq Judge Jarns P Tarvin. Frank P. Helm

The first named is a lending lawyer here and author of a great book; the 2nd a Christian minister; the 3rd a distinguished lawyer; the 4th the Judge of our Kenton Circuit Court; the 5th, President of our First National Bank of Covington Kentucky.

But, you may ask, "How the aiding me would be "practical, helpful charity?" and I answer: because 1st It will enable me to become

self-supporting by the sale of my book all through the latter end of my life when I become too old and feeble from age to help myself.

2nd It would put before the general reading Public my books , the chief purpose, and dominating all pervading morale of which is instructive, and elevating by precept and example, to all classes, the sick and poor, but especially, the reading intelligent, worthy minded class, and inspire them with ambition and courage to help themselves.

3rd Becaus [sic] they are of inestimable value to

purifying and elevating to true manhood and womanhood. Besides, its chief characters, its plot, facts, and acts, are real persons, and historical realities, concealed by fictitious names, dates, places etc only.

A retrospective reading of the M. S. of my 4th book renders it manifest, that it intuitively and unconsciously presents an auto-biographic historic acount [sic] of my own life and love, and those I come

in close contact with. I say love for I never experienced but one, which has been unchangable. Love and loyalty to my husband, who has ever been good, loving and kind to me through nearly half a century of married life.

If you still have doubts, or misgivings, that I am not what I pretend to be, and feel sufficiently interested, you can satisfy yourself by writing to either, or all the following persons, residents of this city.

Orlando P. Schmidt Esq. Rev H. J. {Searnen ?}

of the home we bought and incurred a debt for a part of the purchase price, and not on account of any fault, folly or extravagance, of our selves.

Ever since then, our life has been a continuous strugle [sic] for a living - one of self-denial of all luxuries - everything but the necessities of life. Having not the means, nor the desire to go into so called "society-{careles" ?} we secluded ourselves, and devoted all the time we could spare to literature.

The result is, I have the M.S.S. of 4 books, one or two of which I am extremely desirous to have published before

I die, but have not the necessary means to do so.

They are stories, unique and ingenuous, as you will see from their titles, which are as follows viz:

1st "The Natural Woman." 2nd "No Jewel but Love to offer you." 3rd "Sweetheart of my Heart, and Life of my Life." 4th "My Love will come to Me, Some day, Some How."

Then the 4th, no sweeter, sader [sic], thrillingly sentimental story has ever been written. Nor one more

Covington Ky December 12 1901

Mrs. Jane L. Standford. [sic] San Francisco Cal.

My Dear Mrs. Standford, [sic]

You will doubtless be supprised [sic] at receiving this letter from a perfect strainger [sic], in Kentucky; and I fear, may at first deem it presumptions in me, but I trust that, after reading it, your kind heart will see and appreciate the motive that prompts me to write you.

For 20 years after our marriage, we were in prosperous circumstances, with hopeful prospects of so continuing. We bought a valuable and beautiful home near the city of Louisville Ky; and paid partly in cash, but not all. The commercial panic and crash of 1873-4-5-etc came, and swept away all our savings of 20 years and left us without any thing but our household furniture and goods. And this, as the result of the depreciation of the value