"My Dearest Sweetheart"

It was 9:00 PM on Monday, June 5, 1933, when the 24-year-old Walter Sievert picked up his fountain pen, grabbed a couple sheets of his father's official Ross Township Trustee stationery, and wrote this letter to the young woman he loved.


(Click on images to enlarge)
Images courtesy of the Merrillville-Ross Township Historical Society.





I haven't seen anything this sweet since the courtship correspondence between Minnie Rossow and Herman Harms. And that young couple couldn't pour out their hearts to the same extent because, of course, they were sending postcards, which could be read by any nosy person in the post office and at the recipient's home.

Walter and Bonnie were married on July 24, 1933, as reported in the Valparaiso Vidette-Messenger of August 1.




I feel that I've neglected the Sievert family of Ainsworth, although I have mentioned Walter's mother and sister. But I'm going to be talking more about them in the near future, because the Merrillville-Ross Township Historical Society has recently been given a treasure-trove of Sievert items, mostly photographs and papers, one of which was the letter above.