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[Letter from Young John Allen to Molly Houston, September 10, 1856]

Emory College, Oxford Geo. Sept. 10 1856

My Dear Mollie,

Three weeks ago tomorrow I wrote you a short letter, and hearing of your excuse for not replying sooner, I waited two weeks, and then addressed you another, since which I have now waited to within one day of another week, making out the three, and no reply has come yet. My Dearest One, you must pardon me if I begin to be impatient, and if I should suppose something very excusable has transpired, I can not account for it, unless some of you are sick and I do hope not, for I know you have not forgotten me, no, you cannot forget me.

Perhaps you did not receive my letters, which might be possible, but I reckon they went through right.

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Now Dearest, you cannot doubt my wish to hear from you.

You cannot imagine, “the pain the agony, the doubt,” that has characterized this long, long and painful suspense, thrice long and doubly painful because it is thee, and thy delay. I have no doubt as to your excuse for not having written, atall, and that is one of the whys, that I am so anxious to hear from you, that I may know what has been the cause, whether anything serious or not, for I begin to fear there is- and yet if you were sick or otherwise seriously or providentially hindered from writing it seems that some of my friends surely would write me some information of it; but as yet none of them have written, surely I must

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be forgotten.

Dearest one, I know you will write before long; if not before receiving this, in answer to this.

This surely is punishment, is torture commensurate with any crimes I have done, is’nt so Mollie.

I have a heap to write you My Dearest One, as soon as you will reply to my previous letters and cheer me up enough to write it. Please do it then soon.

Accept the unfeigned love of your ever faithful and Devoted One,
Young Allen

Miss Mollie Houston
Grantville
Georgia