From Camp Lee to the Great War: Episode 48 [May 12, 1918]

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott & Charles Riggle

"I am going to send some money home before long. Maybe you can use it now to buy cows with. I only have two more months to pay my liberty bonds out in..." In his thirty-fourth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, says he's been busy packing mule harnesses and drilling. He's qualified on gas mask school. He refers to Minnie's "new separator" [probably a cream separator, a common tool on dairy farms]. He says he'll be sending money how so Minnie can buy cows. He's paying on his liberty bonds and took out $5000.00 in insurance. He's ready to go over seas anytime. In this letter, Les asks Minnie if she knows what their father, Christopher Columbus Scott, meant in his May 10 letter, when he wrote, "I was talking to Cleo Hewett and she says she is afraid she is left on you now." In response, Les wrote to Minnie, "if you know what he meant about Cleo, he has me guessing." This happens to be the only instance in which we actually have a letter from home to pair with a soldier's letter. You can see a photograph of Christopher and an image of his letter as well as the transcription below. His words are also included in the podcast. And he finally reveals the mysterious Cleo's surname. Look for a future podcast dedicated to Cleo and Les, coming May 23. The "Liberty Bonds" Les refers to were sold to raise money for the war effort. Marketed as a patriotic duty, the bonds were essentially loans to the government that were to be repaid with interest added after a specified time had passed. Despite these efforts, U.S. debt grew to more than $25 billion by war's end. Elsewhere on the same day, Julius Rosenberg, who would be executed along with his wife Ethel 35 years later as Soviet spies, was born in New York City. Lester Scott was drafted in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, where so many Wheeling soldiers were trained. And, like so many of his Ohio Valley comrades, he served in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, Battery “A,” 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. This is his thirty-fourth letter from Camp Lee, dated 100 years ago today, May 12, 1918. Digital scans and a transcript of Christopher Columbus Scott May 10, 1918 letter and Lester Scott's May 12, 1918 letter can be viewed at: http://www.archivingwheeling.org/blog/from-camp-lee-to-the-great-war-may-12-1918-podcast Credits: "From Camp Lee to the Great War: The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle" is brought to you by http://archivingwheeling.org in partnership with the Ohio County Public Library (http://www.ohiocountylibrary.org) and the WALS Foundation (http://walswheeling.com). Sean Duffy is the voice of Christopher Columbus Scott. Jeremy Richter is the voice of Lester Scott. The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle were transcribed by Jon-Erik Gilot. This podcast was edited and written by Sean Duffy, audio edited by Erin Rothenbuehler. Music: "Love Will Find A Way," The Seven Black Dots (performer), 1921, courtesy Library of Congress: www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100010774/ Many thanks to Marjorie Richey for sharing family letters and the stories of her uncles, Lester Scott and Charles “Dutch” Riggle, WWI soldiers from West Virginia.