The "A True Love Story: Part I" Story

Web photo of Steph Knudson talking with reporter Katelyn Smith.

It was an ordinary day.  Watching the local news on NBC Channel 8 out of Lancaster, PA.  After the local news, weather and sports, a personal story reported by Katelyn Smith titled Woman traces 100-year-old love story back to Susquehanna Valley began.  Story began with the FaceTime report between Katelyn and Steph Knudson of Chicago, Illinois.  

The 435 W. Orange St. address can be seen above the door.

Seems that Steph was visiting a popular vintage market in Chicago when she discovered a stack of old letters, about 3-4 in a group, tied with decorative rope.  At the time she had been looking for something to read on a planned train trip and after her discovery realized she had found her reading material.  Her friend, who was with her at the time and was going to accompany her on the train, also purchased a set to read.  

Miss Daisy's row home at 435 W. Orange
where I assume she lived with her family
while teaching primary school.

While on the train they quietly read the letters to each other and found that the letters were written by the same writer, a Miss Daisy, who was writing to friend John.  The date on the letters was the early 1900's.  The two friends marveled at the love and affection offered in the letters they read.  What they didn't realize was that they were reading louder than they had thought, for when they looked across the aisle in the train, the woman sitting in the seat opposite them looked at them and asked if that was all the letters they had?  Upon Steph's return to Chicago she returned to the same vendor to see if there were more letters available.  She ended up spending $75 for the remaining letters .... a total of 109 in all.  Each letter was still in it's original envelope with one cent postage with a return address and postmark date so she could put all letters in chronological order.  The 109 letters dated from 1905 to 1910.  

This is the house on Lincoln Highway East where
Daisy and John lived in at the time
that Miss Daisy died according to the Lancaster newspaper.

Steph inquired as to what the letters were originally in and the seller at the vintage market stand told her that another buyer had purchased the trunk they were in, but didn't want the letters so returned them to her.  The only disappointment came when Steph realized that she only had the letters written by Daisy to John, but knew he must have treasured them so much to have saved them.  

A photo of John and Miss Daisy.

She is also not sure if another buyer may have purchased some of the letters before she was able to obtain the rest of them.  Well, the letters that I have read so far on Steph's blog that Daisy has written were in the cursive writing that was taught in school at the time.  Beautiful handwriting that I wish I could duplicate.  Was amazed that the return address on most of Miss Daisy's letters was an address about a mile from my house in Lancaster, PA.  Thus, the reason why a TV reporter from Channel 8, who had found Steph's blog, decided to do some research and produced the story that I was watching at the moment on TV.  Through Katelyn's research she was able to find the childhood home of Miss Daisy and the newspaper articles of her marriage to friend John in 1910 as well as where they were living when Miss Daisy died in 1956.  

A photograph of Miss Daisy's graduating class from Millersville
Normal School.  This is a photo from the Channel 8
broadcast.  Miss Daisy could not be identified.

Miss Daisy graduated from Millersville Normal School, the same school where I went to college.  The letters are amazing that Steph has posted in her blog which you can find at https://109loveletters.wordpress.com.  If you care to watch the report on TV from Katelyn you can find that at http://www.wgal.com/news/woman-traces-100yearold-love-story-back-to-susquehanna-valley/34428122.  I will post another story in the near future after reading more of the 109 love letters and doing some research in Lancaster, PA.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The banner on the blog of Steph Knudson.