In 1911 Shadrach Milton Richardson was about 23 years old, had left the family farm and gone off to seek his fortune in the mines of Tintic. He had a girlfriend back in Spanish Fork, Maggie Evans, who was a year older.
Milt, as he preferred to be called, was self-conscious of his appearance, and very shy. But he had a good personality and a keen sense of humor, as well as an optimism that life would get better for him.
When Maggie died she left behind four letters Milt wrote to her. Two of the letters don't have a first page, but by their content they are believed to have been written earlier than the two letters that do. We don't have the letters Maggie wrote in reply, but we we can learn a lot about Shadrach just by studying what he wrote and thinking about it. His letters always began when he obtained a blank piece of paper and considered carefully what he would put on it.
What you are about to read can hardly be classed as love letters. They're more like the letters a guy would write to a girl who has already given him the "Why can't we just be friends?" speech. Falling in love in those days was a long, drawn-out, difficult process, maybe even more so than today.
The suspected first letter was written early in 1911 probably from Robinson, a mining camp southwest of Eureka. Click here to read it.
The suspected second letter may have been written sometime in the spring of 1911, again likely from Robinson. Click here to read it.
The suspected third letter is dated 7 June 1911 from Robinson. Unlike the others it has a first page and was contained in an envelope. Click here.
The fourth letter was written from Mammoth, 12 September 1912. By now Milt and Maggie were married and they both had plenty to worry about. Click here.
To read a biography of Maggie Evans Richardson, click here.
To return to the Richardson Family index page, click here.
