October 27th 1915
A great deal has happened since my last update.
I will be leaving for Florida shortly to meet up with my father. Our relationship has been non existent ever since my mother moved us away from him when I was little. My father had encountered some business problems and filed for bankruptcy, something my well brought up mother just couldn't live with anymore.
Kenneth and I had encountered some money problems as well. Ever since he went to jail over a bad check (possibly from a campaign to discredit him after stirring up a story with a powerful ministerial group) it was difficult for him to find any work. We moved from town to town, Kenneth finding odd jobs here and there, but never making enough to settle down. One day he asked me to sign a letter, and I did so without question.
Eventually Kenneth left me at the house of a retired minister he knew and left to find more work. While I was there, I was reacquainted with my Uncle Ned (my fathers brother) who was visiting Newport on a diagnostic mission. Long story short, the letter Kenneth had asked me to sign was a bank draft that took money from my father's account. Kenneth had been using the money for drinking and traveling while I waited for things to get back to normal. Uncle Ned was here to find me asses the situation, as well as extend an invitation to me to join him in Florida if I chose to do so.
I knew I couldn't go on living the way I'd been living. So I told Uncle Ned that I thought it would be better if I returned to my father, but I'd have to tell my husband. Uncle Ned went over the legal ramifications with him, and aske Kenneth what he intended to do. Kenneth just acted bemused, almost indifferent. He'd been bemused so long I guess nothing seemed to matter.
We went our own ways, and my father sent money to cover my train to Florida where I could also get a divorce. I'm on my way to my new life.
1.Douglas, Marjory Stoneman, and John Rothchild. Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River: An Autobiography. Pineapple Press, 1990.
2. photo: “MV 50-Class.” Condrenrails.com, Arkansas Boston Mountains Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society , 2023, www.condrenrails.com/FSVB/Midland%20Valley/50-class-4-6-0.htm. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.
