(Written for The Meteor February 11, 2019)
When was the last time you received a love letter? Not a card written by someone in a cubicle or a text message, but a handwritten sentiment of endearment. Most would say not in many years. Not to undermine the importance of progress and technology, but receiving a handwritten note from the one you love certainly brings more joy than reading typed words or a signature on a card. Hard to consider these days, but for many years, letters were the only form of communication. Think of the time it took to write them and wait for a response.
Alexander “Lex” Brame knew the significance of a letter when he sent Lida Terrell, his fiancé, a love letter in 1888. The Terrells were a prominent family in Crystal Springs and Brame was a lawyer and judge from Jackson.
While courting the young Miss Terrell, it is evident he was love struck. His letter begins, “Don’t you think you have neglected me a little?” He states she must not realize how anxious he was to hear from her that morning and how disappointed he was that a letter never came. He adds, “I love you so sincerely, that I feel like making some expression of it every day”.
He goes on to say that he looks forward to seeing her in a few days and receiving a picture of her and, “will be so happy as I always am with you”. He closes by asking, “Darling, do you love me as fondly as I love you? Is your love, like mine, growing stronger every day?”. He signs, “your devoted love, L. Brame”.
Miss Terrell was a socialite, the daughter of Vernon LaGrange and Lida Fuqua Terrell. One of her many interests was leading the Crystal Springs Videttes, a drill squad that competed for show, along with Lily Wilkinson (later Thompson) who became a notable crusader in the push for Womens Suffrage. Terrell attended balls and by all accounts had an active social life. She must have been quite the catch.
Brame had been married twice before and lost both wives to an early death. He practiced law in West Point and was appointed as a chancellor in Columbus by Gov. John M. Stone. In 1889 he became president of the Mississippi Bar. Lucky for Brame, his affections were returned and on January 30 of that same year, the couple were married. They made their home on N. State Street before eventually settling in Memphis until both of their deaths.
Brame died from acute Bright’s Disease, a chronic inflammation of the kidneys. His obituary appeared February 14, 1918 in the Jackson Daily News. Many lawyers and judges attended his funeral and were honorary pallbearers, including Supreme Court Justice Tim H. Cooper, from Crystal Springs. Lida lived many more years, passing away in 1943. Both are buried, along with many notable judges, governors, and prominent people, in Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson. Remarkably, the Brame family plot contains no markers, offering no final words of endearment for the devoted couple.
