This Wednesday at St. Louis County Library Headquarters, M.E. Kodner will discuss her book, My Dear Molly: The Civil War Letters of Caption James Love at a free event co-sponsored by the St. Louis County Library Foundation and Maryville University.
When Kodner started working at the Missouri History Museum as an intern several years ago, one of her assignments was to help compile a guide to Civil War manuscripts, which involved her piecing through numerous letters, diaries and other documents from the Civil War period. After coming across St. Louisian James Edwin Love’s letters in the Missouri History Museum’s archives in 2011, Kodner was intrigued by the detailed story the letters offered. She began her research on Love’s life and then decided to write a book sharing his story — including the 160 letters that he wrote to fiancée Eliza Mary “Molly” Wilson during his Civil War service.
“I just can’t stress enough that this isn’t just history, and it isn’t just a war story either – it’s really a beautiful love story,” Kodner says.
Photo courtesy of St. Louis County Library Foundation
As the letters span the entire four years of the Civil War, they provide a detailed look at various events surrounding the war, battles, Love’s life as a soldier in the Union Army, and what life was like in a Confederate prison. The book divides the letters into three sections: Love’s early service with the Fifth U.S. Reserve Corps; his service with the Eighth Kansas Infantry, including the Battle of Chickamauga; and the 17 months he spent in several Confederate prisons, including his multiple attempts to escape. Each section has commentary from Kodner that places the letters in their historical context and discusses the roles of the people mentioned.
In the prologue, Kodner discusses Love’s life before the war, filling in details on his immigration to the U.S. from Ireland, his career prior to enlisting and a trip to Australia in the 1850s. Although the love of his life, Molly, was also from Ireland, it is unclear how the two initially met. They were engaged shortly before the start of the war.
After displaying the letters, Kodner concludes with an epilogue detailing Love’s escape from prison and his life with Molly after the war.
Although the Missouri History Museum initially acquired the letters through descendants of Love’s family, none of the descendants currently live in the area. Kodner has had the opportunity to speak with several of them, and through her research, she actually discovered that friends of her own family once knew some of the descendants personally.
Kodner also had the opportunity to go to all of the Civil War battlefields where Love fought, which included a visit on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga to the southeastern Tennessee woods where Love was injured and taken prisoner by Confederate soldiers.
In early April, Kodner presented My Dear Molly at the Missouri History Museum and now St. Louisians will have another opportunity to hear from Kodner at the St. Louis County Library Headquarters, as she reflects on the story told by the letters and her own journey in researching the Love family. She will read excerpts from about 20 letters to give viewers a taste of the book, as well as show pictures from her trip, after which there will be time for a discussion and Q&A. Kodner will also be signing copies of the book available for purchase.
The event will take place Wednesday, June 17 at 7 p.m. at the St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. and is free of charge.
