The Letters of Leon and Mary Grayson, October 1943 into 1944
East Coast World War II Postings
Our maternal grandfather Leon Grayson, (1906-1993) a Justice Department lawyer, was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army in November 1942. Leon’s wartime service turned out to be more diversion than disruption and danger for him, his wife Mary, and their infant daughter Ann, a stark contrast to the experiences of his younger brother Bill. The family left Washington D.C. to spend five weeks near one another at Camp Stewart in their native coastal Georgia, were able to meet on occasion during Leon’s ensuing eight weeks at Fort Totten in Queens, New York, and spent numerous weekends and even weeks-long periods together during Leon’s approximately 1-year tour of duty at Fort Eustis in Newport News, Virginia, a few miles north of Norfolk and south of Colonial Williamsburg.
The Isle of Hope House
Leon’s father Col. William L. Grayson was a self-educated and self-made man who was active in a variety of community and national leadership positions while serving as the long-time Clerk of the Chatham County (GA) Superior Court. When the widowed William died in March 1941, his estate included a house on Isle of Hope overlooking the Skidaway River, a few miles south of the Savannah, Georgia historic district. Leon, his five surviving siblings, and William’s then-eight grandchildren all loved the Isle of Hope house, originally purchased in 1922 or earlier as a summer retreat from the city, later beloved as a family gathering place.
By the autumn of 1943 only eldest brother Spence (b. 1900), an attorney and state senator, still lived in Savannah. Lynne (b. 1893), Dorothye (b. 1903), and Edith (b. 1912) were all married to career military officers, while unmarried brother Bill (b. 1915) was suffering as a Japanese prisoner of war (POW) in the Philippines.
A great deal had transpired in the two-and-a-half years since Col. Grayson’s passing – the ongoing settling of the estate, the marriage of Edith, the onset of war and its effect on each of the Graysons, uncertainty whether Bill was alive or dead, and the airing of Leon’s financial extravagances among them. The Isle of Hope house would add to the drama.
Spence’s Plans, Oct. 7, 1943 “Dad Wanted Us to Keep it in the Family”
Spence and Lynne were co-executors of the Grayson estate, but Spence appears to have taken on the bulk of the responsibility. Spence’s and his wife Margaret Postell were working on personal issues, while their 17 year-old only child William L. Grayson II (aka W.L.) was then away at a military boarding school in North Georgia. In a long handwritten letter dated October 7, 1943 Spence wrote to Leon at Ft. Eustis in Virginia:
“Dearest Leon, It was swell getting your last letter. I am so dam [sic] lonesome most of the time, without any of my blood around me. W.L. is back in school & is the Top Ranking Staff Sgt this year & believe he will be cadet First before Xmas. He is also playing football. Glad Mary/the Baby are well and you can all be together. Keep on doing this good work.
“Leon, I have had L.H. Smith for months trying to sell the Isle of Hope home for $15000 00 . Not a single offer. Dad always wanted us to keep that place in the family. I love it on account of the memories there & would like to keep it in the Grayson name. When that place goes to some one else, it will be the end of what the Grayson name stood for. I would like to buy it myself so that our family would always have that mecca & nest to look back at & to come back to.
“I believe I can handle the purchase if the children would agree to let me buy it for $12000 00. I think that is a fair price but not a very profitable one. Dad paid $8000 00 for it & added in the big room and the two bed rooms upstairs in addition to buying the back lot for $500 00. Any how we haven’t had an offer & I am now trying to sell my place so that I can raise enough to pay $12000 00 cash that would net each one of us $2000 00. I would absorb my share in the property and pay each one of the children 2000 00 cash each [sic]. I would have to sell my place first but Mr. Smith says he can sell my place much easier because it is not such a large rambling place as Isle of Hope, & is modern and compact.”
Within those two paragraphs Spence mentions the $2000 cash payout twice, throwing a lot of other facts and figures around as well. The brothers were not close, and I doubt he was asking his younger brother for advice. Spence continued to make his case to Leon in the Oct. 7, 1943 letter:
“I Hope You Will Not Think Me Forward in this Matter”
“Please write me & tell me if this is acceptable to you & discuss it with Edith and Dorothye when you see them [note: apparently Lynne had already approved. Bill, a wartime POW, could not participate in the decision]. I would like to leave [?} the home but I just cannot see how I could raise over the [sic] ten thousand cash. Smith has had lots of prospects out there for 15000 but no one wants it because it is too large & is getting more run down all the time. I would recommend sale to a stranger for 15000. I hope you nor any of the Girls will think I am forward in this matter but if you sold it to me for 12000.00 it would only be $500 00 less apiece for each one than if we were successful in selling for 15000 00 which we have not been able to do so far.“
Leon’s Letter, Oct. 9 “Every Interest I Have is Yours.”
Leon wrote his wife Mary, then in Washington, on “Post Theatre, Fort Eustis, Virginia” stationery simply headed “Saturday” (inferred date – October 9, 1943) he writes:
“My Darling Angel “Mummie” and Sweetheart Baby, Just a line to say the Puppie loves his sweethearts, and enjoyed seeing them so much. Am enclosing a letter from Spence which I wish you would discuss with Dorothye and Edith. I told Spence it would be O.K. with me as I would hate to see any one other than the family own or occupy the home. However, Mummie, as every interest I have is Yours and our Baby’s, I’m enclosing the letter for an expression of what you think about it.”
Leon’s Letter with Enclosures, Oct. 26
On the same Fort Eustis Post Theatre stationery Leon again wrote Mary on “Tuesday” (inferred date, October 26, 1943):
“Darling “Mummie” and Sweetheart Baby, Just a line to let you know how much I love you. Will go over to Williamsburg this afternoon and try to get an apartment…. “Puppie” sure will be happy when we are together again – and enjoyed seeing his sweethearts so much the other night. Will call you Saturday. Am enclosing a letter from Lynne and Spence…. “Puppie” loves his beautiful girls more than the world, The “fighting” Puppie.”
It appears three letters were enclosed – a long handwritten letter from Lynne to Leon dated Oct. 20, four typed sentences from Spence to Leon (with a handwritten postscript) dated Oct. 21, and a two-page typewritten carbon of a letter Spence wrote to Lynne on the same latter date.
Lynne’s Letter, Oct. 20 “No One Can See Into the Future”
Lynne, who with Coast Guard (C.G.) officer husband Leo Mueller had four children then ages 24 to 13, wrote Leon from their family home in Mobile, Alabama.
“Dearest Leon, – Your sweet letter came and I was so glad to hear from you. I feel awfully close to you and wish I could see you and Mary and Ann.
“I don’t know whether Spence is going to buy the house at Isle of Hope or not. If any one of the children buy it then maybe we could all have a reunion some of these days there. No one can see into the future but I feel sure Dad wanted it kept in the family and as Spence is the only one left in Savannah and he and Dorothy [sic] are the only ones financially able to buy it, I think it would be nice for Spence to buy it.
“I feel you are safe at Fort Eustis and surely hope they keep you on this side. I worry so about Bill. I’ve had four letters returned by the U.S. Censor to me and as there was no information in the letters I can not understand it. I talked to a young Captain just back from Africa and he said the Japs were not cooperating at all with the Red Cross so may be they are not delivering the letters to our boys.
“I never hear from Dorothy nor Edith but guess they are happy since they are together and have their husbands on shore duty.” [Note: Probably Norfolk, not far from Leon at Fort Eustis].
“Lynne‘s husband has been made navigator on another ship but their home port [Again, probably Norfolk] will be the same. She is very proud of Bill as he relieved a man of the class of ’24” [Note: This is the elder Lynne’s second daughter, then 23 years-old and known as “Little Lynne” to the family. Her husband Willard Neve, about 8 years Little Lynne’s senior, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1936.]
“Leo has gone to New Orleans to attend a C.G. conference so there is only [youngest child] Billie and I at home tonight. Leo Jr. spent the weekend at home and is studying hard and looks fine. With a heartful of love for you and your two sweet girls. Devotedly, Lynne.”
Spence’s Letter to Leon, Oct. 21 “I Will Send You Some Nuts Later”
“Dearest Leon, I am inclosing [sic] a copy of a letter I have just written to Lynne…. Just as soon as I am able to complete this transation [sic], I will do it, but, not before I have made arrangements so that I can send each one of the children $2,000.00 in cash. I am fairly busy in Atlanta and went over to see W.L. Monday. Take good care of yourself and write me whenever you can. Affectionately your brother, Spence.” His handwritten postscript reads, “I have to sell my place first. Will send you some nuts later if I can get some one to gather them.” These are probably pecans or walnuts, though possibly peanuts. The former Grayson townhouse on Anderson Street had a particularly large pecan tree out front. The Isle of Hope backyard had a chicken coop, and likely also a vegetable garden along with fruit and nut trees.
Spence’s Letter to Lynne, Oct. 21 “I Am a Very Impatient Person”
“Dearest Lynne, I received your very fine letter yesterday on my return from Atlanta. I went to Atlanta on Sunday night and had a hearing there on Monday. On Monday afternoon I rented a car and started out to see W.L. I had two punctures and all kinds of trouble, but finally got there at 5:45. It was wonderful being with him. I took he and Billy Marshall, from Mobile, out to supper after football practice. They are both on the second team. We had a steak which they really enjoyed and then a picture show, and after that, they both bought ice cream and hamburgers to take to their roommates. I sure enjoyed being with my boy and I believe he did too. I left there about 11 o’clock at night and had another puncture between Gainesville and Atlanta, but I finally made the grade and got back.“
Spence listed some expenses he incurred on behalf of their father’s estate, concluding the second paragraph with “I will send the nuts later on when they are gathered.” He continued,
“I have not sold my place yet but I have definitely determined to buy the Isle of Hope place since each one of you have agreed, but the place will be useless without water, so today I have started getting priorities and prices in order to drill a new well and buy a new type deep well pump and the necessary 360 feet of pipe. It is estimated that this will cost me about $800.00 but I have decided to go ahead and spend the money myself and put it in and, just as soon as I sell my place, I will prepare deeds to be executed and, at the same time, will pay to each of the children $2,000.00. That is, on the price of $12,000.00 which I have offered. It will strain me considerably to do this, but I believe it will be best in the long run as I have such a deep attachment for Isle of Hope and it will be kind of like going back home to me and, then, I have a certain pride about it and want that place to remain the Grayson home. I have an offer which I did not think is enough, but I might just go ahead and take it anyhow, as you know, I am a very impatient person….
“Please give Leo, Lillian, Winthrop [Lillian’s husband], Billy [sic], and Junior my love. I am very happy over Bill [Neve] being named the Navigating Officer on the Battleship Wyoming. I agree with you that he must have a lot on the ball to get that sort of a job at his age. I have not had a letter from Edith in some time, but I have heard from Dorothye several times and, also, from Leon…. With a heart full of love, Affectionately your brother, Spence.”
The Aftermath
We have no contemporary property records to reference, but based on family stories we know that in 1943 Spence owned a home on nearby Wilmington Island which he described in his Oct. 7 letter as “modern and compact.” Spence’s nephew Monroe Parsons (Edith’s son) lived nearby in the 1950s and 60s and visited often. Monroe describes it as having been a simple waterfront fishing shack, with a good bit of surrounding property and a private boat dock. If this is indeed the same house, Spence does not appear to have sold it to raise money, though perhaps he may have mortgaged it at the time.
An extra-family source confirms Spence did purchase the Isle of Hope house, though that source was unaware that it had already been in the Grayson family for at least the previous 20 years. The same source says Spence sold the house in 1944. It caused a rift within the family.
The house still has meaning to us, though no relative now lives who enjoyed it as a family retreat. Nevertheless, Isle of Hope remains a lovely and peaceful place. During a 1995 trip my wife Jean and I walked Bluff Drive and took photos of the property. As she was focusing on the dock I cautioned her to be discreet, as the then-homeowner was present working on his boat. My newlywed wife turned to me and defiantly declared, “It was our house first!” In some ways it always will be.
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