This is a story of a crazy love, a crazy temper, and just crazy.
First, crazy love: It was his words that would get him killed. But it was also his words that made the woman he loved fall for him. Just look at the two of them--his hand caressing her arm, snuggled up as close as one could get at a public "candy drawing."
We know how crazy in love Lee and Ella were because of their love letters. He was working in Mahl (a small community north of Nacogdoches) and she was living in The Bogg (also a small community north of Nacogdoches now known as Pleasant Hill)--less than ten miles away, but you know people could not just take out their cells then and chat.
Here is one of Lee's love letters to Ella Seelbach:
Mahl, Texas
Miss. Ella Seelbach
"Dear" "Sweetheart" :
It is once more with a happy heart that I attempt to answer your ever welcome letter which was gladly received the other day, was glad indeed to get your letter,
Say you don't know how sweet your letters are. I had rather read a line from you than be in a sugar barrel with a big spoon Ha Ha
I bet you think that I am joking but I am not--
I just wish I could say as sweet words to you
You said if I care for you as you do for me everything will be all right. Well if I don't get you I will just say that my heart was not in the right place. I will just say that I think too much of you but I am not going to try to think any less
I could not if I ws to try
and I had rather look in your eyes and say sweet things to you than to write them but let me say what I have said is true.
You said that I was the only one you ever care for or ever will Well sweet I did not know that I ever would-
. . . us to Appleby Saturday night, and meet us back there when we get there, I guess that William has told you all what a good time we would have if you all go If he has not I will tell you about it thursday night if you will let me come and go with you to the candy drawing.
Will you let me?
Say I sure waunt you to help William to get Daisy to go, I would not take $50 for the fun we will have, if we all get to go.
Well, if they have that candy drawing thursday night I guess that I will get to see you and if I do you will just about hear from me.
["Darling" at top of page]
Well, you said for me to write you a long letter, if I was to write you along letter and write just what I think of you would not like to read it because it would be You YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU all the way through,
"Cause I'm thinking of you If you waunt to think of one that loves you, just think of me. I don't never have to think of you for you are on my mind all the time.
will close for this time.
Answer soon to one who loves you.
Lee Cunningham.
He typed his letters. He typed or someone typed for him. The ink has faded to purple, and water damage has eaten some of the pages, but they are as powerful today as any day. He really loved her.
I guess the candy drawing date turned out alright because they married on Jan. 10, 1912. He built them a three bedroom house near Pleasant Hill Cemetery at The Bogg, Nacogdoches, Texas. They had four children: Bina, Bertha, Kittie, and LV.
And then everything was not "all right."
The Cunninghams had neighbors: The Valentines--a strange coincidence that their last name was the same as Lee's middle name. Lee and W.B (Wrenthan Badger) Valentine had adjacent properties. They called W.B. "Shorty" because he hurt one leg running through a sweet potato patch when he was a kid, and it was never properly set making it shorter than the other. He and Lee were friendly enough that Lee gave Shorty some shells for his double-barreled shotgun--to guard his fields from crows.
The Valentine family shared quite a few details about Lee Cunningham in an article (2016) that Shorty's granddaughter Patty Valentine wrote with her cousin. The facts do not always line up with what we know or with what I was told, but I would not dispute an unflattering portrayal of our Lee: Cunningham was a bully that tormented our poor grandma and grandpa. . . He let their cows out. He threw cockle burrs down their path to the creek where they got water walking barefoot. But it is important to note that Lee is not here to defend those accusations. Then again, the fact that he has chosen to have his portrait made with an obviously beloved rifle, which he caresses upon his lap--might suggest he had a rather "aggressive" spirit.
Lee bought a lot of land in The Bogg (now known as Pleasant Hill), north of Nacogdoches County, Texas and built a home there for his wife, three little girls, and baby boy. One day he decided to build a pig pen at the far end of his property. There was however some question between neighbors regarding if Lee were building it on his property or Shorty Valentine's. Anything close to Shorty's would be cause for an argument. Pig pens were so smelly!
Shorty's wife Della saw Lee making the beginnings of the pig pen and ran to get her husband who was plowing about a mile away. The two came back with their four-year old son Eugene, a shotgun, and the shells Lee lent to him. Shorty told him to get off his property. And Lee (the Valentine family doesn't seem to know this)--Lee says, I'm gonna build this pigpen in front of this whore house. That was some sort of cut at Shorty's wife. Tommy Russell, owner of the little store right across from where the shooting happened, said, That was just Lee you know. He'd say anything.
Della Valentine was one-third Indian, and it showed in her bronze skin, brown eyes, high cheekbones, and dark hair. Was Lee a racist? Maybe. That was a different time. No excuse--just an explanation. Shorty fired the gun to scare Lee--but instead it killed Lee--right there in front of the boy Eugene and Lee's girls Bina and Bertha.
The Valentine family is certain that Shorty shot his head off and that the trauma of seeing that devastating visage led to little Eugene growing up and shooting himself in the head.
Tommy Russell told me what he heard happen, and it makes sense. Lee was shot in the stomach. He was still alive after the shooting, so someone took him to the church up the road, where they could lay him out on a pew, and someone could dig the shot out of his stomach. Maybe they took him there away from a hysterical wife and crying children. Court records confirm that Shorty was arrested at The Bogg Church. He was probably there waiting for the outcome. There was really nowhere to hide.
Shorty was charged with murder and out on bond the next day. There was a six-day trial (Sep. 25, 27, 28, 30 and Oct. 1 and 2) in the District Court of Nacogdoches County--case #6240, State of Texas vs. W.B. Valentine. There were lots of witnesses called--probably 20 or more–but none of the Valentine family or the Cunningham family are on those lists--though we were always told that Bina testified.
Shorty's family sold all their land to pay the attorney, William Weatherly. Shorty's freedom cost the family all of their cash and most of their land, and in the end he was convicted but given only a five-year sentence that was quickly suspended. Shorty went to Louisiana to work for the state highway. He was buried, however, only a few steps from Lee--in The Bogg Cemetery.
(A Recollection--M.E. McWilliams, his great granddaughter)
First, crazy love: It was his words that would get him killed. But it was also his words that made the woman he loved fall for him. Just look at the two of them--his hand caressing her arm, snuggled up as close as one could get at a public "candy drawing."
We know how crazy in love Lee and Ella were because of their love letters. He was working in Mahl (a small community north of Nacogdoches) and she was living in The Bogg (also a small community north of Nacogdoches now known as Pleasant Hill)--less than ten miles away, but you know people could not just take out their cells then and chat.
Here is one of Lee's love letters to Ella Seelbach:
Mahl, Texas
Miss. Ella Seelbach
"Dear" "Sweetheart" :
It is once more with a happy heart that I attempt to answer your ever welcome letter which was gladly received the other day, was glad indeed to get your letter,
Say you don't know how sweet your letters are. I had rather read a line from you than be in a sugar barrel with a big spoon Ha Ha
I bet you think that I am joking but I am not--
I just wish I could say as sweet words to you
You said if I care for you as you do for me everything will be all right. Well if I don't get you I will just say that my heart was not in the right place. I will just say that I think too much of you but I am not going to try to think any less
I could not if I ws to try
and I had rather look in your eyes and say sweet things to you than to write them but let me say what I have said is true.
You said that I was the only one you ever care for or ever will Well sweet I did not know that I ever would-
. . . us to Appleby Saturday night, and meet us back there when we get there, I guess that William has told you all what a good time we would have if you all go If he has not I will tell you about it thursday night if you will let me come and go with you to the candy drawing.
Will you let me?
Say I sure waunt you to help William to get Daisy to go, I would not take $50 for the fun we will have, if we all get to go.
Well, if they have that candy drawing thursday night I guess that I will get to see you and if I do you will just about hear from me.
["Darling" at top of page]
Well, you said for me to write you a long letter, if I was to write you along letter and write just what I think of you would not like to read it because it would be You YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU all the way through,
"Cause I'm thinking of you If you waunt to think of one that loves you, just think of me. I don't never have to think of you for you are on my mind all the time.
will close for this time.
Answer soon to one who loves you.
Lee Cunningham.
He typed his letters. He typed or someone typed for him. The ink has faded to purple, and water damage has eaten some of the pages, but they are as powerful today as any day. He really loved her.
I guess the candy drawing date turned out alright because they married on Jan. 10, 1912. He built them a three bedroom house near Pleasant Hill Cemetery at The Bogg, Nacogdoches, Texas. They had four children: Bina, Bertha, Kittie, and LV.
And then everything was not "all right."
The Cunninghams had neighbors: The Valentines--a strange coincidence that their last name was the same as Lee's middle name. Lee and W.B (Wrenthan Badger) Valentine had adjacent properties. They called W.B. "Shorty" because he hurt one leg running through a sweet potato patch when he was a kid, and it was never properly set making it shorter than the other. He and Lee were friendly enough that Lee gave Shorty some shells for his double-barreled shotgun--to guard his fields from crows.
The Valentine family shared quite a few details about Lee Cunningham in an article (2016) that Shorty's granddaughter Patty Valentine wrote with her cousin. The facts do not always line up with what we know or with what I was told, but I would not dispute an unflattering portrayal of our Lee: Cunningham was a bully that tormented our poor grandma and grandpa. . . He let their cows out. He threw cockle burrs down their path to the creek where they got water walking barefoot. But it is important to note that Lee is not here to defend those accusations. Then again, the fact that he has chosen to have his portrait made with an obviously beloved rifle, which he caresses upon his lap--might suggest he had a rather "aggressive" spirit.
Lee bought a lot of land in The Bogg (now known as Pleasant Hill), north of Nacogdoches County, Texas and built a home there for his wife, three little girls, and baby boy. One day he decided to build a pig pen at the far end of his property. There was however some question between neighbors regarding if Lee were building it on his property or Shorty Valentine's. Anything close to Shorty's would be cause for an argument. Pig pens were so smelly!
Shorty's wife Della saw Lee making the beginnings of the pig pen and ran to get her husband who was plowing about a mile away. The two came back with their four-year old son Eugene, a shotgun, and the shells Lee lent to him. Shorty told him to get off his property. And Lee (the Valentine family doesn't seem to know this)--Lee says, I'm gonna build this pigpen in front of this whore house. That was some sort of cut at Shorty's wife. Tommy Russell, owner of the little store right across from where the shooting happened, said, That was just Lee you know. He'd say anything.
Della Valentine was one-third Indian, and it showed in her bronze skin, brown eyes, high cheekbones, and dark hair. Was Lee a racist? Maybe. That was a different time. No excuse--just an explanation. Shorty fired the gun to scare Lee--but instead it killed Lee--right there in front of the boy Eugene and Lee's girls Bina and Bertha.
The Valentine family is certain that Shorty shot his head off and that the trauma of seeing that devastating visage led to little Eugene growing up and shooting himself in the head.
Tommy Russell told me what he heard happen, and it makes sense. Lee was shot in the stomach. He was still alive after the shooting, so someone took him to the church up the road, where they could lay him out on a pew, and someone could dig the shot out of his stomach. Maybe they took him there away from a hysterical wife and crying children. Court records confirm that Shorty was arrested at The Bogg Church. He was probably there waiting for the outcome. There was really nowhere to hide.
Shorty was charged with murder and out on bond the next day. There was a six-day trial (Sep. 25, 27, 28, 30 and Oct. 1 and 2) in the District Court of Nacogdoches County--case #6240, State of Texas vs. W.B. Valentine. There were lots of witnesses called--probably 20 or more–but none of the Valentine family or the Cunningham family are on those lists--though we were always told that Bina testified.
Shorty's family sold all their land to pay the attorney, William Weatherly. Shorty's freedom cost the family all of their cash and most of their land, and in the end he was convicted but given only a five-year sentence that was quickly suspended. Shorty went to Louisiana to work for the state highway. He was buried, however, only a few steps from Lee--in The Bogg Cemetery.
(A Recollection--M.E. McWilliams, his great granddaughter)
This is a story of a crazy love, a crazy temper, and just crazy.
First, crazy love: It was his words that would get him killed. But it was also his words that made the woman he loved fall for him. Just look at the two of them--his hand caressing her arm, snuggled up as close as one could get at a public "candy drawing."
We know how crazy in love Lee and Ella were because of their love letters. He was working in Mahl (a small community north of Nacogdoches) and she was living in The Bogg (also a small community north of Nacogdoches now known as Pleasant Hill)--less than ten miles away, but you know people could not just take out their cells then and chat.
Here is one of Lee's love letters to Ella Seelbach:
Mahl, Texas
Miss. Ella Seelbach
"Dear" "Sweetheart" :
It is once more with a happy heart that I attempt to answer your ever welcome letter which was gladly received the other day, was glad indeed to get your letter,
Say you don't know how sweet your letters are. I had rather read a line from you than be in a sugar barrel with a big spoon Ha Ha
I bet you think that I am joking but I am not--
I just wish I could say as sweet words to you
You said if I care for you as you do for me everything will be all right. Well if I don't get you I will just say that my heart was not in the right place. I will just say that I think too much of you but I am not going to try to think any less
I could not if I ws to try
and I had rather look in your eyes and say sweet things to you than to write them but let me say what I have said is true.
You said that I was the only one you ever care for or ever will Well sweet I did not know that I ever would-
. . . us to Appleby Saturday night, and meet us back there when we get there, I guess that William has told you all what a good time we would have if you all go If he has not I will tell you about it thursday night if you will let me come and go with you to the candy drawing.
Will you let me?
Say I sure waunt you to help William to get Daisy to go, I would not take $50 for the fun we will have, if we all get to go.
Well, if they have that candy drawing thursday night I guess that I will get to see you and if I do you will just about hear from me.
["Darling" at top of page]
Well, you said for me to write you a long letter, if I was to write you along letter and write just what I think of you would not like to read it because it would be You YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU all the way through,
"Cause I'm thinking of you If you waunt to think of one that loves you, just think of me. I don't never have to think of you for you are on my mind all the time.
will close for this time.
Answer soon to one who loves you.
Lee Cunningham.
He typed his letters. He typed or someone typed for him. The ink has faded to purple, and water damage has eaten some of the pages, but they are as powerful today as any day. He really loved her.
I guess the candy drawing date turned out alright because they married on Jan. 10, 1912. He built them a three bedroom house near Pleasant Hill Cemetery at The Bogg, Nacogdoches, Texas. They had four children: Bina, Bertha, Kittie, and LV.
And then everything was not "all right."
The Cunninghams had neighbors: The Valentines--a strange coincidence that their last name was the same as Lee's middle name. Lee and W.B (Wrenthan Badger) Valentine had adjacent properties. They called W.B. "Shorty" because he hurt one leg running through a sweet potato patch when he was a kid, and it was never properly set making it shorter than the other. He and Lee were friendly enough that Lee gave Shorty some shells for his double-barreled shotgun--to guard his fields from crows.
The Valentine family shared quite a few details about Lee Cunningham in an article (2016) that Shorty's granddaughter Patty Valentine wrote with her cousin. The facts do not always line up with what we know or with what I was told, but I would not dispute an unflattering portrayal of our Lee: Cunningham was a bully that tormented our poor grandma and grandpa. . . He let their cows out. He threw cockle burrs down their path to the creek where they got water walking barefoot. But it is important to note that Lee is not here to defend those accusations. Then again, the fact that he has chosen to have his portrait made with an obviously beloved rifle, which he caresses upon his lap--might suggest he had a rather "aggressive" spirit.
Lee bought a lot of land in The Bogg (now known as Pleasant Hill), north of Nacogdoches County, Texas and built a home there for his wife, three little girls, and baby boy. One day he decided to build a pig pen at the far end of his property. There was however some question between neighbors regarding if Lee were building it on his property or Shorty Valentine's. Anything close to Shorty's would be cause for an argument. Pig pens were so smelly!
Shorty's wife Della saw Lee making the beginnings of the pig pen and ran to get her husband who was plowing about a mile away. The two came back with their four-year old son Eugene, a shotgun, and the shells Lee lent to him. Shorty told him to get off his property. And Lee (the Valentine family doesn't seem to know this)--Lee says, I'm gonna build this pigpen in front of this whore house. That was some sort of cut at Shorty's wife. Tommy Russell, owner of the little store right across from where the shooting happened, said, That was just Lee you know. He'd say anything.
Della Valentine was one-third Indian, and it showed in her bronze skin, brown eyes, high cheekbones, and dark hair. Was Lee a racist? Maybe. That was a different time. No excuse--just an explanation. Shorty fired the gun to scare Lee--but instead it killed Lee--right there in front of the boy Eugene and Lee's girls Bina and Bertha.
The Valentine family is certain that Shorty shot his head off and that the trauma of seeing that devastating visage led to little Eugene growing up and shooting himself in the head.
Tommy Russell told me what he heard happen, and it makes sense. Lee was shot in the stomach. He was still alive after the shooting, so someone took him to the church up the road, where they could lay him out on a pew, and someone could dig the shot out of his stomach. Maybe they took him there away from a hysterical wife and crying children. Court records confirm that Shorty was arrested at The Bogg Church. He was probably there waiting for the outcome. There was really nowhere to hide.
Shorty was charged with murder and out on bond the next day. There was a six-day trial (Sep. 25, 27, 28, 30 and Oct. 1 and 2) in the District Court of Nacogdoches County--case #6240, State of Texas vs. W.B. Valentine. There were lots of witnesses called--probably 20 or more–but none of the Valentine family or the Cunningham family are on those lists--though we were always told that Bina testified.
Shorty's family sold all their land to pay the attorney, William Weatherly. Shorty's freedom cost the family all of their cash and most of their land, and in the end he was convicted but given only a five-year sentence that was quickly suspended. Shorty went to Louisiana to work for the state highway. He was buried, however, only a few steps from Lee--in The Bogg Cemetery.
(A Recollection--M.E. McWilliams, his great granddaughter)
First, crazy love: It was his words that would get him killed. But it was also his words that made the woman he loved fall for him. Just look at the two of them--his hand caressing her arm, snuggled up as close as one could get at a public "candy drawing."
We know how crazy in love Lee and Ella were because of their love letters. He was working in Mahl (a small community north of Nacogdoches) and she was living in The Bogg (also a small community north of Nacogdoches now known as Pleasant Hill)--less than ten miles away, but you know people could not just take out their cells then and chat.
Here is one of Lee's love letters to Ella Seelbach:
Mahl, Texas
Miss. Ella Seelbach
"Dear" "Sweetheart" :
It is once more with a happy heart that I attempt to answer your ever welcome letter which was gladly received the other day, was glad indeed to get your letter,
Say you don't know how sweet your letters are. I had rather read a line from you than be in a sugar barrel with a big spoon Ha Ha
I bet you think that I am joking but I am not--
I just wish I could say as sweet words to you
You said if I care for you as you do for me everything will be all right. Well if I don't get you I will just say that my heart was not in the right place. I will just say that I think too much of you but I am not going to try to think any less
I could not if I ws to try
and I had rather look in your eyes and say sweet things to you than to write them but let me say what I have said is true.
You said that I was the only one you ever care for or ever will Well sweet I did not know that I ever would-
. . . us to Appleby Saturday night, and meet us back there when we get there, I guess that William has told you all what a good time we would have if you all go If he has not I will tell you about it thursday night if you will let me come and go with you to the candy drawing.
Will you let me?
Say I sure waunt you to help William to get Daisy to go, I would not take $50 for the fun we will have, if we all get to go.
Well, if they have that candy drawing thursday night I guess that I will get to see you and if I do you will just about hear from me.
["Darling" at top of page]
Well, you said for me to write you a long letter, if I was to write you along letter and write just what I think of you would not like to read it because it would be You YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU all the way through,
"Cause I'm thinking of you If you waunt to think of one that loves you, just think of me. I don't never have to think of you for you are on my mind all the time.
will close for this time.
Answer soon to one who loves you.
Lee Cunningham.
He typed his letters. He typed or someone typed for him. The ink has faded to purple, and water damage has eaten some of the pages, but they are as powerful today as any day. He really loved her.
I guess the candy drawing date turned out alright because they married on Jan. 10, 1912. He built them a three bedroom house near Pleasant Hill Cemetery at The Bogg, Nacogdoches, Texas. They had four children: Bina, Bertha, Kittie, and LV.
And then everything was not "all right."
The Cunninghams had neighbors: The Valentines--a strange coincidence that their last name was the same as Lee's middle name. Lee and W.B (Wrenthan Badger) Valentine had adjacent properties. They called W.B. "Shorty" because he hurt one leg running through a sweet potato patch when he was a kid, and it was never properly set making it shorter than the other. He and Lee were friendly enough that Lee gave Shorty some shells for his double-barreled shotgun--to guard his fields from crows.
The Valentine family shared quite a few details about Lee Cunningham in an article (2016) that Shorty's granddaughter Patty Valentine wrote with her cousin. The facts do not always line up with what we know or with what I was told, but I would not dispute an unflattering portrayal of our Lee: Cunningham was a bully that tormented our poor grandma and grandpa. . . He let their cows out. He threw cockle burrs down their path to the creek where they got water walking barefoot. But it is important to note that Lee is not here to defend those accusations. Then again, the fact that he has chosen to have his portrait made with an obviously beloved rifle, which he caresses upon his lap--might suggest he had a rather "aggressive" spirit.
Lee bought a lot of land in The Bogg (now known as Pleasant Hill), north of Nacogdoches County, Texas and built a home there for his wife, three little girls, and baby boy. One day he decided to build a pig pen at the far end of his property. There was however some question between neighbors regarding if Lee were building it on his property or Shorty Valentine's. Anything close to Shorty's would be cause for an argument. Pig pens were so smelly!
Shorty's wife Della saw Lee making the beginnings of the pig pen and ran to get her husband who was plowing about a mile away. The two came back with their four-year old son Eugene, a shotgun, and the shells Lee lent to him. Shorty told him to get off his property. And Lee (the Valentine family doesn't seem to know this)--Lee says, I'm gonna build this pigpen in front of this whore house. That was some sort of cut at Shorty's wife. Tommy Russell, owner of the little store right across from where the shooting happened, said, That was just Lee you know. He'd say anything.
Della Valentine was one-third Indian, and it showed in her bronze skin, brown eyes, high cheekbones, and dark hair. Was Lee a racist? Maybe. That was a different time. No excuse--just an explanation. Shorty fired the gun to scare Lee--but instead it killed Lee--right there in front of the boy Eugene and Lee's girls Bina and Bertha.
The Valentine family is certain that Shorty shot his head off and that the trauma of seeing that devastating visage led to little Eugene growing up and shooting himself in the head.
Tommy Russell told me what he heard happen, and it makes sense. Lee was shot in the stomach. He was still alive after the shooting, so someone took him to the church up the road, where they could lay him out on a pew, and someone could dig the shot out of his stomach. Maybe they took him there away from a hysterical wife and crying children. Court records confirm that Shorty was arrested at The Bogg Church. He was probably there waiting for the outcome. There was really nowhere to hide.
Shorty was charged with murder and out on bond the next day. There was a six-day trial (Sep. 25, 27, 28, 30 and Oct. 1 and 2) in the District Court of Nacogdoches County--case #6240, State of Texas vs. W.B. Valentine. There were lots of witnesses called--probably 20 or more–but none of the Valentine family or the Cunningham family are on those lists--though we were always told that Bina testified.
Shorty's family sold all their land to pay the attorney, William Weatherly. Shorty's freedom cost the family all of their cash and most of their land, and in the end he was convicted but given only a five-year sentence that was quickly suspended. Shorty went to Louisiana to work for the state highway. He was buried, however, only a few steps from Lee--in The Bogg Cemetery.
(A Recollection--M.E. McWilliams, his great granddaughter)
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