Farewell Letter 1930

Pauline (pronounced Paulina, auf Deutsch) Kot was born in the Russian partition village of Józefina in 1859. She married Gottfried Arndt in  1882 and immigrated to America in 1910.

She and her husband lived simple lives in northern Minnesota, watching their grandchildren grow into citizens. I imagine that they were happy to have escaped Eastern Europe prior to World War I.

When searching for Pauline, I found very little written about her in America (see this post). To date, there are no photographs of her, no diary entries, no newspaper tidbits. But, there is one letter.

Farewell Letter 1930

Cass Lake
March 7, 1930

Dear Sister + Brother-in-law,

Wish to write some last words to you even tho’ I like to speak them to you in person. I am very weak + all my hopes of seeing you again are lost. I wish to thank you for the good works you’ve done for me and may God give it back to you thousand-fold. If I don’t see you in this world I hope that it will be in the next.

Goodbye.
Your sister
Paulina Arndt

Years ago, my Koth cousins sent me a copy of this letter. Their grandmother, Ernstina Koth Moritz, was one of Pauline’s sisters; Ernstina and Christian Moritz are the sister and brother-in-law to whom this letter is addressed. Christian Moritz was the first family member to come to America.

Details in this letter

First, I doubt that Pauline physically wrote this letter. She writes that she is weak; the handwriting is clear and steady. English was not her first language, yet the punctuation and grammar of this letter are very good. [In February of 1918, Pauline was unable to sign her Alien Registration form,¹Cass County MN Alien Registration of Pauline Arndt. February 26, 1918.  Minnesota Commission of Public Safety. Alien Registration Correspondence and Other Records. Minnesota Historical Society. Handwritten notes in the left margin indicate the questions asked on the pre-printed form. Pauline signs her name with an X indicating that she could not read/write. but by the 1920 census, she indicates that she is able to read/write.²U.S. Census. Year: 1920; Census Place: Cass Lake, Cass, Minnesota; Roll: T625_824; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 102. Line 51, Family 15. Fred Arndt family. Census taker indicates that Pauline is able to read and write.]

Two days later, Pauline dies.³Minnesota Death Certificate MN-1930-002125. Pauline Arndt. March 9, 1930.

Who physically wrote the letter? We may never know, unless we compare handwriting samples from each of the family members living in Cass Lake in the spring of 1930.

SOURCES

• 1
  Cass County MN Alien Registration of Pauline Arndt. February 26, 1918.  Minnesota Commission of Public Safety. Alien Registration Correspondence and Other Records. Minnesota Historical Society. Handwritten notes in the left margin indicate the questions asked on the pre-printed form. Pauline signs her name with an X indicating that she could not read/write.
• 2
  U.S. Census. Year: 1920; Census Place: Cass Lake, Cass, Minnesota; Roll: T625_824; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 102. Line 51, Family 15. Fred Arndt family. Census taker indicates that Pauline is able to read and write.
• 3
  Minnesota Death Certificate MN-1930-002125. Pauline Arndt. March 9, 1930.