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Who the heck is Cleo?!<\/p>\n
That was a question from a listener who said he\u2019s heard every episode of \u201cFrom Camp Lee to the Great War,\u201d but still can\u2019t figure it out.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve also been listening but not necessarily reading all of the accompanying blog posts on Archiving Wheeling dot org, you might have the same question: Who the heck is Cleo?<\/p>\n
Well, the short answer is that Cleo Hewitt is Wagoner Lester Scott\u2019s girlfriend back in Wheeling. We don\u2019t know a great deal about her, but to remove some of the mystery, we\u2019ve created this special edition of \u201cFrom Camp Lee to the Great War.\u201d<\/strong> Let\u2019s just call it, \u201cThe Cleo Episode.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n After listening today\u2019s podcast, you will know as much as we do about the mysterious Cleo.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As you know, we publish the letters of US Army privates, Lester Scott and his brother-in-law Charles \u201cDutch\u201d Riggle, 100 years to the day after each was penned by our soldiers and mailed from Camp Lee, Virginia, back to family in Wheeling.\u00a0We\u2019ve chosen to publish the Cleo Episode today because it was 100 years ago last week, on May 23, 1918<\/a><\/strong>, that Lester Scott wrote to his sister Minnie Riggle, \u201cplease write and tell Cleo Good Bye for me.\u201d<\/p>\n The reason is, Les knew he was leaving for France. And for reasons that will become apparent, Les wasn\u2019t sure Cleo wanted to hear from him. But since his sister was Cleo\u2019s good friend, he asked her to convey his goodbye message.<\/p>\n To better understand this complex little love story, let\u2019s first hear from Cleo in an undated letter to her darling Les:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy own darling Less,<\/p>\n How can you doubt my love for you. It grows stronger and stronger each day. I think of you by day and dream of you night. If I thought you loved me as I loved you it would not only cheer my lonely pathway but would help me so much to do a great many good things in this world. You have my promise to love you and I always will. Good Health and Best Wishes of<\/p>\n Your own Dutch x\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n After that, we have identified two letters from Cleo to Minnie. They prove that Les was indeed sweet on Cleo, his sister\u2019s friend.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Triadelphia W.VA<\/p>\n Oct 8 1917<\/p>\n Dear Friend,<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t time to write much as it is nearly mail time, but I have seen pictures they took down at the Y.M.C.A. when they were eating dinner the day Less left and they were just great (see below). You can get them at Klines. I have tried to get one for you & myself but failed. If you want to go to Wheeling the last of this wk I will go to. write and let me know right away and I would be ready as you come past. ans soon<\/p>\n Your Friend,<\/p>\n Cleo<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A month after he left for Camp Lee, it\u2019s clear that Cleo was missing her Les:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Triadelphia, W.Va<\/p>\n Nov. 1917<\/p>\n Dear friend Minnie,<\/p>\n How you was? I am O.K. hope you are the same. I came home at shortly after dark. I got a stick to a dance that night but didn\u2019t go. Earl Shook even came after me and I was in bed. the dance was at Kent\u2019s. I started to school this morning but I don\u2019t like it very well. To lonesome. say we are going to have a box social here two weeks from next Friday night. You & Jim be sure and come. Tell everyone you see. Be sure and tell Bob Milligan. get him to bring you ha ha. Don Foulks told me a lot of stuff about Less and I ask him about some of it and I haven\u2019t heard from him since suppose I made him mad.<\/strong> I had a fine visit at Moundsville. I want to go to Wheeling this week and get another pair of shoes. Minnie I don\u2019t know whether I can get that yoke made for you again xmas or not. I do wonder if Less will get to come back home for xmas?<\/strong> I guess Wilbert Dairo does go with Mabel Salter. I wouldn\u2019t let him go with a dog of mine. I had my pictures take while in Mdse but they were not no good. How is Senda? tell her Hello. Well its after noon and I will try and write somemore. I was down at Mosses at noon but Gertrude can\u2019t go to Wheeling this week so I suppose I will walk in anyway. Ha ha Sorry you couldn\u2019t get a picture. Maybe I will give you mine. Buelah McCormack said Vincent got a letter from him the other day. I got your letter Sunday morning. Maggie Hull came up to see me and she brot it up Sat night as I came thro\u2019 the Grove I just thot sure I saw Less\u2019s horse & buggy but I suppose it wasn\u2019t.<\/strong> I could just kill Bert Cladwell for getting that place at Cracrafts, the little fool.<\/p>\n Well this is all so answer soon. Be sure and come to the box social<\/p>\n Good Bye, as ever Cleo<\/p>\n Have a lot to tell you if I ever see you ha ha<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As she indicates, Cleo and Les have a falling out for some reason.<\/p>\n In a letter dated a couple of months later, February 1, 1918<\/a><\/strong>, Les writes:<\/p>\n \u201cI recd a letter from Cleo too. she says she isnt going back over to No 2 any more. she also says hers and my picture hangs on the wall no more. I wonder if any body cares. She told me of going to church too. she says you did something to her before she left wouldn\u2019t tell what it was. she says if wouldn\u2019t get mad she wouldn\u2019t do it any more. mabe I am not going to tell her a few. I knew you and her would have trouble. you dont need to think I care in the least\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ten days later, on February 11, 2018<\/a><\/strong>, Les reveals the severity of the problem:<\/p>\n \u201cCleo is trying to apologize now but that dont go with me. I would like for you to see the letters she wrote. they remind me of the notes the Kaiser used to use to the president. I may write to her once more..\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Comparing your girlfriend\u2019s letters to the Kaiser\u2019s letters while your country is at war with the Kaiser\u2019s country is serious business. No doubt.<\/p>\n Then on February 24, 1918<\/strong><\/a>, Les writes:<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t heard from Cleo lately. \u201d<\/p>\n And on March 1, 1918<\/a>:<\/strong> \u201cI haven\u2019t heard from Cleo any more. did you ever hear what was the matter with her. I dont care if she doesn\u2019t write to me. \u201d<\/p>\n And a month and a half later on April 16, 1918<\/a>:<\/strong> \u201cI never hear from Cleo any more. wonder where she is.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And as we\u2019ve heard in Episode 48<\/a> of our podcast series, one month later on May 10, 1918<\/strong><\/a>, Les\u2019s father, Christopher Columbus Scott said of Cleo:<\/p>\n \u201cI was talking to Cleo Hewett and she says she is afraid she is left on you now. she looks as fat and ragged as ever. I think she is getting ring boned.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Which prompted Les to write, 2 days<\/a> later to his sister Minnie:<\/p>\n \u201cif you know what he meant about Cleo, he has me guessing.\u201d<\/p>\n And a few days later on May 18<\/a><\/strong>, Les inquires poignantly of his sister: \u00a0\u201cwhat has become of Cleo?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So what has become of Cleo? And what will become of Les after he\u2019s shipped to France to fight for the American Expeditionary Force against the German Empire?<\/p>\n Stay tuned.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t miss the next regularly scheduled episode of \u201cFrom Camp Lee to the Great War,\u201d to be published on June 18, 2018<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n To listen to the podcast, visit our SoundCloud page<\/a>, or subscribe through your favorite podcast app.<\/p>\n
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\nListen to Special Episode 52 of \u201cFrom Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle\u201d \u2013 The Cleo Episode<\/h2>\n