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F. D. Love Collection

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-0014

Scope and Contents

The bulk of the collection is composed of correspondence between F.D. Love and his wife Mellie (Lockett)Love, written between 1903 and 1910. The majority of these letters describe F.D. Love’s experiences as a Texas legislator, including his work on specific committees, the ad valorum tax, and the passage of the City Depository Bill, which he authored and proposed. These letters provide a candid look at many Texas politicians, such as Governor Lanham, Judge Glasscock, Senator Bailey, and J. T. Canales. Of particular note are two letters describing celebrity visitors to the Texas Capitol, including Sarah Bernhardt (1906) and Theodore Roosevelt (1905).

The later correspondence between F.D. and Mellie (1921-1928) deals primarily with the divorce between Albert Shipp Pegues and Pearl Lockett Pegues, as well as his service as city attorney and county judge.

Other items in the collection include stock certificates; a portfolio of important papers such as subpoenas, stock and tax information; a handwritten book of poetry composed by Love (1887); and a letter copy book, which contains typewritten copies of letters he wrote as a private attorney in Georgetown (1905-1906).

Accessions processed July 2006:

The bulk of this group of documents, 1 document case, consists of Franklin Love’s Taylor/Love family genealogy research correspondence. The remaining documents are a mixture of legal work from the Love law practice, legal documents relating to the Franklin Love family, some personal correspondence and a small group of financial documents. These were found circa 2004 among Mood-Heritage Museum items stored in the university warehouse.

Among the non-genealogy correspondence are copies of letters to former Tennessee classmates, miscellaneous family correspondence as well as two letters from the Civil War period written by Gen. A. E. Jackson to “Landon” regarding the Confederate States Alien Enemy Act. The legal documents and correspondence contain information regarding subjects such as: a petition for pardon, a guardianship dispute, a group of papers relating to a suit for seduction, insurance suits and collection letters.

A small group of booklets pertaining to Bell and Scottish Alexander family members, data on the Love family, booklets with alphabetic lists of correspondents were retained with the collection. Periodicals from the East Tennessee Historical Society and Haywood County Centennial, a “Let’s Go Back to Tennessee” Homecoming brochure, booklets pertaining to North Carolina were donated to the Haywood County Library and other Tennessee institutions.

The remaining materials, a letter copy book (1904-1905) and a ledger book with account payment information from the Love law practice, are boxed with the folder of “Valuable Papers” from the original accession of Love papers. The book, Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of Andrew Johnson, was pulled from the collection and cataloged in Special Collections.

Dates

  • 1887 - 1923

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Southwestern University Distinctive Collections and Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the collections and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from SU Distinctive Collections and Archives before any publication use. Distinctive Collections does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.

Biographical / Historical

Franklin Deaderick Love was born in Johnson City, Tennessee on May 22, 1870. His mother was Sarah (Alexander) Love and his father, Robert Love, was a distinguished lawyer. His family was quite well-known in Tennessee political circles, for his cousins Alf and Robert Love were both governors of that state.

He received his A.B. from Milligan College in Tennessee. He pursued his post-graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, where Woodrow Wilson was one of his instructors. In 1894, he received his law degree from Vanderbilt University.

Love came to Georgetown in 1897 to practice law. In November of 1902, he married Mellie Lockett, daughter of M.B. and Annie Lockett, who were prominent citizens of Georgetown. Mellie was valedictorian of the Southwestern class of 1895. Two of her sisters were married to Southwestern professors: Pearl married Prof. Albert Shipp Pegues and Kate was married to Prof. Wesley Carroll Vaden. Mellie and F.D. had only one child, Frances Lockett Love, who was born on August 20, 1904.

F.D. branched out from the law and entered politics in 1905 as a flotorial representative from Burnet and Williamson counties. He served on several committees, including Senate Affairs, Banking and Private Corporations, Judiciary, State Affairs, Suffrage, Elections, and Revenue and Taxation. Love also authored and proposed the city depository bill.

After serving in the legislature for four years, Love returned to his law practice in Georgetown and added a partner, Alfred Nunn. He was prominent in local affairs, serving as city attorney, then as county judge from 1919-1927, at which time he retired due to poor health. He was also president of the local school board for many years.

Throughout his adulthood, Love was active in the Knights of Pythias, a charitable fraternity that sponsors halfway houses and other community homes. F.D. Love passed away in 1931, after a two-year illness following an attack of influenza.

Extent

3.2 Linear Feet : (Divided into two accessions)

Language of Materials

English

Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the SU Special Collections & Archives Repository

Contact:
1001 East University Avenue
Georgetown TX 78626 United States