Dear Olive I am almost ashamed
to write but I have been waiting
for Dad to write he said he would
write to night so I will write
now how are both well I hope we
are all well again my knees are
still a little stiff but I feel
well Essies folks are all well
but Allye was operated on
for appendicidist Oct 14 she is
doing fine Ida has been up
there to see her Olive I know
very little a bout My Father or
Mothers people Mothers all came
from near Nashville Tenn and
Fathers folks are from Va near
Richmon

1. The Apperson family is fairly fond of embellishing on family lore and legend, and in some cases, making it up wholecloth. The famous spy, John Andre was captured by three men, it is true. However, history gives no account of any of them bearing the name Chaney. The men generally credited for capturing Andre are John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wart.

2. Since it is a letter written from mother to daughter, it is hard to determine who is meant when a word like "Pa" is used. It could refer to the father of the letter writer or the father of the letter recipient. In most cases this turns out to be unambiguous, but it is worth bearing in mind when considering the relationships, and who is the subject of the particular sentences.

3. If it is true that the letter is circa 1925, then that means the letter writers father was already dead, since Jeffie's dad (Jacob Aurelious Apperson) died in 1911. That means that "Dad" in the first line must refer to John William "Pete" Chaney", Jeffie's husband. Why Pete and Jeffie would not be in the same place in 1925, and thus require written correspondence is unknown to me. However, Pete died in Janueary 1926, so all of this could be under an assumed situation where it was known that Pete would die soon (and was thus elsewhere, perhaps a hospital). However, this is purely speculation on my part.

4. Essie is another daughter of Jeffie. She was born 14 SEP 1883, and married W. J. Courtney.

5. Allye is another daughter of Jeffie. She was born 31 AUG 1895, and married Edwin E. "Ted" Hodges.

6. Ida is another daughter of Jeffie. She was born 09 JUN 1891, and married a Mr. Dupree.

7. Dovie is another daughter of Jeffie. She was born 01 NOV 1899, and married Norman McClean.

8. Ralph is Ralph Yowell, who married Olive Chaney, the daughter of Jeffie.

9. Vinnie is another daughter of Jeffie. She was born 20 OCT 1887, and married Oscar May Franklin.

10. Grandfather Jones is William L. Jones, born about 1811, and died after 1880. He married 13 APR 1834, Rutherford County, Tennessee to Mary J. Phelps.

11. When Jeffie says "Dad was Dutch and Irish", she must be speaking of her own father, since Chaney has already been called "from scotland". If one presumes that Jacob Aurelious Apperson is Dutch and Irish, then that makes Apperson either Dutch or Irish, and the other line (Coleman - Jacob Aurelious Apperson's parents were John R. Apperson and Eleanor "Millie" Wilson (Coleman) Apperson) either Dutch or Irish. I think it is reasonable to conclude from those two surnames alone that APPERSON is Dutch, and COLEMAN is Irish. Of course, I could have it backwards, or it could be that the Dutch part and/or the Irish part came from the maternal grandfather, or some other more complicated descent. However, I think this is unlikely, since Jeffie claims she knows little about it. I think it is unlikely that she would know a paternal great grandfather's heritage, for example, and not know her father's father's heritage, for example.