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Auction: 394 - Coins, Commemorative Medals, Autographs and Documents - e-Auction
Lot: 759

Custer, Elizabeth "Libbie" née Bacon. 1842-1933. Wife of Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer, one of the few army wives to accompany her husband in the field - during the Civil War and Custer's subsequent postings on the Great Plains where he was the commanding officer of the U.S. Cavalry; left nearly destitute after her husband's death at Little Big Horn, became an outspoken advocate for his legacy through her popular books and lectures for the course of her six decades of widowhood. Autograph Letter Signed "Elizabeth B. Custer". 2 pages, 8 ½ x 11", 211 South St, Daytona Beach Fla. (Libbie was in Daytona recuperating from an illness), Jan. 2 no year (ca. 1927-1932). Writing in ink to her assistant Margaret Flood, Libbie praises her assistant for never being critical, never finding fault and always "making allowances for my forgetfulness".
She notes that a "Elizabeth keeps tabs on me and takes me almost daily in the car her aunt Sallie Lawrence gave her" and discusses a bureau, her payments to Flood and her regret about Flood's nephew "not getting a job". She sends her regards to Patrick (Flood's husband) and concludes: "Affectionately yours". Margaret Flood (1889-1968) was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States in 1911. She began working for Elizabeth Custer as an assistant-companion in 1914 and worked and, along with her husband Patrick, lived with her at 71 Park Avenue until Libbie's death at age 91 in 1933. The two were extremely close as evidenced by their personal correspondence. Some age toning and a few edge nicks. Very Good.

Estimate
$300 to $400

Starting price
$180