Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1915-12-31
SAY CHRIST WROTE THIS


you In this world and In the world
which is to come.
"Whosoeyer shall have copy Of
this letter aud keep Il IN their house.
nothing shall hurt them, neither pes
thence. lightning or thunder: and n
any woman be in birth and put her
trust in me she shall be delivered OF
her child. You shall hear no more
news OF me except through the Holy
Scriptures until the day OF judgment
All goodness and prosperity shall be
n the house where a copy OF this let
ter shall be found. Finished
From the hands OF the child who
found IL the letter is said to have
passed into the possession OF con
vert in the Christian faith. For some
reason. possibly because OF the per-
secution to which Christians were
subjected. or from fear OF ridlcule.
this convert failed TO have the letter
published.
He kept II, however, as sacred
memento of Christ. and as such he
passed II on to his oldest son. who
likewise transmitted Il. and thus II
came down through many genera
tions. but never was published, the
tradition being that when II finally
was given publicity IL had been in
this one family for more than a
thousand years.
During all this period OF time. the
story goes, this family suffered re-
peated and countless misfortunes.
Discouraged members had migrated
to countries other than that In which
the person who had gotten the letter
from the child had lived Palestine.
evidently-and at last one OF them
came to America, bringing the fate
fui letter with him.
Mrs. Fannie Workman. OF Marion.
Indiana. is more or less familiar with
tho history OF the letter since Il came
to America. The family having pos
session of II settled in Virginia stlll
keeping the fact of the letter Sc
cret. 1t seems that descendants OF
the Virginia family moved farther
south, still followed by misfortune,
and finally the last member. daugh-
ter. approached her deathbed.
One story is to the effect that with
the death of this daughter the entire
family which had for so many centur-
les disobeyed the injunction OF the
letter, and with such dire results
was extinguished. At any rate-and
this is Mrs. Wortman's understands
ing, the daughter on the deathbed
called in a neighbor woman by the
name of Thompson, and turned the
letter over to her, relating its history
as II had come down through thou
sand years or more.
Impressed by the story she had
heard from the lips OF the dying girl
and by the text OF the letter, the
Thompson woman Immediately be
gan an attempt to have II published
and It appeared in the Rome (Ga)
Tribune, oct. 81, 1891. From ther,
II was printed in the Dalton (Ga.)
Citizen. and Mrs. Workman. now liv-
ing at Marion. Indiana. clipped II and
retained II in her possession for many
years.
Recently Mrs. Workman had IL re-
published in Marion paper, stating
at the time that during the time she
had retained the letter in her posses
sion without having II published or
she had had a species of bad lucl
which she attributes to her failure
to give publicity to the letter
And now the letter comes to th'
Great Divide from Aspermont, Tex
as, with the request that we publish
II, as hard luck has pursued the ram
lily for several years and they hope
that the publication of the letter viii
lift the hoodoo.-IExchange.