I can’t help it. I fell in love with the letter Mark Twain’s brother wrote back in Muscatine, Iowa, on November 21, 1854. It might give a precious few of you a tip on how to proceed with your romantic endeavors. For the rest of us, it will remind us of a time long, long ago.
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Stotts:
The object of this note furnishes a subject so entirely novel to me, that I hope I shall be excused for any blunders or awkwardness in writing.
Without further preface, I venture to inform you of my attachment to your daughter, Miss Mary Ellen, and to ask your consent to our union in a few weeks.
An early answer is respectfully solicited.
Most respectfully yours,
Orion Clemens
It worked. Orion and Mary Ellen married on December 19, 1854.