Cary T. Grayson to William Edwin Chilton
Title
Cary T. Grayson to William Edwin Chilton
Creator
Grayson, Cary T. (Cary Travers), 1878-1938
Identifier
WWP15808
Date
1919 June 30
Description
Cary T. Grayson writes former senator William E. Chilton about the Paris Peace Conference.
Source
Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, Staunton, Virginia
Text
PERSONAL.
Dear Senator
My thoughts have turned to you frequently during my sojurn in France, and I have been wanting to write to you for a long time but I never found the opportunity. I never before in my life underwent such an experience. It is impossible for me to tell you in a letter of the trials and tribulations and handicaps that faced the President in Paris. Mentally and physically he has been taxed almost beyond superhuman endurance. It is simply wonderful how he has been able to hold his own in such adverse circumstances. The day he left Paris everybody was applauding and cheering and commending him. Men and women would rush up to him and say: “Thank you, Mr. Wilson, for the peace; but for you we could not have had it.” A tremendous ovation was given him on the night of our departure for Brest. Everybody was cheering: “Vive Wilson.” He really departed from France in a blaze of glory. The politicians fought him bitterly on all sides, but they were finally overcome by his honesty, fairness and sincerity - not to mention his great intellect and statesmanship. The people of France have always admired and loved and trusted him. They counted on getting a just peace through his efforts. To show you how the feeling has changed so far as the politicians are concerned, when I shook hands and said good-bye to Mr. Clemenceau at the railroad station in Paris, he said, in referring to the President: “I feel that I have just said good-bye to my best friend.”
You cannot imagine how glad I am to get back to Mrs. Grayson and the boys, and what a great satisfaction it is to know that the Treaty of Peace is signed and in the President’s possession.
I had laid aside for you a photograph of the Big Four - The President, Lloyd George, Clemenceau and Orlando - which I had autographed with great difficulty. Yours was with several others, including one for Mrs. Wilson. They suddenly disappeared just before leaving Paris and we were unable to locate them. I am mailing some pictures back to Lloyd George and Clemenceau for their autographs, and when they are returned I shall send you one of them. I feel terribly disappointed about this. They were pictures which were much sought after and some enthusiast appropriated them.
With warm regards, believe me,
Sincerely yours,
Cary T. Grayson
Hon. W. E. Chilton,
Charlestown, West Virginia.
Dear Senator
My thoughts have turned to you frequently during my sojurn in France, and I have been wanting to write to you for a long time but I never found the opportunity. I never before in my life underwent such an experience. It is impossible for me to tell you in a letter of the trials and tribulations and handicaps that faced the President in Paris. Mentally and physically he has been taxed almost beyond superhuman endurance. It is simply wonderful how he has been able to hold his own in such adverse circumstances. The day he left Paris everybody was applauding and cheering and commending him. Men and women would rush up to him and say: “Thank you, Mr. Wilson, for the peace; but for you we could not have had it.” A tremendous ovation was given him on the night of our departure for Brest. Everybody was cheering: “Vive Wilson.” He really departed from France in a blaze of glory. The politicians fought him bitterly on all sides, but they were finally overcome by his honesty, fairness and sincerity - not to mention his great intellect and statesmanship. The people of France have always admired and loved and trusted him. They counted on getting a just peace through his efforts. To show you how the feeling has changed so far as the politicians are concerned, when I shook hands and said good-bye to Mr. Clemenceau at the railroad station in Paris, he said, in referring to the President: “I feel that I have just said good-bye to my best friend.”
You cannot imagine how glad I am to get back to Mrs. Grayson and the boys, and what a great satisfaction it is to know that the Treaty of Peace is signed and in the President’s possession.
I had laid aside for you a photograph of the Big Four - The President, Lloyd George, Clemenceau and Orlando - which I had autographed with great difficulty. Yours was with several others, including one for Mrs. Wilson. They suddenly disappeared just before leaving Paris and we were unable to locate them. I am mailing some pictures back to Lloyd George and Clemenceau for their autographs, and when they are returned I shall send you one of them. I feel terribly disappointed about this. They were pictures which were much sought after and some enthusiast appropriated them.
With warm regards, believe me,
Sincerely yours,
Cary T. Grayson
Hon. W. E. Chilton,
Charlestown, West Virginia.
Original Format
Letter
To
Chilton, William E. (William Edwin), 1858-1939
Files
Collection
Citation
Grayson, Cary T. (Cary Travers), 1878-1938, “Cary T. Grayson to William Edwin Chilton,” 1919 June 30, WWP15808, Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.