Calvin Coolidge writing his son, John: March 14, 1932.

In the letter, Coolidge comments that a “good many families have been raised on much less income that you have. Your grandfather’s was.” In his Autobiography, Coolidge writes, “My father, John Calvin Coolidge, ran the country store. He was successful… His profits were about $100 per month on the average… He was a good business man, a very hard worker, and did not like to see things wasted.”

Coolidge gives his “love to Florence” at the end of the letter. John married Florence Trumbull in 1929. One year John’s senior, Florence was the daughter of Governor John Trumbull of Connecticut. The two met in 1925 on the train going to Washington, DC for Coolidge’s inauguration. They would have two daughters. The first was Cynthia, born in 1933 and named, according to the New York Times, “so that the president’s initials, C.C., would be perpetuated.” Their second daughter, Lydia, was born in 1939.

Here Coolidge reminds his son that “to day was your grandmother’s birthday. She died forty seven years ago this afternoon,” a reference to his mother’s passing in 1885. Less than nine months after this letter was written, Coolidge himself would pass away.