Who Did Bossy Court?

Last June I ran a series of posts on the many suitors of my great grandmother Esther Lee Richardson titled the Courtship of Esther.  Now it is time to give attention to the female interests of Bossy Talbott, the man who eventually won Esther's hand in marriage.

Boss Henry "Bossy" Talbott
Birth Name: Johnnie Hodias Talbott

Bossy's lists of girlfriends is, well, short.  I only know of three. I do not even know the names off all the young women, but I do have their photographs or letters.  These first two young women seemed to want to make sure Bossy had their photographs.

This young woman wrote a note on the back of her photo for someone to "give to BHT".  Unfortunately, her name is missing. The photograph is very small and looks to have been cut from a strip of photographs one gets in a photo booth.


This second young woman seems to have cut herself out of a larger photograph.  On the back she has written "to BHT with my love".   Again, no signature and no identity (and no doubt as to her feelings).

To B.H.T. with my love

These are the only two "girlfriends" of Bossy's that have come to light in the period from before his marriage to Esther in  Nov 1915.

After his wife's death in Jan 1923, Bossy never re-married.  His granddaughter remembers Bossy saying there would never be another woman like Esther.  Bossy did have correspondence with a lady friend around 1930.  Several letters have been found among his letters and papers.  Her name was Virgie D.  In August of 1930, Bossy made plans to meet Virgie at her friend Maude's house on Light St. in South Boston. Virgie expressed her surprise that Bossy has invited her on a date. How long the couple "dated" is not known, but eventually the relationship ran its course. Unfortunately, I have not been able to determine her last name.