Abraham (Abe) Kaufman was a Jewish man living in St. Louis in the 1890s. Vera Vaughn was a Christian woman living in Chicago. Over the course of a six year period, they exchanged dozens of love letters. Abe frequently sent Vera money or money orders in his letters. Abe and Vera were married sometime during the year 1899 but continued to live apart. Abe’s family strongly disapproved of the match and Vera’s family is not mentioned. Abe worked as a bookkeeper for the Missouri Paper Company in St. Louis, a branch of the Southwestern Paper Company whose headquarters was in Galveston, Texas. Sometime in 1899, it was discovered that Abe had been embezzling money and he was dismissed. After this, he worked for his brother, Nate, in the insurance business. Abe died of an accidental drowning at Meramec Highlands on August 18, 1900. After his death, there was a court case involving Abe’s embezzlement of between $8,000 and $10,000. He was found guilty and his estate (with Vera as administrator) was forced to pay $3,500.