[Editor’s notes: This page was transcribed by Cole Waterman. The editors gratefully acknowledge his invaluable assistance.
[Because most of the notes are undated, these letters have been presented in the order as they appear on the original pdfs. Insofar as possible, they retain their original spelling and grammar.]
—–
EE1-F6
Hue Fortson Jr. Letter to Deborah and Michael Touchette
Hue Fortson
1859 Geary Street
San Francisco, California
94115
Dear Debbie & Mike,
How are you both? Fine I know. [illegible name] and Rosie said to tell you hello. I live in the Temple in San Francisco and everyday There is a new experiment for me, its from one thing to the next. Before Jim left to come back to the Freedom Land he gave David and Viven Gaines a cloth for there 13 month old daughter he told them that the baby would die for no reason at all. One Sunday morning the baby did die and they rubbed the cloth over the baby and the baby is doing fine right now. Thanks to Jim’s love.
On Thursday morning Carol McCoy and myself drive a bus down to Los Angeles to hold services in the Los Angeles Temple and bring the Los Angeles members back to San Francisco for Saturday and Sunday services. I am going to go to San Francisco City College to take up some Biology classes and History to get my AA degree. Tell everyone I said hello and please write us way over here (The shoe is on the other foot!). Take care.
Your brother,
Hue Fortson
—–
EE1-F11a – 11d
Hue Fortson Jr. Letter to Jim Jones
Dear Father;
First I must apologize to you for my dishonesty, last week Mother confronted me for not reporting when I went to take some people home in Richmond and the Mission district here in San Francisco. I was suppose to be at a P.R. meeting with her and three other people and I kept them waiting while I took these people home. She asked me if I had an “little but vile affair”, I lied and told her (Know) No. I have been having this relationship for 3 weeks, her name is Wanda Souder, Martha Souders daughter (who just recently went over to the Freedom Land). In the years that I have been with Rhonda [Fortson, wife] I don’t have a real heavy so called love feeling, I have great respect for her as a worker in the cause but as I told Rhonda in a recent letter that I miss Ishi [Fortson, son], but I really don’t miss her. And this just didn’t start last week with this new relationship. It has been for sometime, then after I didn’t hear from Rhonda in some time, I visited her parents when I was down in Los Angeles they would show me better that they had received from Rhonda. I was put on the spot with questions and no answers because I wasn’t receiving letters. I can understand keeping the relatives informed, but when Rhonda was here in the States she had what I thought was a closer tie with her mom than usual. I mean even me. Wanda has 2 children and she has been abused by her former companion so from that talk, I keep close tabs on her. She is a member that joined in Los Angeles and I take her down to get there passports. I asked her what was it in me that she liked, she said that I was kind and different from anybody else that she had ever met. She was looking for someone that didn’t want to beat on her and take her money and misuse her. And I was insecure and needed someone to feel close to not just sexualy, but spend time with her children so we met up. I gave her the book “Introduction to Socialism” to read, I told her that I have a lot of resbonilitys that I have to do for the church and she would come out. She says that she understands. I am kind of in Limbo I keep impressing on her mind the good things that you have done for people, and I know that I am not “Lovie Dovie” [illegible word, could be “intention” or “intuition”] I just need some kind of companionship. I am now working more in P.R. so that Andy can be free to pecure for the cause. Father I appreciate what you have done for my son and Rhonda and the thousands of other people that are now there in the Freedom Land. I did not want this letter to be a munilaption [manipulation] to get me over to the Freedom Land. I think for someone that has risked his life to save my son and other children, people in general I should let you know where I am at in my mind. There are some Biological classes that I can take at San Francisco State University that would help me in a fish program that I maybe able to go into a few years from now there would be no degree needed. Maybe it would be better if I waited until I come over there because the education would be cheaper over there than here. I also need to apologize for taking up your precious time on such irrelevant material, Thank you Father
Your son,
Hue Fortson
—–
EE1-F16a – 16c
Hue Fortson Jr. Letter to Wife Rhonda Fortson, typed in capital letters
Dear Rhonda;
Yes this is old “asshole” again, first I must apologize for the nasty letter that I sent to you a few weeks ago. I am sorry in a moment of loniness and anger I let my hostilties come out in my letter. And I also let my parniia get out of hand! I was still hostile because when I sent you a letter you would never answer the questions that I had asked I was getting parnoid because you would say that you were involved in this or that but I would hear from other peoples letter that you would be realy getting down at the dances. So I thought if you can have time to go to the dances then you could at least write a few lines to me hear back in the States. It seemed the more I asked questions that the more you would write back and tell of the new developments in Jonestown and I explained to you that I usually edit the new film that comes from the Freedom Land and I can see the new developments and why don’t you answer the questions? Was it because you didn’t feel free to express your feelings to me in a letter? You must remember I can’t pick them up through short wave! I was feeling very inscure as I am now and I thought you had passed me off and was just writting me to pasify me. And that was making me very angry! Who was I to talk to about it here in the States? Then on top of me being parnoid about you the people here at the Temple look to me for strength or what ever and they hold me resbonbile for them and that alone scares the living shit out of me!!! I am every thing from janitor, cook, transportation, moving, bus driver, listing ear, and sometimes minister. I don’t even hardly ever eat in the kitchen because when ever I sit down someone comes up with a problem and I have to gulp my food down and now my stomach is always nausaed and sometimes I through up because it isi hard to eat and try and think about somebodys problem. I have to smile when I don’t feel like smiling and laugh when I don’t want to, listen to people when I don’t want to and say Hi to people that no more deserve the time of day than the man in the moon. Then we have the day to day problems of just existing and many folks say that you all have had I rough over there but just as well we have and are still having it rough here even today. Things are getting rougher and rougher in the United States. Everyday there is more rapes and kidnaps and our goverment here is doing more and more talk about the Soviet Union and Cuba and there involment in South Africa. And it looks like there will eventually be a full scale war. President [Jimmy] Carter taking side with Middle East war that has been going on before he became president. Then having to get letters from our friends (or so called friends) and play a part that is about to wear out because we have to go to our so called friends so often. Or even facing Tim Stoen, the Mertles, Sammi Johnson, Nikki [Mickey] Touchette, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver, Neva Sly, and other enimies at the back gate and not being able to physically do because you may cause more legal matters to come down on Father and the cause. Then once and a while you parents will call up and I have to go through the act with them and you dad Frank from Hayward called and said will you please call him or send him a letter! At least call him and ask for some cloths for Ishi [Fortson, their son], if you don’t want anything for your self. Because they have made the offer and I think that you should not let them go on that. With all this shit on my mind I don’t have anybody that I can go and talk to when I get depressed! No one to hold my hand and no body to cry on. So what am I to do??? I know that you are saying that he is a big baby and very inscure and this is one time that I couldn’t agree with you most! I am falling apart at the seems sometimes the top of my skull gets cold flashes when I get to thinking real hard and soon I won’t have any nails to bite on. There is only one person that I can talk to sometimes and that is Leona [Collier] but she has physical problems and usually most people in the Temple call her and cry on her shoulder and I can’t put this extra burden on her. So once again I am at a lost just there and with no communication or outlet. There aren’t any dances here and I dare not go to any of the disco s because I don’t know any body and I would be set up and robbed. I used to go skating with Tony and Aundrey and some of the other young people but even the guy that works at the skating ring where we used to go was at the back gate and made therats to me that he would wipe me up all over the back parking lot!!! So there is no place that I can go or nothing to do the shows here are just as bad my head is about to pop open! So once again, who do I talk to? Where do I go? IN the last moving films that were sent over I had to look at one particular film three times before I could make it out that it was Ishi. I know that if I am having a hard time regieining him then he will have a hell of a time knowing who I am. I know that I am not the best person in the world and I have made enough for the both of us put together but I am dead serious if things don’t work out for us I don’t know what I will do.. I am sorry for the many hassales that I have taken you through in our last five years. And that reminds me you forgot our anniversary and I rember the time that you would get mad at me when I for bot it! But when you for got it you passed it off as you were so busy and it was OK. I am sending a picture of myself so that Ishi will at least know what I looked like because I don’t know here er I am coming or going. I asked you eariler is there some one else? Please don’t lie to me, because if I find out the truth I can just feel my hole inside being torn out! And I don’t know what I will do. I am so paronid that I don’t beleive any thing unless I heard it from Father over the radio my self. You never really know haw much you really care for somebody until you are about to lose them. I need you so badly I can not express it in words, I know that other people are saying that I am a big baby and very inscure, I don’t give a damm at this point because I feel that I have kept down my inscurities long enough and not asked for much because I know the burden that it would ahve put on Father. But I am all filled up and now I need something for me, I would be a hipocryate to help other people with there problems and not take care of my own. I have made one of the biggest mistakes since the time I toldd Mother on the stage in Los Angeles that Father was suspose to have run off with the money and divorced Mother and caused Fatrher to come back from the Rreedom Land to strigthen out the mess. Please write and tell me something so I can know the truth! …
Please forgive me me it seems that I am always asking for forgiveness, I am really a fucked up human being!!!.
Sincerly yours,
Hue Fortson
/s/ Hue Fortson
—–
EE1-F17a – 17b
Hue Fortson Jr. Typed Letter to Wanda Souder
Wanda;
This is one of the most serious letters that I have written in a long time. I know that a am one of the most stupid human beings in this cause, there are a few things that we need to strigthen out. There has been so much that has been happining in these last few months that I have lost my way. These last few months have shown me just how inscure I was and when we first started the relationship we agreeded that I human just like every body else and that I needed someone because I had based my feelings on my parnoiaa and not actual fact. You were lonley and so was I and we meet each others needs and we went on the foundation. And as time passed we grew close and couldn’t see past our faces. I should have never started the relationship because of my position (not that you aren’t good enough) but I have been trusted with a position and I abused it. I am sorry for that and second of all when you left for the Freedom Land you and Eric were suspose to have a understanding (according to Eric Upshaw) and when you wrote letters they went to him and instructions came to me on what to do with the furniture. Third in moving the furniture I found home letter that you had wrote to Steven in prison and the same things that you had told me were the same things that you told him. That lets me know that I am one of many or in other words no one special and I can understand. But two you have Eric and he has already been hurt by Ruby [Bright] and Jerry Rhea and I am not going to be a stumbling block in his way. I lost my relationship with my wife because of my parnoia and stupidy. You had nothing to do with that. Sounds crazy but true, the letter that I sent through the mail was written on the day that you all left and I also wrote Father and Rhonda [Fortson, his wife] all on the same day and I was emotional and confused so you must disreguard that letter because I was unstable in my mind when I wrote alll those letters. I am sorry for putting you through so many trips and confussing you. I have great respect for you because you have struggled with your children and made it to the Freedom Land but I also have a certian respect for Eric also and please wrtte him and let him know that you are waiting to see him because he is very ready to accept the resbonility for you and your children. I don’t have any hard feelings agnist either one of you. I have caused enough pain in a lot of people and it has to stop some where. Father has given you and your children a new least on life and Eric wants to share that with you all. So don’t disapoint him! We all have this cause to work for now. Be sure and wriute your dad and assure him that if he sends you mail that it won’t be censored and it will come to you, he called me one night and talked for 45 min and this is one of his worries he said that if you are happy then he is happy but he didn’t want you to walk into something blind. So write him and reassure him.
Peace,
/s/ Hue Fortson
Hue Fortson
—–
EE1-F18a – 18c
Hue Fortson Jr. Typed Letter to Jim Jones
Dear Father;
I am sure you are wondering why or what I am writing to you for now. With all the problems that you have political, legal, people (internal and external), housing, and many more that I am sure that I don’t know about. I am very selfish for even taking up your time with this again but I have no one else to turn too. I am sorry and I hope I will never have to talk to you about this agiin. It is making me sick to the stomach and I feel naused and sometimes I through up and sometimes my front of my skull gets cold chills all over it and soon I won’t have any finger nails. And if I don’t let you know what I am thinking I thind that I will burst. When I talked to you on the radio few weeks ago about what I thought was a problem between Rhonda and I was totaly acting on emotion and parnoia. I had gotten paronid because I had written Rhonda [Fortson, his wife] a letter asking her direct questions and she wrote me back just like a form letter and so I wrote her again and she told me of the things that were happining in the project and I wrote her and told her that I see most of the films because I help to edit them before showning them to the congeration and I felt that she was playing a game on me. And then she stopped writin me period so I didn’t know what to think? After not getting a letter from her for a while I assumed that I was being bullshited because other people in the Temple had told me that they were told about the dances that they were having and that Rhonda was realy getting down and I figured that Rhonda wasn’t working any harder than I was and that if she had time to go to a dance she had time to write a few sincere lines tome me. So I used that as my excuse to start a relationship with Wanda Souder, who was lonley because she had been kicked around by her excompanion and her other boy friend and I just happened to come at the right time. In a way I tried to be a savior to her and her family and I now find that I am so inscure that it is a shame. And now after it is all over I am left with guilt for an unborn child and emotional and physical depression. Its one thing to talk about abortion but it is another to be part of the play and feel the weight of it. It is a cross to bear, I am sure there are many people that have done this a number of times but I must be different in some way because I just can’t throught this out of my mind. I should have never started the relationship because the position that you had entrusted me in but as I said that I was using my parnoia as my excuse I owe you an apologize for doing that, I am sorry. But after our conversation with you on the radio I began to piese things together for one, Eric Upshaw told me that he and Wanda [Souder] had an understanding that they cared for one another and he is looking forward to seeing her in the Freedom Land. (Eric has already been hurt by Jerry Rhea’s new companion (Ruby Bright) she dropped Eric for Jerry) and I not dare be the next one to be a stumbling block for Eric. Number two when I was moving the furniture from Wanda’s apartment I found some letters that she had written (there were old letters) to her ex-companion in prison and the same things that sh e had been telling me was the same things that she was telling me! That let me know that I was one of many. Ten I started thinking about what a fool I had been and still am to think that Rhonda would drop me with out saying any thing. That I had let me parnoia run away with my mind and now the position that I had put you in. And the pain that I had put Rhonda in and that I had judged Rhonda with out even talking to her just based by what and how she didn’t respond to my letter. I have been I think one of the biggest fools in the Temple. I had sent a letter to her asking if there was some one else ad she did not respond. I also sent her a letter balling her out for not writing me and I asked her not to write me any more because I thought she was trying to pacify me. And I need to apologize for that letter because I should nt have said the things that I did. This is one of my biggest mistakes since I told Mother on stage that htere were rummors about you running away with the money and you and Mother splitting up. And it caused you to come back to the States. My parnoia is so bad now that I don’t believe most of the things that I hear on the radio unless it coming from you. I have found that I am so inscure that when I get filled up with peoples bullshit I don’t have a outlet or some one to hold my hand or hear me cry. I could have a 100 relationships and still not match the one that I had with Rhonda. If Rhonda has found some one else I don’t know what I will do to fill up the gap that I will have inside of me, I usally don’t talk about my feelings with Rhonda but something has happened and now I am sick behind the whole thing. I think sometimes that I am going to crack. I am not trying to muniplate but this has been on my mind real srtong for days. When I wrote the other letter I was emotionally envoled and thinking off the top of my head and from anger. I wrote the same letter to Rhonda and Wanda on the same night. Which shows how inscure I am. I hate to have to tell you all of this but I have no one else to talk to because it is either funny to them or they are so far above doing something like this they look it as being so junivile. And I get hostile and take notions to knock the shit out of people sometines but I havn’t come to that stage yet but I am not far from it because I just feel empty and alone. I try and not tie up the air ways and your mail box but I have no one else to turn too. And I know that when some of the folks here this they will think that I am a big baby and very inscure at this point I don’t give a damm. When I saw the latest movies I had to look at the movies three times before I recognize Ishi [Fortson, his son] because he has changed so much. I know I am a big ass hole for putting you through this with me but I have no one else to turn to. I also have copies of letters that I am sending to Wanda to explain my position and what she should do with Eric and one to Rhonda asking for forgiveness because I don’t want to appear to e running a game on any body. Father please for give me for taking up your precious time with my problem.
Thank you Father,
/s/ Hue Fortson
Hue Fortson
—–
EE1-F18i
Hue Fortson Jr. Typed Letter to Jim Jones
Hue Fortson
P.O. Box 15023
San Francisco, California
Father:
I am sure this is the most bizarre request that you have heard of in a long ti me but I was wondering if it would be possible for Rhonda [Fortson, his wife] to come back to the States. Because I am so parnoid that what ever she tells me over the raido will be hard for me to belive. This is proving to be more of a test than I thought it would be. Right now I need her and I miss her so badly espely after what I have put her through these last few weeks. This is the fi rst time that I have been without her and I must admit that I need her as my support. I am falling apart. Please help me Father.
Yours truly,
Hue Fortson
/s/ Hue Fortson
—–
EE1-F19a – 19b
Hue Fortson Jr. Handwritten Letter to Wife Rhonda Fortson
March 8, 1978
Rhonda,
How are you and Ishi? Fine I hope. When you write your mom and dad again be sure and tell them that you received the Toy Train for Ishi.
I didn’t send it over because it was made out of Metal and it would rust the first day and none of the other children would have one so I gave it to some of the children here in San Francisco for Christmas. But don’t write and tell them that that is what happened to it because I would never hear the end of it! My mother is ill again I went to see her in the hospital, she has [two illegible words] nervous condition, and now she has blocked bowels. The doctor wants to operate but she won’t let him, I told her she should follow her doctor instructions.
Mother wants to go to the Freedom Land to work and live. Shirley and Vincent are fine as well as [illegible names]he is in school now taking an art course. Say hi to everyone see you later.
Jim loves you,
Hue Fortson
—–
EE1-F25a – 25b
Hue Fortson Jr. Typed Letter to Jim Jones
To: Dad
Re: In reguard to a letter from Leona Collier
Background:
About 2 weeks before coming to Jonestown Leona told me that she had found a letter from Karen [Layton] (written from Georgetown) to Sandi [Bradshaw]. She said that she found it on Sandi’s desk in the apartment, but she took it to the Xerox machine to make a copy of it and she left the letter in the machine and Phyllis Houston found it and gave it back to Sandi. Sandi must have relized that Leona had taken the letter from her room, because she cleaned off her desk and doesn’t leave anything on her desk any more (so Leona told me) Leona told me that Phyllis was one of Sandi’s spys and that she was going to get her over in the Freedom Land (I think this was just before Stoen and his associates came to our back gate) Leona told me that in one part of the letter Karen was saying that John Harris had arrived and started up his racial shit! Leona had told me that she was go ing to give me the letter but she got busy and never did. The only thing that she sent with me is the report on the projects. And a copy of the telephone messages that she sent out.
Re: To my reports and the situation at the back gate with Tim Stoen
Background: All my reports from the Council of Churches and gave a copy to Sandi to be sent along with the brief cases that were coming to you. Donetter Lane [president of the San Francisco Council of Churches] and I had a close relationship because she would call me and tell me some of the gossip and even one time she called after she was attacked for a stand she took aginst the so*called church leaders and there resbonilty to help the school system and she was almost in tears. I can remember only missing 3 meetinga and that was because we were doing other things away town that we could not get to the meeting I was still counted as a member of the board of directors in your place and I was elected as a 1979 board of directors member after your term had expired. When we had the World Peace Council meetings I was there because it would always be on a night when Vera had to go to NAACP and Andy had to go to the oppunity II parents teachers meeting so I would go. I made up reports on the meetings, I kept in close contact with Tom Fleming [reporter for San Francisco Sun-Reporter] and we had lunch together and we knew each other on a first name basis, the same on the Wednsday morning breakfasts Wilbert Battle [president of Officers for Justice, San Francisco] and I were on a first name basis and he had began to see that more and more black elected officials were being percused. I loaned him my copy of [California Lt. Gov.] Mervyn Dymally’s book on black politicians in America and any thing that I heard that I thought would be good news to know I would relay it in my reports verbally and on paper. We even worked with National Alliance Against Political and Racial Repression (Angela Davis is a co person of this group). And at the back gate when those people came around I was told by Sandi to be cool and not to get violent and be sure to get what they were passing out, so I did and as soon as they left Tim [Clancey] and I went to [Peoples Temple attorney Charles] Garry’s office and had his secretary to make us copies (3) and Garry didn’t have time to read it so he asked us to leave him one copy and he would read it later. And the othe two I took back to the Temple and gave it to Sandi in the radio with June [Crym], Jean [Brown], Tom [Adams], Tim and Leona in the room so I don’t what took so long to get this information over to you.
Re: Not reporting to Sandi
Background: When I told Sandi where I was going she would not tell Leona and then Leona told me to report to her where I would be going and there would be no problem because they were going to come to her and ask her about my where abouts anyway. I had started going to the flea markets on Saturdays and making from $270.00 – $550.00 a Saturday. I see that I was in the middle of a black and white power struggle it seemed.
Thank you Dad,
Hue Fortson
—–
EE1-F26
List of March 1978 offerings made to Peoples Temple in San Francisco, as typed by Hue Fortson Jr.
Hue Fortson
P.O. Box 15023
San Francisco, California
Father:
This is the month of March report on the offerings taken up in San Francisco.
| 3/4/78 $1,218.80 |
| 3/5/78 $1,561.69 |
| 3/8/78 $536.32 |
| 3/11/78 $403.82 |
| 3/12/78 $566.20 |
| 3/15/78 $288.58 |
| 3/18/78 $723.83 |
| 3/19/78 $1,091.58 |
| 3/22/78 $790.95 |
| 3/26/78 $424.93 |
| 3/26/78 $1,027.06 |
| 3/29/78 $233.14 |
| ———————————————- |
| $8,866.90 |
—–
EE1-F27
List of April 1978 offerings made to Peoples Temple in San Francisco, as typed by Hue Fortson Jr.
Hue Fortson
P.O. Box 15023
San Francisco, California
Father:
This is a report on the offerings in San Francisco up until April 16, 1978
| 4/1/78 | $418.77 |
| 4/2/78 | $795.57 |
| 4/4/78 | $666.67 |
| 4/8/78 | $351.27 |
| 4/9/78 | $1,007.29 |
| 4/12/78 | $791.28 |
| 4/15/78 | $864.36 |
| 4/16/78 | $1,240.84 |
| ———— | ————- |
| $6,136.05 |
—–
EE1-F29a – 29c
Hue Fortson Jr. Handwritten Letter to Wife Rhonda Fortson
Hue Fortson
P.O. Box 15023
San Francico, California
Rhonda Fortson
P.O. Box 893
Georgetown, Guyana
South America
Rhonda;
Before you get all excited or happy that I am writing you this is going to be my last letter. I am very hostile, I think that you are writing to me now to pacify me you don’t have to anymore. Three letters ago I asked you your feelings and you acknowledged the fact that you had recived them, but you refused to answer the questions.
You even waited a long time before you answered, I had to get on the radio and ask you to write me to let me know what to tell your parents! I have to apologize to my mom for you not writing, but don’t even worry about it anymore I can’t take it anymore with the dizzy talk that all of them are putting down. You make me awful parnoid when you tell me the same things over and over. And then someone else tells me that you were really getting down at a dance that was given one night, and its not the point of who was there, but why tell me the same things over and over and not that small thing? If you think that if you were to tell me something that I would flip out over here, well I’m doing that anyway trying to figure you out! You did not even remember that it was our anniversary, but thats ok too. Because what does a anniversary mean anyway when there seems to be nothing but an image for everyone to see. I have a great respect for you because you are a hard worker and the Mother of my child in this cause for Truth, Freedom, and Justice. I have been crying and hurting and I can not take anymore, I am sick of being playcated by you so don’t write anymore. There is nothing to talk about on the radio so please don’t ask to speak to me. I will talk to Ishi [Fortson, son] once and a while because he had nothing to do with us bumping heads. I have been through so much these last few months that my head is about to explode, My chest feels like a lead balloon. Ready to bust at any moment. Keep on in your work that you are doing for the cause and forget about me for I am nothing and the little that I am is only because of Father.
Sincerly,
Hue Fortson
—–
EE1-F29d – 29f
Hue Fortson Jr. Handwritten Letter to Wanda Souder
Hue Fortson
P.O. Box 15023
San Francico, California
Wanda K. Souder
P.O. Box 893
Georgetown, Guyana
South America
Dear Wanda;
I hope this letter finds you and the girls well adjusted to Jonestown. I am sure that you can now see the beauty of living together astoplicly [apostolically] working for the same common goal. The night before you left I searched for you all night I didn’t know where you had went, I had a yearning in my heart to tell you the things that were in the letter I gave you. I do care for you very deeply and I want to continue our relationship when I get there. Because there is something about the way we can communicate with one another and grow from our mistakes. Youse quite a woman a strong one and I need you. After our relationship grows then we can have a child like we wanted to. You and I wanted the other baby also, more than the tears that rolled down my face that night we were talking making a decision on what we should do. I had a long talk with Eric [Upshaw] and he understands about us now, I am sorry for my actions on Thursday everybody was jamming me for shoes, clothes, money so they could go on this trip and I should have not taken my hostilities out over you I am very sorry.
Seems the only time you seen me I was mad at somebody. Enough for myself how is your mom? Doing fine I know her and Lucious are! Please don’t forget to write me its awful lonley without you and the children. Did you get to see Ishi [Fortson, son] yet? Please once again forgive me! Here with anticipation of your next letter.
Love,
Hue Fortson
P.S. Father loves you!
—–
EE1-F30a – 30h
Hue Fortson Jr. Handwritten Letter to Jim Jones
Hue Fortson
P.O. Box 15023
San Francico, California
March 11, 1978
Jim Jones
P.O. Box 893
Georgetown, Guyana
South America
Dear Father;
Excuse me for writing you once again I know that you have the weight of the world on your shoulders and I can talk to Leona [Collier] about some things but she is in such physical conditions that I dare not to begin to lay this on her. And I doubly hate to let you know but it is going to end up you hearing about it in the end. I had written you in a previous letter about my relationship with Wanda Souder (Martha Souder’s daughter).
I have known her these last few months and I have a very strong feeling about her and her two children. She has suffred a lot in her life with her former companion; He used to beat her steal her county check and one time he broke out a window in front of her face and put glass in her eyes. He was a much older man (35) and she is 23, he is now in prison for selling drugs. And to show you how rotten he is where Wanda used to live there was some honkies living next door and they called the county on her claiming that she neglected her children, but I knew for a fact by looking at the childrens cloths and the neatness of her house, that she didn’t. So the county people couldn’t find anything wrong with her at home so they wrote her companion in Chino and he signed some papers saying that; “she was an unfit mother.”
Her dad didn’t like the church because he and his ex wife (Martha Souder) had a home on 102nd Street in Los Angeles, which AJ worked on and Kay sold for the Temple, he was hostile because of that and when his wife went to Guyana he found the newest article and sent Wanda photo copies of it to Wanda. She had an abortion for her ex companion who is in Chino because when they were together he was dealing “smack” and shooting his self up so she did not want to bring a deformed child into the world. She had another companion that was nice so she described him until he wanted to find someone else, she had a late pregnacy and the doctor had to operate. And the with me she or should I say we because she didn’t do it alone. She was 9 weeks and she and I discussed it at leath about the situation, we decided that for the good of the cause that if we truly wanted to start a relationship that it would not start this way and the problems that it would bring for you Father. As much as I wanted the baby and she wanted it very badly, even though we knew that we had no right to decide, we though what would be more loving do to. She went into the hospital and had an abortion. I had never before cried in a long time I think the last time I cried is when I saw the people not responding to what I was saying about you, this was in Los Angeles Temple and I asked myself why are you willing to go through so much suffering for people like me? I cried one morning, I was dreaming that I was holding Ishi [Fortson, son] and his leg was cut open and I hugged him and cried and I woke myself up crying holding the pillow. I must had cried for an hour one night on her shoulder, I was crying because of the pain that I was putting her through, wanting to keep down confusion and wanting to keep the baby and the physical pain that she would have to endure. She comforted me and then she gave me words of encouragement, that this is what we should do for the cause, then she cried also.
She is a strong woman in my eyes, and with the misunderstanding that Rhonda and I have wed. I lean more toward Wanda instead of Rhonda. I have been legaly married to Rhonda for 5 years and the whole time I can truley say I don’t know why? When she left for Guyana I didn’t shead a tear and many times people would say, “You miss Rhonda & Ishi”? I would say yes but deep down inside I would say no! Ishi yes but Rhonda no! So I thought about it for a long time even before I even met Wanda Souder. Rhonda has been a middle class black girl that had everything she ever wanted. Her family was like upper middle class and my one parent family was welfare. I think that I was marrying her to become middle class and she marrying me to get out of the house. I don’t know for sure about her but as I looks at me I see what I was doing now. Trying to be excepted for some reason? Rhonda is a very hard worker now and has done good things for the cause, but she has not been through much suffering in her life.
Sometimes I think that I am in a world of Fantsy where everything is alright or forgotten about with Rhonda.
I asked her to express her feelings to me in a letter, but she sent me a carbon copy of her other letters. Then I had to tell them over the radio to; “tell Rhonda to write me and tell me what she is going to tell her parents.” So that when I go to see them I would have some background information so I would not look stupid like I have been doing. When she did write it was the same old apology that she was busy and didn’t have time to write, I don’t argue the point that she is busy but there are 24 hours in a day and if she could write her mom and dad then there is no excuse. At one time I thought she only stayed with me because of my title in the church, she is the mother of my child and that is as far as my feeling go. Maybe its hostility from over the years building up and coming out now. I am not the best thing in the world by any means, but the feeling that I thought I had for Rhonda just aint there. And this just didn’t start in the last few months this has been with me for a while.
I am very invested in the relationship that I have with Wanda and her 2 children. It seems that I am playing a game with Rhonda and she writes me to keep my head on.
I love my son, but I could not truley say I love Rhonda. I admire her for her hardworks and being the mother of my child, but nothing more.
I will be looking forward to hearing that you did get my letter, I am sorry to take up your precious time with my problems, but I have no one else to turn to on this matter.
Thank you Father,
Hue Fortson
—–
EE1-F32a – 32b
Hue Fortson Jr. Handwritten Letter to Jim Jones
Hue Fortson
5/24/78
Apartment #1
Jonestown, Guyana
Trip from Matthews Ridge;
On our way from Matthews Ridge, Anthony, Johnny, Lydia [Atkins], Orleen [Poplin], and myself rode in a pickup truck owned by a man named Mike (He runs a store in Port Kaituma so said Anthony) and a man named Mr. Daniels who says he is a school teacher in the Campbellville District [of Georgetown].
He says that he was going to see his wife who was or is a school teacher in Port Kaituma. He asked us if we know her and Anthony said that he knew her because she was the only Mrs. Daniels who teaches in the one and only government school. Mike’s truck broke down about 16 miles from Matthews Ridge and out of nowhere a group of Guyanese Cowboys riding on a tractor with a trailer on it. We were pulled down the road until the rope broke and broke so small that there was no way to even tie up the bumper of the truck and the end of the trailer. It was dark and we looked on the side of the road there laid a long piece of wire rope! We tied it to the two machines and made it back to Matthews Ridge. After we got into the Land Rover with John (Julian Roberts friend) Mr. Daniels began to talk to us he acted like he did not know anything about the group but he had heard about the Peoples Temple he wanted to know where we were located. He didn’t ask to many more questions, he was very friendly to us and I told him that when I came to Georgetown. We shook hands and parted at the front gate.
Hue Fortson
He was a think Black man about Norman Ijames build a mustash and gold on his teeth and his completion was a little darker than me. He looked to be 32 or 33 years old.
5/24/78
Report from trips to Matthews Ridge to pick up Oreen Poplin
Hue Fortson
—–
EE-2-e-3a
Letter to Jim Jones from Hue Fortson, May 1978
May 24, 1978
Dear Dad,
I was wondering if Rhonda [Fortson] could approach one of the policemen in the Brickdam Police department. She goes there were new people come into the country. I think she would get what information she could even if she had to submit to sex. She and I have talked about what if she had to be screwed or even if I would have to do it was a man. We once made an agreement with one another that one when one day we may have to accept what little sexual appeal we have for the cause. [Marginal note by Sharon Amos: “He has a high opinion of his sexual appeal.”] From the way she has changed since 9 months ago in San Francisco
—–
EE-2-e-3b
she looks me in the eye now and tells me what she thinks. I noticed her in dealing with the men in Georgetown she was more willing to give then an argument than I was because I didn’t know our public relations and how important the men were to us. I’m sure that she knows that I understand fully what she has to do for the cause.
Hue
[Note at bottom of page 2 added by Sharon Amos]
I don’t think she knows herself well enough. She’s still too passive & I think she compensated with a man at our open house, talking to him alone – when she could have involved others in the conversation – She does have a cooperative attitude in the house – I just don’t think she could handle a sexual thing. Sharon