Everything we know about the lives of the brothers represented by this correspondence has been gleaned from the correspondence. Emile Toulouse served in the Sapeur Pompier (Firefighter) in Paris and held the rank of Caporal from 1916-1917. Eugène Toulouse served in the 317th Regiment in the Infantry. In January 1916 Eugène is a Mitrailleur de Brigade (Machine Gunner). He gains the rank of Caporal by about January 1917 and becomes a Sergent in May 1917. Jean may have been the youngest of the brothers as letters from him do not start until April 1917. Jean served with the 44th Regiment, 68th Battery of the Artillery. In December 1917 Jean begins a training course as an Electrician.
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Toulouse Family correspondence, Ms.2012.017, Brown University Library.
A bound volume of letters written by brothers Eugène, Emile and Jean Toulouse regarding their experiences in the French army during World War I. The letters are all written to Emile by Eugène and Jean and a smattering of friends and cousins. The volume contains about 1,000 items. The correspondence dates from January 3, 1916 to November 17, 1917. It also contains a sheet of dried flowers collected by Eugène in the trenches during March - July 1915. The volume is a homemade scrapbook style volume. Thin strips of paper are gathered into signatures. Each piece of correspondence was then pasted to the strip of paper along one edge. The covers are made of paperboard and cloth and covered with blue paper reminiscent of the color of the French uniforms called "bleu horizon."
The letters were pasted into the scrapbook in chronological order.
This volume was purchased by the Brown University Library from Bonnefoi Livres Anciens in 2012.
This entire collection is contained in one scrapbook volume with the title "Correspondances Militaires" handwritten on the spine. The sheet of pressed flowers from the trenches dates from March to July 1915. The correspondence dates from January 3, 1916 to November 17, 1917.