Old Letter--Ohio to Quincy, Illinois, January 1840
Al Wootten
by her parents pulling out old letters from the family Bible and
reading them. I recently obtained a copy of several of these letters.
This one mentions many people, a number of whom I do not know, but who
might be of interest to people on soc.roots. Furthermore, the story
it relates of one family's westward trek is, I think, interesting and
sheds some light on how people of the time viewed the west. I have
tried to transcribe the letter exactly--few punctuation marks and no
spelling changes! The word 'perarer' undoubtedly means prairie. The
letter is from Edith Richards to her mother. Both families were Quakers.
Edith A. Richards (16-MAR-1794) - (08-AUG-1866)
m. (11-AUG-1814)
Isaac Davis (20-FEB-1783) - (20-MAY-1847)
TEXT of letter addressed `To Esther Richards fairfield pos office Columbiana
county ohio ohio'
HAW note: Letter from ggg grandmother Edith Richards Davis to her mother
Esther (Daniels) Richards. As this letter relates, Issac (5) Davis and his
wife Edith left their home in West Township, Columbiana County, Ohio, near the
Pennsylvania border, on 22 May 1839 (?) to head west. Isaac's (5) mother,
Hannah Hildebrand, remained behind, as did Edith's parents Abijah and
Esther. The oldest of their ten children, 25 year old Elisha and 23 year old
Esther, did not accompany them. Elisha had converted to Mormonism and gone
on a mission to the eastern states shortly before. Newly married in
London, he caught up with his family in Brigham Young's wagon train to Utah
shortly after the deaths of his father, Isaac, and younger sister,
Sabina in May 1847. Esther joined her family before this, and moved
to Iowa with them.
At the writing of the letter, Sabina was 21 and had married Isaac Harrison
in Ohio. Ruth was 20, Betsy 18, Hannah Jane 16, great-great grandfather
Issac (6) Davis was 13, Eli was 10, Edith was 8 and Mahlon was 6. There
are several Isaacs here--fifth and sixth generation Davises, Sabina's
husband, and Sabina's husband's uncle! Edith's grandfather was Rowland
Richards; the Rowland referred to was probably an uncle.
M quincy
january the tenth 1840 Dear affectionate and aged mother i now take up my
pen to inform thee of our health situation and travels knowing by
experience thy desires to hear from thy children we are all well at
present hopeing this may find thee and the rest well tho we hav had some
sicknes in our famly since we came to this state we sent somthing like too
thousand weight of our goods to welsvill and directed them to napels in
morgen county where we foud them all safe when we got ther. we loaded oure
wagon with clothin beds and vitles as liht as posabl and started from
rochester on the twentieth 2 of may and with Isaac Harison and too other
familys and traveld (illegible 7-8 words) blustering rains and little hail
until we came to indiana ther we gound bad roads and mud a plenty and on
the turn pike we found ould Isaac James who was remarkeable glad to se us.
If I had not bene expecting him i would not of kown him isaac and sabina
went on to his uncle isaacs who was just in sight. we taried a short time
and then went on to Richmond to atticus sidles and slept a short time and
Sarah told me that uncle david holoway lived in town and thought as i never
saw any of my fathers sisters i would call and se them so we went ther and
spent a short time with them the desired us to stay all night but our
company could not tary so we went on and left isaac and sabina at atacus
sidles all night and the over took us next day at noon. Oald isaac was
very much rejoiced thinking that john and Esther was coming to live with
them and justifyd us very much for leaving columbiana county we left
richmond went on throu doublin Mary parcton lived there but we had not
time to stop i saw more people ther with plain coats on than i saw sinc i
left home Then we traveld on throu indianoples and tary hot where we crost
the wabash a large (illegible) of (illegible) then to springfield
(illegible) other vilags to tedious to mention and came to the ilanoys rivr
at naples where we found ours goods we crost the river into pike cunty,
having feryd two other small rivers between the wabash and elanoys we
traveld about fifteen miles in pike county to jonathon hoops who was the
firs acquantance we found we got a hous in milton a small vilage and Isaac
being very mutch woryed and afflickted with boils and having to go back to
naples for our goods and lay all night in the wagon in the perarer he got
home and in a few days was taken with the diare which turnd to the
disentery and has a few chils and some fever having docterd after this old
methed and fearing it might fail sent for a tomsoian doctor who was counted
very skillful he gave him what he culd a fiseck but it vomited him from too
hours by gun(?) till midnight and we thought it would not be stopt but i
gave him some salt and water which stopt it but he was brought lower than
he ever was befor if we had a little more patience he would done beter with
out any doctor than with one he was many weeks not able to se to any thing
than giting beter one of our nabers told him he had forty acres of parer
broke up and he might sow some turnip and the boys hared an acrer and we
had one hundred and sixty bushels of the hanssomest turnips i ever saw, and
we could go out gether buckets full of black berys and grapes and crab
apples the largest and best i ever saw and i have eate persimens in pike
county and after we came in this stat we saw the level perrars some of them
(illegible) days journy thru them and coverd with gras so high and cattle
all quantys feeding on them and horses and sheep in abundance and
(illegible) delightful farmes and hundreds by hundreds of acres of corn as
hansom as could gro out of the earth and the wheat and oats fields so large
that we could not se how far the reachd and as thick as it could stand and
not apear of any thing but the pure grane to be seen i am senceabl that a
man might live better hear on rent than he could on land of his owne but
the land is very mutch taken up except milatiry land we hav not got setled
yet on that account but expect to by or rent this spring we left pike
conty in october and hav come to quincy in adams county a hansom vilage on
the missippy river it is n(?) as larg as lisbon and the governer of the
state (?) here and ther is a hous here that c(?) one one third of an acre
of ground and the pay it caust one hundred (?)ousand dollars to build it
and it is ocupyed with stors taverns (granary?) boarding houses land ofis
and i dont know what all corn is fr(?) twenty cents to twenty five and
fl(?)is can be got at four dolars per baarrel and whate sixty too per
bushel and porke too dollars and a half and three dollar a hund and beef
three dolars a hundred and potatoe go twenty and twenty five buter twenty
five and store goods about like the ar(?) i heard that Eli has left
columbiana county and gone to another (?) county i wish he had cept on down
the river to quincy and went with issac in the iway in the spring i often
think of Abijah and more patikerly of Rowland because he has to rent and if
he was hear on a good farm he would be richly pad for his labour and
expense when we come we camt out evry night but one and wen the weather
looked like being stormy we got houses for the famly to sleep in and isaac
and me slept in the wagon for six weeks that we nevr lay in a hous and the
wagon apeard lik home to us and the children never complaind nor said the
wer tierd but we all came on charry and stopt on the last day of june we
hav had quite a pleasent winter so far except about theree days in the
begining of winter was extreemly coluld and the wind very high balis Davis
went up to commers about crismus and sabina came home with him and staid a
week with us and Edwin wooly and his wife went and took her home in a home
in a slay and the are well and betsy is in pike county a living at doctor
roberts and they use her well and is sending her to school i hav not seen
her for nealy thee months but her father was ther and she is coming to see
us in the spring the giv her a dolar a wek and say if she stays a year the
will givs her good bed and a cow and silk dress and wimons wages is heare a
dollar and a half and too dolars a week and (?) but once issac went out and
earnd three bushels of corn in a day a huskin corn we can get beter bargins
hear in store goods than we could ther domestic muslin can be got for
twelve and half cents per yard by the boult there was a steam boat went up
the river to day but it will be as mutch s it can do to git up ther has
none went up this severl weaks before our children is all going to school
we hav had a leter from Elisha and balis had one and it stated that he
could be at the (?) home the last of this month or the first of next month
if the river broke up which was grate satisfaction to me and when the river
braks up we will look hard for him and Esther and isaac says he will go
down to the landing of evry of evry steam bote to se his brother and sister
come and pilot them up to the hous Sabina said that her father in law
(?letter?) stated that esther thought very hard that we had not wrote to
her and she had a good right to as well i have to think (?) that she staid
behind but i cant give her up if she was here she could do better than
there for she has worked a number of years and not able to git a bed and a
cow yet. My heart is drown out with affection towards her and all of you
when i consider the great distanc ther is between us and you it is six
hundred miles by land and twelve hundred by water but the (?) in ten days
on steamboat and (?) of no (?) except one woman as she was going down the
steps in the night and ice being on them she slipt of and was frowned after
looking a short time for her came on and left her which was a triing
curcumstance for her her husband and too little boys i write this that who
ever came on steam boat might think of it we think that this country is mor
subject to the fever and ague than ohio but we find it is those that expose
themselves that have it mostly eli had it last fall very hard but has got
well he of a more weakely constitution than any of the rest the all had
some litle bruses after the came in this state on account of the change of
water for it is very hard in this country and for my own part i think was
never hartier in my life than since i came to this state i just will
mention that ther is to be a conference held in commerce the sixth of
aprile as i thought that Elisha like to be at it and i want thee if he
comes ther to sho him this leter and Esther too i would hav wrote her a
leter too her but sabina and Ruth boath started leters to her i intend this
leter to answer for all my relatons and friends so i must soon come to a
close and bid you all fairwell in the lord so farwell affectionate mother
brothers and sisters and dear children and remain thy affectonate daughter
and well wisher Edith Davis to Esther Richards
the snow is nearly all gon and it apears like winter was a going to brake
up our children gose to a free school of betwen on hundred and twenty
scolars and four teachers Ruth sends best respects to her sister and
cousins and giv mine Daniel james and milly and tell Samuel i often think
of him luging up and down them hills while there is so much level land in
the world oure time is up her the first day of march all that i can say
more is fairwll to you all
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| Alwyn Wootten \/ |
| National Radio Astronomy Observatory ^ |
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