1855 09 22 Eli Johnston to Wm Andrews

To Wm Andrews

from  Eli Johnston                                                           Sept 22 1855

Good Morning Bill    We are away out in the Indiana  got to Fort Wayne

that same day and took the Packet [?] in the evening went down the Canal

40 miles to Lagro  got there the next morning about daylight   was then 28

miles from James   got conveyance immediately and arrived at James in the

evening  Wasn’t that going it?  Started Wednesday morning  got to James

Thursday evening  found James family all well but the youngest child had

the ague a little  not bad.  I am now at Horace’s   Eliza has the

ague a little too  not bad however.  I have not seen any of the rest

but suppose they are all well.  It is not as sickly here as it is in Richland

County   I have nothing interesting to write.  Your Mother was a little

tired when she got to James but not as much a if she had gone by way of

Warsaw.  We made it pay [?] going the route we did.  Write soon.  Direct

to Beaver Damm, Kosciusko Co., Indiana

Yours, Eli Johnston

1855 01 06 William Parr to David Andrews

to Mr. David Andrews   Newvill  Richland County, Ohio

from William J Parr       LaSalle, Peru  Illinois           Jan 6, 1855

Mr. David Andrews

Dear Sir,  I was verry agreeable surprised a few days ago by receiving a letter from

you, and am verry happy to improve this first opportunity to answer it.  We are all well as

usual.  Mothers health is verry poore indeed, she is verry much afflicted with […….]

complaint, which renders her verry helpless  she cannot walk and has not for more than

four years and in all probability never will again, her apetite is generally good, she is not

able to sew or knot [knit?] her arms are so much affected.  Father is moderately well, though he

is failing verry fast from […….] [……..] [……] especialy in winter.  Brother James and

family are well they have two children, both boys, one is three years old and the othr one

is nine months.  They live verry near to us. Sister Jane Delatour is living in Granville,

four miles from us, they have four children  they are all well at present  three boys and a

girl   Sister Mary Robinson is living near Platville, Wisconsin  I payed them a visit last

November  they was all well  they have six children, two [….] […..] five girls and one

boy.

We have had a verry severe winter since the first of January and continues so, plenty of

snow, good slighing all the while   we are verry anxious to see some of you, and indeed

all of you,  we live in sight of a railroad, but it is seven miles to the nearest depot which is

Peru.  You wished to know what the prospect would be for getting a skool in this vicinity.

I do not want to discourage you in the least but the fact is we have so many female

teachers that it is rather a dull prospect in that respect but I think you could gt

employment at some profitable business but I can give you verry  […] encouragement in

that way not with [….] […..].  I hope you will come and see us  I think that you

would like this country verry much and there is a good chance to get into business of all

kinds, but farming is the main employment as that is the most profitable from the fact

that we have a soil unsurpassed for richness and easy cultivation and a convenient market

[……] seven miles.  I can make two trips a day from where we live and haul with one

span of horses forty five bu of wheat, and fifty bu corn and seventy five bu oats at a

[……..] this will doubtless look strange to you but never the less it is true.  Grain is worth

at present  wheat $1.10, corn 41 cents, oats 28 cts and farmers are rather backward in selling

at these figures as they expect to get more as soon as navigation opens.

We had excellent crops in this part of the state last year and a good prospect for next as

the winter wheat which looks well.  This country is improving very fast  land is now

worth from ten to thirty dollars per acre.  Land around here sells verry hie.  We could sell

our farm for twenty five dollars per acre tomorrow if we wer so disposed.

 We would like to see your mother out here and I think she might come and see mother for

it is impossible for her to go as she is so helpless and could not go if she was well enough

for we have to keep a girl all the time and she could not have […..]

Now I must close  believe I have written all that would interest you and hope that you will

write soon again   giave my love to all the family and all the friends and especialy to all the

pretty girls if you have enny that is not engaged.  nothing more at present but remain your

humble servant and cousin

William [S?] Parr

1855 08 02 James C Andrews to Mother Brothers and Sisters

                 Beaver Dam      Aug 2^nd 1855

Dear Mother Brothers and Sisters              i take

this opportunity to inform you of our healths  we are

all well at the present time except myself

i have not been able to work for about a week

with the piles but i am getting some better

today than i have been –  I received  a letter from

mary Jane dated may the 11^th and i rec a letter from

John last thursday  he wrote that you wer all

well on the fourth of July as that was the last

time he had seen any of you

we have had the wetest time here that you

ever seen in harvest  it commenced raining

two weeks ago today and it rained every day

since more or less until today it looks like as

if it would clear off – harvest was verry late

here this harvest so that about the time that

we got our wheat in shock the rain came on

so there it stands yet and is verry much

spoiled some of the hudders is sprouted four

inches long –but if it keeps dry today and

tomorrow that we will get it hauled in

we have the best wheat and oats crops this year

that i ever saw any where the corn and

potatoes looks first rate as yet

the health of the country is first rate at the

present time i do not know of any person

sick in the country at the present time

the small pox broke out about six miles from here

about two months ago and there was several

died with it but they have got it stoped again

the Jefferies and Tuckers was all well the last time

i heard from them – I suppose you are looking

for us in there this fall but that is out of the

question for us to go in this fall as we will

not have the [funds] to sp[are]  it is pretty

tuff times with us yet as we have but

a small opening made yet and then looseing my

team last fall makes it hard times to hire a

team to do all my plowing and evry thing

but i have a young yoke of cattle comeing

on that will be three years old next spring

and by that time they will be able to do

a considerable of work – now Mother i think

that you could come out this fall and see us

a great deal better than we can go in to see

you   you and one of the boys could take the

cars and be here in twenty four hours from

the time you start if you could only just

think you could come there is nothing to hinder

you from comeing and if you cannot come yourself

besure and send some of the rest of them

out for i cannot wait longer than this fall

to see some of you it is now four years this

fall since i saw any relation atall of mine

I want you to come out and see my wife and

children as we now got three of them  the youngest

of them a boy now four months old we

call him William Harvey  tell William

that there will be a dress expected for the name

Now i want some of you to be sure to come

out this fall and i want you to besure

and write as soon as you get this and let

me know whether any of you is comeing

or not and write particular how unkle John

and family is getting along

So nothing more at present but remains yours

until death                James C Andrews to

Mother William Mary Jane David

 Joseph and Samuel --  I want you to write whether it is

so or not that unkle John has a cancer on his breast

1855 09 01 James W. Carrick to Mary Jane Andrews McFarland

                                                                                    

Harrison County  September 1^st 1855

Respected friends    I now sit down according to promise

 to inform you that I got home on wensday evening before

 sundown   the first day I drove to New Philadelphia which was

 between 45 and 50 miles   I found the family all well in middling

 health  Wm is complaining a little with the headache   our

 people got a letter from Steward and Ellen  the day that we

 left home  they are both in middling  good health  they have got

 back to Illinois  they expect to be home the fore part of October

  we have been verry busy thrashing yesterday and the day before

 and I had not time to write till this morning and I do not intend

 to write much for the breakfast is nearly ready and Mary

 Ellen is going to town as soon as she eats   you can tell aunt

 Peggy that Jacob Riggle and Mary Ann has come back bag and baggage

 and she is shaking with the ague   they are going to live in one end

 of the house with Ezra Thompson and Jacob is going to farm

 old John Matson’s place    Sarah wants you to come in with

William and aunt Peggy   She says she wants to see you badly

     But I must close give my bes respects to all the family    no more

 at present but remains yours  [……..]  JW Carrick

 to Miss Mary Jane Andrews

                        PS I intend to write to Steward

 in a few days and see if he will come home by your country

 or not  I understand that Ellen wrote to Nancy McLaughlin

 that they had promised to come home past Logan and aunt susan

 kerr    Wm Kerrs widow was to come home with them if that is the

 case it is likely that they will come strait through and

 not make any stop

Second page

Tell aunt Peggy that I got along very well by myself

   I did not get asleep and fall out of the buggy

I never felt a bit sleepy

1855 07 30 James W. Carrick to niece Mary Jane Andrews McFarland

                                                          








1855     July 30th

Dear friends I now sit down to write a few lines

 to let you know that we are all well at present hoping

 that these few lines may find you all enjoying the same

 blessing   I received your letter may the 4^th and was glad

 to hear that you were all well and I am verry sorry that

 I have been so negligent as not to have written to you

 sooner but I have been verry busy this summer and I hope

 that by promising to do better for the time to come that

 you will excuse me         Steward and Ellen left home the 15^th

 of may to visit Illinois and  Iowa   we have had several

 letters from them   they found the friends there all well except

 aunt nancy Parr  she has pretty good health but is verry

 much crippled with the rumatism   she has not walked a step

 for three years and has become quite lean and poor    I

 received a letter from Steward a few days ago and Ellen had

 had a little brush of sickness but was getting about again  they

 are both verry much pleased with the country and the  talk

 of moving there.  they do not expect to be at home till the

 fall  we have had a verry wet season  a great deal of rain and high

 watter   we have had a middling crop of wheat but it has been

 so wet that we cannot get it into the barn and it is growing in

 the shock   it has rained every day for two weeks and it is raining

  to day    there is a great deal of hay down and it is pretty much all

 lost   we have good crops of corn and oats    the oats is all lying down

 and will have to be cut with a sickle

[Second page]

the friends are all well unkle david is still putting

 off that suit from time to time and what will be the result

 I cannot tell  it is still part of at his expense where the money

 is to come from to pay the costs is more than I can tell

      I have it in contemplation to go out to your country after

 harvest with aunt peggy but I am afraid that the harvest

 will be so late that there will not be time and there has

 been so much high watter and so many bridges swept away

that I am afraid that the waters cannot be crossed if we

 do go it will be some time yet as we are not near done with

 our harvest    aunt peggy has better health this summer than she had

 last    she is able to ride on horseback some and she can

 walk about and has better use of her hands than she had last

 fall and winter     she has a good appetite for her victuals

       it has been very healthy here this summer  there has been a great

 deal of thunder and lighting and a great deal of high watter

  it injured our plank road a great deal   some four or five of

 the bridges is washed off    as this is a wet afternoon I thought

 I would sit down and write a few lines to you and I want

 to know if I should take aunt Peggy out   if there would be

 any chance of any of you to fech her home in the fall  she

 says that she would rather not stay all winter as she

 would like to be at home when Steward and Ellen comes

 home    she would like to know before she leaves home       write

 us a few lines as soon as you get this and then we

will know better how to arang business befor she starts

no more at present but remains yours ……

Mary Jane Andrews                                                                                          James W Carrick