Wagon Train Travel Letters

Manuscript copy of (12) riveting letters home from husband and wife, G. Nelson Allen and E. A. Allen, and daughter Lizzie H. Allen, while they were travelling through the mid and southwest, 1857-1860. It appears as if the copy, nicely penned in an unknown hand, was made circa 1890s-1910.

Letter locales: New Philadelphia, Ohio; Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin; Fort Des Moines, Iowa; Cass Co., Iowa; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Fort Kearny, Nebraska. A 13th letter is dated much later, 1887, from Camden, Delaware, but also mentions this trip. 35pp total, octavo and legal.

Fabulous content: Traveling to Pike's Pike; wagon trains as far as the eye can see; men heading for the mines; Sioux Indians; horse stolen; Pawnees begging for food; and more. Great local color and description.

This batch of Wagon Train Travel Letters is up for sale on Ebay Item number: 170287256399.

Key West Fla. Sept 5th 1862

William Hopper who was a Hospital Steward in the 90th New York Veteran Volunteers Regiment. The letter is dated Key West Fla. Sept 5th 1862. The letter reads:

My Dear Wife,

On the 1st of this month I had a slight attack of yellow fever which might have proved fatal had I not taken it in time as it is life or death very quick but by good treatment and attention I have recovered the treatment was a hot mustard bath after taken the bath I was wraped up in woolen blankets and allowed to sweat in the mean time I took a large dose of castor oil....if I had not known the symptoms I should have no doubt let it run on me until it would be too late. I am all right now unless I get another attack. I will return to duty in 3 or 4 days. I get good care here. Please let me know how much you owe Mother up to the 1st of September. Our pay is due again but I don't suppose the pay Master will come here until the fever has disappeared from the Island write soon. I got a letter from Ben saying Edward Andariese has gone to the War he says Astoria is all clearing out to the War. Your affectionate Husband Wm H Hopper.

This Civil War letter is for sale on Ebay Item number: 310107115968.

Civil War letter by William Hopper

Civil War letter written by William Hopper who was a Hospital Steward in the 90th New York Veteran Volunteers Regiment. The letter is dated,"In the field in Camp near Kearns Town...April 6th 1865." This letter is dated just three days before Lee surrendered to Grant, in the letter he mentions Lee. The letter reads:

My Dear Wife

I received your letter last night I was happy to hear you and Katy was well we left Stephensson Depot on the 4th to March up the Valley it rained very fast when we started. We started about oclock P.M. the roads are very muddy we halted about 4 miles above Winchester where we remained all day yesterday and I think we will today there is an order issued for us to have two Pair of shoes. I think we will get the shoes today and start again tomorrow. I think our destination is Linchburg about 150 miles. I miss my log house very much the last two nights also today as the weather is very stormy. I have simply a shelter tent now to protect me from the storms my bed upon the ground I was very much afraid I would take cold after our march by lying on the ground but I did not I am pretty tough yet. I sent all my suplus clothing to Baltimore for storage. We belong to Genl. Hancocks Vet Army now by transfer from Sheridans. I did not go to Harpers Ferry as I expected to and I have not been able to ascertain the reasons of it but I think Col. Thaumon got wind of my movements and frustrated my designs before the order for my detail was issued. You may seal up my cheverons in a close package and forward them I will risk them coming all safe. It is thought Lee will come down the Valley if he does he will find obstacles in the way such as Hancocks Corps Carries. Portions of which has been concentrating at this place. I did not think there was so many troops in the Valley as I now see. I expect we will have some hard marching up through the Valley when we get under way which I expect will be tomorrow. Write again soon I remain as ever Yours. W.H. Hopper Address me thus W.H. Hopper Hosp...90th N.Y. Vet. Vols. 1st Brig. Dwights Div. Harpers Ferry. Va.

This letter is for sale on Ebay Item number: 310107115760. If William Hopper is one of your ancestors you may want to place a bid.

Spring Grove, Florida, Lizzie M. Clark

1881 Spring Grove, Florida

Letter home from northerner, Lizzie M. Clark. She describes her impressions of the Spring Grove area (including Jacksonville) in eight filled pages. The letter also includes her floor plan sketch of the house -- showing piazza, hammock, etc. She mentions her "colored" washer woman, sweet potatoes for breakfast, riding in a donkey cart, gorgeous sunset, orange grove, Florida "crackers" who come to hunt deer, and more. " She appears to be living with her husband on the land of a Mr. Greenleaf.

"There are five men to work the grove - three white; and two colored - the latter are pleasant & willing and do many things for us."

Henry Jennings letter 1798

Henry Jennings letter dated 1798. Henry Jennings has written a letter from Norwich, to his mother in Preston, CT. The letter relates his trip withh the Ship Hope, a ship of 16 guns..... and signs Henry Jennings.

Kiona, Benton County, Washington

Letters written in 1927 by Herman Ohms, a 37 year old WWI Veteran (ex-Marine) who is living at Kiona, Benton County, in the Yakima River Valley in the state of Washington and presently employed by the Northern Pacific Railroad. He has written these letters to a pen pal by the name of Robert Meador who lives in Goodview, Bedford County, Virginia. Olms’ two letters are described as follows:

--First letter dated 18 January 1927, is 4-pages written in ink on lined white paper. Ohms introduces himself to Meador and proceeds to write a little about his 20 years of travel throughout Western America and a lot about the Menominee Indians he grew up around in Northern Wisconsin. He describes their diet, lifestyles, living in teepees in summer & log houses in winter. He explains and draws a diagram showing how bears were caught in deadfall traps. He writes “I have had some of the older Indians tell me how they got Mr. Bear . . . the Indian would back up to a large tree one that the Bear could not reach around. Then when the Bear came to attack him, as you know that a Bear always squeezes his victim, the man would have a sharp knife so when the Bear made the squeeze he would disembowel the animal which would be the end of Mr. Bear. It must of took some nerve to do this.” He gives further interesting details of the Menominee Indians of Wisconsin.

--Second letter dated 30 March 1927, is five-pages. Ohms writes Meador that he has been working early & late loading sheep onto stock cars of the NPRR. He describes a recent arrow hunting expedition and his efforts to reproduce the Yakima Indian’s method of making tools & arrowheads. He goes on to describe present conditions of the Yakima Indians: “All that is left of this tribe is on the Reservation at Topnish, WA about 38 miles west of here and number about 500 all told and most of them are Breeds as the full blood Indians are about gone. They live on land allotted to them by the Government and do very little work usually in the fall. They pick potatoes and before 1915 [prohibition] hops, but no more hops.” Meador then describes in detail watching the Indians fish-for and hook salmon in the Yakima River.

This group of great Kiona, Benton County, Washington letters is for sale on Ebay Item number: 360110713250.

Stephen Pike, Burlington, New Jersey

Handwritten letters, 1805-1825. The material centers on Stephen Pike (1786-1826) a Burlington, New Jersey teacher and merchant who married Rebecca, a daughter of the noted Rev. Thomas Scattergood. Pike is an interesting writer who frequently punctuates his letters with humor and personal musings. He was active in Quaker affairs and there are many names and commentaries. All but a few of the letters were penned by Stephen Pike and many were sent to his good friend, Thomas Kite, in Philadelphia. Other correspondents: Rebecca Pike, sister Sarah, and Miers Fisher.

Highlights include:

Three detailed travel letters home, 1819, Union, PA; Salem, Ohio; Fredonia, New York; from Pike's horseback trip to towns in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York. Content on a salt mine, maple sugar camp, journey into coal mine, Lake Erie, Cattaraugus Indians, more.
Hears Elijah Hicks lecture
Dr. Physic to treat Susan Emlen's cancer
ALS Miers Fisher - death of William Redwood
Fascinating descriptive portrait of the "little Prophetess" Mary Roscoe [married name Hinsdale -- later figured prominently in Thomas Paine recant controversy]
Quaker meetings; prominent visiting ministers
Brief excerpts:

1819 [Pike enters 400 ft into PA coal mine with lighted candle] - "There are a number of passages crossing each other at right angles like the streets of a city; what represents the blocks of houses, however, are but 6, 8, or perhaps 10 feet square - through these passages a cart is drawn to the extremes where the coal is dug..."

1819 [Sandy Hill Meeting, OH] - "...the smallest meeting house I think I have ever seen...built of logs...with sliders to separate the men and women..."

1819 [Ohio salt works on Yellow Creek, north of Richmond] - "They bore the earth, mostly through solid rock...descending frequently to the depth of three hundred feet...a tube is inserted to pump up the salt water from the bottom."

1819 At Lake Erie, Pike is mortified to find himself unexpectedly on board a vessel of war while on an outing with Commodore David Deacon. "My opposition to the spirit of war was by no means lessened by this accidental visit..."

1819- [Buffalo, NY] - "I passed through the Indian Village at Cattataugus...I was much interested in seeing the uncivilized aborigines of our country in their native haunts...I saw a number of the Indians of both sexes apparently enjoying their indolent repose...I met one party of young folks on horseback. They galloped by me with smiling countenances, their faces ornamented...with streaks and spots of red paint." More.

1819 [Crosses Carthage Bridge, NY] - "Conceive of a bridge of a light, airy structure, two hundred feet above the surface of the water, the principal support being a single arch of 300 feet springing from one perpendicular precipice to another...; [seeing people on bridge from below] "...it appeared as if [they were] passing over a rainbow among the clouds."

1813 [Elijah Hicks] - "I had the satisfaction of hearing him, for the first, at an appointed meeting he had here...He was eloquent on his two (I almost said favourite) topics..." More.

1814 - "Dr. Physic, who is now sick in the same family is an instance of one who has attained to their every pinnacle...and is very far from being lifted above the calamities of life. He has come to relieve his afflicted friend, but he is, himself so much afflicted by disease as to be unable to perform the necessary operation."

1807 [Philadelphia Yearly Meeting] - "This being the yearly meeting week we are crowded with company and fare sumptiously...the streets are swarming with plain gowns...the doorkeeper of the women[s] meeting house was curious enough to count the number that attended it and computed it to upward of sixteen hundred women in one house."

1824 - "Sister Scattergood has had a tedious time with a felon on one of her thumbs...Her son Joseph has also been much afflicted with a swelling on his arm. Above seventy leeches were applied. Afterwards it was oppend and since that town or more pieces of bone have come from it..."

Prophet Mary Roscoe

1814, 1815 - "Mary R. rose and began an interesting and very instructive address...she appears to speak only in compliance with a higher power.."; "...there were many in the meeting as well as myself, enamoured of the beauty of her lines, and exicted strongly to desire the possession of what appears so noble, and the same time, so lovely."; "I am told she fainted several times in attempting to speak in public,"; "She resided for a time in Willet Hicks; family, and it troubled Willet & his wife not a little that they could not, by any means, induce her to sit with them at table. I suppose they considered her a sister in the highest affinity, being, spiritually a child of the same Divine Parent, a partaker of his favours....but he insisted that the kitchen was her proper place..." More.

Note: Three letters have content on Mary Roscoe -- her family background; sermons, personal nature. Although none of these letters are complete, they do contain a lengthy Roscoe portrait - about 2pp. legal total. One letter with paper loss at bottom; two lacking signature pages. [See last photo.} Mary Roscoe (later married Henry Hinsdale) played a prominent role in the Thomas Paine (1737-1819) recant controversy.

Edward Brooks to sister Sarah

June 1864 letter datelined 11 US Inft 1st Brig, 2nd Div., 5th AC-We have had no fighting,... but since tow oclock this morning we have been hearing musketry in the 9th corps. they have been very rapidly cannonading for a couple of hours ...we are now within 2 miles of Petersburg, but the confederates still hold that place. ...we have been making our way here from near cold harbor, across the Chickahominy, to charles city court house and yesterday we crossed the james at windmill point some 25 or 28 miles below Richmond. the trains crossed on a pontoon bridge said to be 2100 feet long... the troops crossed in transports. the 2nd corps crossed on the 15th and the 9th corps just afterards.. the 18th corps under gen smith went by transports through white house and up the james and was the first to advance on the south side of the river.. I hear a cannon about twice a minute, it is about 10 am, and firing will probably cease soon. June 18th we moved out hospital...we took earth works and the commanding position of this whole vicinity which the rebs would not have yielded if they had intended to make a stand against us.. These heights overlook Petersburg and only a mile distant so that 3 church spires are in plain sight above the tree tops.

Georgetown, Washington 1834

A one page letter with integral address leaf from F.W. Dodge of Georgetown, Washington, District of Columbia, to his nephew Allen Dodge at New York. Dated Georgetown, September 2, 1834, the letter combines business with complaints of illness.

This letter is for sale on Ebay, Item number: 190263574632.

Bremen, Georgia

A single hand written letter of 10 pages (6 leaves, 4 have writting on verso too, ca. 8 1/2 x 11 inches) is on Southern Fruit Growing and Colonizing Co letterhead and concerns real estate in Bremen,Georgia in 1896.
The letterhead has the names of four company officers across the very top, a depiction of a formal fruitbowl with fruit in it on the left hand side, and the company name mentioned above. Under the company name is printed information concerning the company: An Enterprise Conducted by Practical Fruit Growers for the Promotion of Fruit Growing at Bremen, Haralson County, Georgia. Situated at the Junction of the Southern, and Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus Railways Shipping Faclities not Equalled at any Other Fruit Growing Point in this Section.

The, letter addressed to J S G Edwards of Glen, N.Y., is a long letter containing a great deal of information. The writer attempts to sell lots from a recently organized company. He refers to a prospectus, which is not present here, but he goes on to discuss most of what is probably in it anyway: claiming the truthfulness and accuracy of its information. He mentions the grapes which are already grown in the area, the start of a canning factory, the beautiful weather, the various kinds of fruit that can be grown on this land, they own or control 8,000 acres, beside grapes, he mentions berries, blue berries, festive tomatoes, apples, peaches, cherries, plums - in fact, he states, all fruit do well. As do Irish potatoes and grasses.

He knows that the person addressed has the qualifications of a civil engineer and appeals to his background and knowledge as well. He also states that Natives like the American Indian are being rapidy pressed backward and crowded out.

Ebay Item number: 320312158192

Warren Hobbs to William Newhall 1823

An excellent letter from Warren Hobbs to William Newhall. Three pages and well written., letter details the people of Virginia. The schools of Virginia and how they are not up to standard as northern schools. He is a northern man who has moved to Virginia to teach., and talks of the people and their kindness to him. The many grand plantations situated back from the roads., with a lot of woods between. It is a fine three page letter written and signed by Warren Hobbs.

The town markings are hand written, dated underneath., 22 March., has a rate of "25"., going to William Newhall, Leicester, Massachusetts.

Philadelphia, 1832 J.N. Fitch

Dated Philadelphia, 1832. letter regarding Choleria in Philadelphia by J.N. Fitch - Physician. ALS, 3pp, 4to, plus integral address leaf addressed to Dr. Lewis Wolfley, Lancaster, Ohio. Nearly two pages on the cholera: visited two hospitals in Phila.; saw 25 patients; spoke with physicians about treatments; gives the recipe for a compound used in "the common premonitory stages". Fitch observes, "Bleeding is not resorted to in any case.

I found this letter for sale on Ebay, Item number: 220295322531. If you are interested just follow one of the links to Ebay on this blog.

War Department 1785

Up for sale on Ebay is a original document dated 1785, War Department; where Joseph Carelton has written a letter to Major Wyllys; requesting muster rolls of discharged troops so that proper payment can be completed.

Joseph Carelton was acting Secretary of War between General Benjamin Lincoln and General Henry Knox....Acting Secretary at War, 1783 to 1785 Acting Secretary at War (while Secretary in the War Office), November 1783 to April 1785; Deputy Secretary at War, May to November 1785.

If you would like to take a peek at this document or place a bid just follow one of the links to Ebay on this blog.

Item number: 180295583850

Walter E. Lick Olcott Texas

To Lt. Walter E. Lick. Ellington Field Barracks 52, 2nd Prov. Squad, Olcott Texas. Letter From A.H. Olson. June 24, 1918. Written on writers business letterhead: "A.H. Olson D.C. Chiropractor"-------- Letter Mention In Part: I resume by this time you can do the spiral glide and loop the loop. Do you know where you are when you loop the loop? Heads up or tails up? Heads up you win - The Class A1 men are all gone here and they are going to change some of the rest to Class A1 at once - Papers says 250,000 will be changed, they have me Class 5G - I was #314, some looked like Ghosts and some looked green very few had a smile. This was in the Cleveland Court House on the 3rd floor. We went around with nothing on only trousers until we saw the MD's - Marble floor cold on bear feet - Writer mentions brothers enlistments - & More.

You can find this letter on Ebay, Item number: 330274906869.

Whitesborough, New York, 1841

Letter by Laura Dexter of Whitesborough, New York, 1841, with postmarked integral address leaf to Edward North and reads in part: "McLeod's trial is the all absorbing topic of the day, our quiet, peaceible village, has been under military guardianship for many weeks, by orders of our good & careful whig Governor," William Seward, "an armed band have patrolled our streets, breaking at intervals the still watches of the night. I am thankful that thus far, the law has taken its course, & McLeod is unmolested, but I fear the result, if he be acquitted, as many curses, both loud & deep, have come forth against him, and a war with England instead of being deprecated, seems with some to be the great desirable."

Andrew J. Glover Rockingham County, New Hampshire

A 3 page letter with a red paper seal on the front., from the State of New Hampshire., Rockingham County., an order to the sheriff. A citizen is asking for the arrest of another for his crime of breaking and entering his home and stealing all sorts of items.

He used force to enter his home., he stole 50 lbs of salt pork, 20 lbs butter, 3 lbs of candles, 12 silver spoons, one silver butter knife. The letter is more detailed, has other pages of description of the thief., named Andrew J. Glover., with the autographs of the Judge and the Sheriff and the person who has filed this arrest order, Elbrdige Robinson.

Kokomo Indiana Love Letters

Up for auction on Ebay is a group of 40 handwritten vintage love letters to a woman by the name of Daisy B. Smith who lived in Kokomo Indiana at the time these letters were written. The letters are written by her soon to be husband, Howard Spitzer who owns his own business in Mount Vernon Ohio called “Spitzer’s Shoe Parlors.” The earliest letter is dated March 21st, 1912 and the last letter September 1st, 1913 only 9 days before the couple gets married.

“Tampa Fla. March 21st, 1912

My Dear Friend,

…..I sure wish I lived close enough to you so we could take a moonlight ride. I am fond of them aren’t you. Well we will keep getting acquainted better every day and I am going to reveal a secret to you right here and I trust you will forgive me for not telling you sooner. Now hold your breath. Do you remember one time I wrote you and told you that I did not like the southern girls, however I was foolish enough one time to marry one and I am what some people call a grass widow. Now what do you think of that. We could not get along together so we called it quits. I know this will be quite a surprise to you and I have wanted to tell you for some time but have just put it off……I don’t believe you would be satisfied away from your people….I remain as ever, C. S. McCalister. Sunlight Mfg. Co.”

This group of letters would be a fantastic find for someone working on a Spitzer genealogy.

New Orleans 1846

Letter written March 22, 1846 from New Orleans by Hiram A. Goodlett to his mother, Mrs. Harriet Goodlett, in Alexandria, Benton Co. Alabama. Benton County’s name was changed to Calhoun County in 1868. The letter includes a ½-page note to his brother Alfred.

Important letter filled with fascinating observations about New Orleans, its population, fashions, etc. Hiram begins by writing that he had become uneasy, having received “Only one letter in two months.” He continues, “This is a great and growing city, and I think I shall do well here yet…There are people of all nations and kinds here…The rich and the poor are near neighbors…Poor people ought not to live in cities [because] it requires wealth to be fashionable, and if families do not follow fashion, they are out of the world…All cities are more or less filthy, and a person from the country accustomed to neatness, though poor, would be disgusted with what they could not avoid…It is a great benefit to a person, of the right turn of mind, to live awhile in a city…A farmer settled in a good country, with enough for independence, is the happiest man on earth…Most persons [in New Orleans] dress finely, and the women extravagantly…There are three theatres, circuses, galleries of paintings and numberless other places to take a man’s money.”
The note to Alfred encourages him to continue his studies: “study Book Keeping…You ought to improve your handwriting by all means.” He suggests that if Father can sell the lot “on which there is a meeting house” near Goldville (some distance from Alexandria), their father can have Hiram’s share of the proceeds.
In addition, there are descriptions of the City’s distinctive cemeteries, the Mississippi River and its steamboat traffic, ships, etc., the cost of lodging and his difficulty finding affordable accommodations, cotton seed that he is sending and wants Alfred to plant (“The seed is worth $4 per bushel here.”), “I was vaccinated two weeks ago and it took well, so I shall not fear the Small Pox”, etc., etc.

1864 Civil War Letter Horace Holton

1864 Civil War Letter written by a Mississippi Riverboat Captain relating to work on the river with his Sidewheeler - the "Polar Star". The letter is dated December 2nd, 1864 from St. Louis, Missouri and written to Horace Holton's cousin George at Charlestown, New Hampshire.
The Letter reads in part: "Dear Coz George, /I think you owe me one but I will overlook it. I have had a gay old time since I wrote you. been 9days, most all long ones on a sand bar in the middle of the "big Muddy" only 40 miles below the City. I loaded my Polar Star for Duval Bluffs, Ak and started with an old hull in tow for Cairo on the 19th of Nov. and when 20 miles down struck a bar & snapped all my tow lines like pack thread. The boat wiggled off without difficulty & I caught the hull before she grounded & again we went on our way rejoicing. About 40 miles below at Herculaneum bar we grounded again and our hull floated 4 miles down the river & lodged on a sand bar... It took me 3 days to get the boat off and 6 days to get the hull off and then the water had fallen so much I had to leave it and 1105 sks (sacks?) of oats & sending the other boat along, come back to get another boat to tow the hull and take the oat along. Total loss by detention $4,000... This is some of the beauties of Steamboating, How would you like it when you come out West to see me, I will take you down the river, if I own a boat then, and let you see for yourself.... / Yours, (signed)H. H.".

1864 Charles N. Sake

LETTER DATED JUNE 12TH, 1864. A letter from Yonkers [New York] by Charles N. Sake? addressed to his mother.

Dear mother I am thinking it is about time to wright.....Charles tells his mother about his work, pay and friends which he wants to bring home for a few days. He also tells her “they enrolled our names last weak so we are all right for the next draft when they draft I will make track for some place unnone this world is larger bigger than New Milford mutch as two [ ? ].”