Newberry Library - Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, to Antoinette Brigham Putnam Metcalf (wife), Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1850-1866

Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, to Antoinette Brigham Putnam Metcalf (wife), Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1850-1866

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Open book Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, to Antoinette Brigham Putnam Metcalf (wife), Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1850-1866

Title Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, to Antoinette Brigham Putnam Metcalf (wife), Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1850-1866

Creator Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898

Date 1850-1866

Place United States

Subjects Bowdoin College, Brothers and sisters, DuQuoin Coal Company, Illinois Central Railroad Company

Format Business records, Correspondence, Diaries, Genealogies, Invoices, Manuscripts, Personal narratives, Records

User-Contributed Transcription of any village containing 100 inhabitants, no not 20 inhabitants, I think. I wrote to you some descriptions of our first stopping place. We found such all the way through, some perhaps a little better, and some worse. I should have preferred taking a tent with our wagon, and making ourselves as comfortable as we could with our own shelter, but the arrangements were made before I came, partly from the impossibility of finding water except at the houses. So we boarded everywhere at the Farmer's houses. On one account I liked the arrangement. It gave greater facilities for getting acquainted with the people, mode of life etc etc. I suppose the people here are quite different from there in the Northern part of Illinois. Here they are mostly from the South, some few from Ohio & Pennsylvania. About all came here very poor. This is however one of the most fertile regions in the world; almost every kind of crop, cotton, rice, & tobacco, as well as wheat, corn & oats, grown here with very little labor. The people are the most indolent I ever saw and yet every one has big fields of corn and great herds of Cattle and hogs. They all eat Cornbread & bacon, and drink sour milk and lots of coffee. They seem to want nothing more, only some sort of log hovel for shelter; or if they ever think of more, are too lazy to work for it. Still they have many good qualities, are kindhearted hospitable, and if they would take as much pains or exert themselves to better themselves as they will to accommodate or oblige another, they might soon be comfortably off. A real "Yankee" is quite a curiosity to most of these people, and they stare well at first to see a man eat who will drink neither coffee or sour milk. "As well as" I can judge however they generally soon form a pretty good opinion of a "Yankee."! One of the worst things here is the water. I have always been in habit of drinking a good deal, especially when employed out of doors. I soon got so as to like the River Water, (well iced) even the thick cream colored

Transcription Status Needs review

Transcription Note This document was transcribed by volunteers as part of the Newberry Transcribe crowdsourcing initiative.

Archival Collection Title Isaac Stevens Metcalf papers, Midwest Manuscript Collection

Link to Catalog View finding aid | View record

Call Number Midwest MS Metcalf Box 7 Folder 174

BibID 821787

Rights Status No Copyright - United States

Contributing Institution Newberry Library

Newberry Open Access Policy The Newberry makes its collections available for any lawful purpose, commercial or non-commercial, without licensing or permission fees to the library, subject to these terms and conditions.

IIIF Resource Type Canvas

Size 2925px × 3829px 64.12 MB

Filename 998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_07_fl_174_011_002.tif

Unique Identifier NL11FJGZ

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