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Ann Racine Oct. 24th 1848Dear Sister and brothers all, I arrived here night before last, wrote a letter of five pages to Mother yesterday, & improve this next moment writing to you. This must travel 1700 miles to reach you, which it will do if prospered in a fortnight so I shall have to wait a month before hearing from any of you, which will seem very long. You see by my date that I am at Racine, Wisconsin on the western shore of Lake Michigan. It is a pretty village, now an incorporated city, of eight or ten years old, contains now five or six thousand inhabitants and is rapidly increasing: it stands on a bluff 40 or 50 feet above the lake to which it slopes down at one end, it looks really pleasant and is called healthy. I am situated in the family of the Presbyterian minister, Mr. Hopkins, whose wife has a school for young ladies, 60 pupils at present, the 'seminary' just across the street is commodious, contains four rooms and there is to be the scene of my labours: Mrs. Hopkins does not teach many of the higher branches, expects me to, while she has the main responsibility of the school & spends all her time in it: her husband has been settled as pastor three years she commenced a school when they first came, at the solicitation of a few pious persons, in order that the business of instruction here might be in the hands of Christian teachers, - has had to struggle with difficulties, cannot afford to pay a very high salary at present, but the Committee considered it a very important point to make and retains a stand here in Christian influence - there are residents here, from six or seven different nations of Europe besides different parts of the United States though chiefly settled from N.E. & N. York and Ohio. bottom of page is ripped so only some words are legible I was to receive 15 per year ? 20 ????? my situation on pleasant and ?????[left-hand side] When you write to Olive, tell her to write to me. I do not know where to direct to her.
Title
DeWitt, Elizabeth Anna Rich (half-sister), to "folks" or siblings, Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1845, 1848, 1851, 1854
Creator
Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898
Date
1845, 1848, 1851, 1854
Place
United States
Subjects
Bowdoin College
,
Brothers and sisters
,
DuQuoin Coal Company
,
Illinois Central Railroad Company
Description
Use the link to the finding aid for a fuller description of collection contents that explains the use of the name and subject terms appearing in this catalog record.
Summary
Correspondence, writings, diaries, and journals documenting family and rural life, as well as early business correspondence and records, and a few photographs, all pertaining to Isaac Stevens Metcalf and the Metcalf, Furber, and Putnam families. Family correspondence was used to keep all of the branches of the family in touch with each other when family members moved away. There are many instances where multiple family members wrote on one letter to one or more other family members, and some people even wrote "family letters" that were intended to be shared amongst parents, siblings, and the like. Topics of family correspondence tend to be related to religion, daily activities on the farm, weather, and the news of friends and relatives (births, deaths, sicknesses, etc.) Business records of Metcalf's pertain to land ownership, railroad engineering and construction, and running a coal mining business. The mid-19th century business records also document tax payments and some reports including labor and payroll expenses. There are a few drawings and sketches from Metcalf's tenure as division engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad. The first accession of these family papers was a donation of the letters between Charles W. and Albina Rich, given by Grace Leadingham, Charles Rich's granddaughter. This gift was facilitated by Keyes D. Metcalf, 17th child of Isaac Stevens Metcalf.
Biographical/Historical Note
Railroad engineer, farmer, and businessman of Maine, Ohio, and Illinois during the second half of the 19th century. Isaac Stevens Metcalf was born in Royalston, Massachusetts, on Jan. 29, 1822. His father, Isaac Metcalf, had married Lucy Heywood in 1810; she died childless in 1820. In March 1821 he married Anna Mayo Stevens Rich, the widow of Charles Rich, by whom she had had three children (named Charles, Elizabeth Anna, and Almeida). Isaac was born to Metcalf and Rich, followed by Joseph, Lucy, and Eliab. Isaac Metcalf (father) died in Boston in 1830, and the family relocated to Milo, Maine, where half-brother Charles had purchased a farm. Isaac Stevens Metcalf lived there with his mother and siblings, preparing for college and working on the farm until he entered Bowdoin College as a sophomore in 1844. He graduated there in 1847, having taught school while studying engineering. He surveyed and built railroads in New England until the spring of 1850, when he became a division engineer on the southern section (near Centralia, IL) of the Illinois Central Railroad. Metcalf worked closely with the Chief Engineer, Roswell B. Mason. Metcalf remained on the job until the line was completed to Cairo, IL, in 1855. While in central Illinois, Metcalf purchased land and with his partner Chester A. Keyes laid out the railroad town of Du Quoin, which was officially dedicated on Sept. 20, 1853. On Jul. 5, 1852, he married Antoinette ("Nettie") Brigham Putnam, the daughter of prominent New Hampshire minister John Milton Putnam. The couple had twelve children, three of whom died young. They settled in Elyria, Ohio, in Nov. 1856, to be near Metcalf's half sister, Elizabeth Ann (also known as Ann Elizabeth), and more family joined them within the next ten years. Metcalf and family lived in Elyria for over 41 years, farming and running a flour mill while Isaac Stevens Metcalf maintained business interests in Du Quoin, Illinois (real estate and coal mining). Antoinette died Aug. 14, 1875, and three years later Metcalf married Harriet Howes. That couple had six boys. Harriet Howes died of pneumonia Dec. 7, 1894, and Isaac Stevens Metcalf died Feb. 19, 1898, age 76. A more complete Metcalf genealogy family, focusing on the children of Isaac Stevens Metcalf, is available in the Special Collections Department information files. The genealogy was compiled by Keyes DeWitt Metcalf, 17th child of Isaac Stevens Metcalf.
Extent
10.8 linear feet (20 boxes and 1 oversize folder)
Format
Business records
,
Correspondence
,
Diaries
,
Genealogy
,
Invoices
,
Manuscripts, American
,
Personal narratives
,
Records and correspondence
,
Sources
Archival Collection Title
Isaac Stevens Metcalf papers
,
Midwest Manuscript Collection
Rights Status
No Copyright - United States
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.
Contributing Institution
Newberry Library
Link to Catalog
View finding aid
|
View record
Call Number
midwest ms metcalf Box 1 Folder 22
BibID
821787
Size
3043px × 3885px 67.68 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_01_fl_22_002_001.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FDR9
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