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I think it uncertain whether I can continue my school here, the times, and the high estimation in which the public Schools stand, do affect private schools & will continue to to do��; If my school were ever so permanent, I should much rather keep common school in the country as to the business itself, but it is a great privilege to attend meetings, to be in Sabbath School and to be associated with Christians, on this account I should feel it to be a great trial to be obligated to give up my school. Except in this respect I do not feel at all solicitous about my school, but am willing to continue if not, just as Providence directs As to my boarding place it is pleasant, I have enjoyed myself very well ever since I have been here. Almeda wrote you that the eldest daughter 18 years old hopes she has experienced a change of heart, you can judge what a source of happiness it has been to me to see her serious, anxious, and finally, decided in the Christian course. She meets with some opposition, is not allowed to go to any 'night meetings' & has to bear some tauntings etc.-- She attends Episcopal Church within a few doors of us and will probably unite with them & the minister I have heard, he is an evangelical preacher and a devoted Christian apparently; Our Sabbath School is very large & more than usually serious, six members of the Bible Classes have become hopefully pious within the last six months. My class contains seven, it has been much more interesting the last year than before, I usually attend meetings every Tues. Friday, & every Saturday singing meeting, & every Monday in the month but one. the last Mond. in the month we have a trail visitor's concert very interesting. Our Sewing circle is flourishing meets once a month, or oftener. I have lately become rather, intimately acquainted with Mrs. Hancock, wife of a Sea Capt., and engaged Christian, a member of our church & the teacher of the Bible Class which Susan (where I board) is in, through her (Mrs. H.'s) means, Susan and I have been invited to attend a social[left-hand side] In reading over my sheet. I feel most ashamed to have used the first person singular so much, that I have no space left for many other things I should like to say. I should like very much to receive a letter from Charles, but I can excuse him however his many cares and labours. I feel for him--it seems to me his path of dull reality is truly a rugged one; how much he needs the comforts and supports and blessed hopes of religion without which, it seems to me, that my life would be a burden. I feel anxious for the children deprived of all religious privileges except the study of the Bible, and that I hope they will attend to. Do not work too hard Mother, and do spare yourself time to read and to read and especially to write oftener. I want to know more particulars.[right hand side] I should think all the children need to pay special attention to writing. [top, continuing from another page?] began to keep school: Lucy must be aimable, neat, & industrious all she can & learn.
Title
DeWitt, Elizabeth Anna Rich (half-sister), to Anna Mayo Stevens Rich Metcalf (mother), 1832, 1835-1839, Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers
Creator
Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898
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 3
BibID
821787
Size
3092px × 3790px 67.09 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_01_fl_03_007_002.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FDDF
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