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Dear Mother Boston Dec 25th 1838I suppose you wonder why you have not heard from here before, but we have all been so driven we could not well write. I will writesome of my news without any order because I am in a plagy hurry.I have now attended school 1 quarter and 3 weeks over. A am now No 9 as to rank in my class. We had a week vacation at Thanksgiving and have1 day [today] for Christmas. Tell Charles that his cousin David Alonzois sentenced to 5 years in the state prison for stealing &c. He has appealedto the Supreme Court but Uncle Joseph thinks the sentence will beconfirmed. Almeda rec'd a letter from Uncle J yesterday. Aunt Estheris at Barnard Vt with Sam'l Comant. We have been through WorcestersGeography 1 half times $100 pages in Emersons Show past Arithbesides going through Colburns 1st lessons, 35 pages in French Grammar.I have of late excelled all but one (the head of the class) in WritingCompositions, & equalled him. We two, are chief of 49 in Writing Comp.I desire to hear all about all your school, farm, cattle, crops, work, studies, -New neighbors, prosperity, and peace; and everything else. Joseph M.Brother & Sister, I want to know about your condition, state, employments,studies, amusements, recreations, business, cares, troubles, and perplexities, &c &cso write me a long, concise & full letter. Isaac write me a letter in Langue Latin with Translation and I will try to answer it in TongueFrancois; it may be a useful exercise to both. Lucy & Eliab, if you will write me I'll try to return the favour. How many cattle have you sold?What kind of weather do you have? Last time I wrote you one of my titlesH.S. Tig will now write another, J. Metcalf,, Member of the English Classical Schoolof Boston which suits ye best? Good bye, M,E,C,S,BJan 4th. 1839, I wish you all a happy new year! Here issome news which I forgot to mention: as, Mrs. Thaxter has adaughter about 5 or 6 weeks old named Rebecca-James, think there will be chances for me to go into a WholesaleStore in the spring and get about $50. first year $100. 2nd $150. 3d year $200. 4th year &c. My board would probably cost $130per year at least* What is your opine as to what's best to do? JosephI see so many advantages in a good situation but that it is my privateopinion that I had better stay. I think he would find friends and perhaps be favouredmore than some boys would. He is a very good boy in behavior.I think him to set in his own way about some things I not willing enough to take advice[right side] but I have found him ready to give up his wage just as soon as he was convincedit was not the best. I think he is in the most danger in[top of page] this point and needs admonition and caution. He has some of the elements ofa great ?and we must look for its ? too.The honey was all sold in a week or two 1 / per lb amounted to $ .17 or 18 as much sentevery year would be quite a lift for you--without costing much.
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
3104px × 4964px 88.20 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_01_fl_03_008_001.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FDDH
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