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Milo Apr. 1st 1844Dear MotherHere I am at home in the little north room,and here I expect to stay for the present. I arrived at Bangor,Tues. eve March 19th - staid at Mr. Pomroy's a little more than a week - enjoyed myself much, came up with Mr. Cutts last Thurs.I found the schools in Bangor, begun when I got there, so I saidnothing about it nor told any one that I thought any of taking onethis spring - Mr. Walker and Wakefield are on the new committee chosenafter I got there. I found Charles keeping house all alone and gettingalong very well: Lucy had been gone four weeks I suppose they havewritten you from Foxcroft, so you know more about them than I do,I had a comfortable passage, only I was very sea-sick and havehardly got over it yet. It cost me six dolls, and half to get to Bangor,to get to Milo $8,50 including all expenses, If I had known about theschools, and how comfortably Charles was getting along, I would have staidtwo or three weeks longer in Boston. I hope you will not be in a hurryto start, but stay till the 1st of May, at least, for it will be less expensivethen, and the travelling will be very bad till about that time. I wish youwould buy and bring a parcel of palm leaves really split, for I amconvinced we could make something by braiding them to sell them oneat a time round here. Almeda sent a letter to me while I wason the way home, sending for some things, which of course will bein Boston &c. but which you had better not take out, but let it goon to Washington as there is nothing of any consequence in it,Almeda can send her directions in this;When you first get to Boston we want you should fixupon a time to start for down east, - you can see by the papersthe days the steamboat runs, and write to us when you aregoing to start, and Charles will be at Bangor - he wants togo down when it comes good wheeling, - if you write someto get any thing we think of, - either in Boston or Bangor.Mrs. Child when she learned my loss, presented me with $5,00which was very kind of her.
Title
DeWitt, Elizabeth Anna Rich (half-sister), to Anna Mayo Stevens Rich Metcalf (mother), Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1840-1846
Creator
Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898
Date
1840-1846
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 4
BibID
821787
Size
3086px × 3955px 69.87 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_01_fl_04_007_001.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FDEF
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