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My excursion to Chicago cost me 3,25. am glad I went.The various shifting of circumstances, - the arrangementand ordering of the complicated fretwork andframe of Providence, has its fearing on each individual being nicely adjusted to suit the need or accomplish theresult intended for each, so the same train of eventsbrings infinite deities of fortune and experience accordingto the varying circumstances of each one:-If last March, Miss Marsh's brother and friendswho had professed to be friends - hand not turned againstMr. Hopkins, my situation through the summerwould have been very uncomfortable, my stayunwelcome without any great blame anywhere butsimply from the natural workings of human nature,thus events very painful to Mr. & Mar. H operate ina measure, in my favor. As it is Mrs. H does not wish toretain Miss W. if she could get along about AlgebraI don't know but I shall try to study it myself, butI do not want to; - in order to secure the needful elasticity of mind while much demands one made uponthe physical and mental nature as must be in teachingsteadily: one needs ease and recreation rather thanforced and worrying application. It was a mistakein me not to make myself acquainted with thatand practical Botany: with my experience in thatcase I could command a much more desirable situation.Mrs H means to have me keep the school while she goes east:without much vacation till last of Aug. It will be harder for me, I spend the summer, especially after Mrs. H. goes. for the governess housekeeper and myselfone like the repelling, holes of the magnet. She dislikes me is a person of[right-hand side]very strong prejudice; is terribly fidgety, awful particulars with one of the sharp[top upside down] cold blue eye, sarcastically dictatorial: -- where Mrs. H. like her, I shouldnot have been her assistant long. I have some petty annoyances but not perhaps taking thetrouble to write; something amiss is found everywhere, some faults in every character, here is the[left-hand side] most perfect management in housekeeping; everything orderly, nice, comfortable.
Title
DeWitt, Elizabeth Anna Rich (half-sister), to Anna Mayo Stevens Rich Metcalf (mother) (also to Lucy M. Furber and Almeida ..., Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1850-1859
Creator
Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898
Date
1850-1859
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 6
BibID
821787
Size
3098px × 3911px 69.36 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_01_fl_06_002_004.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FDFA
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