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So you, my dear sister, had your childhood and youth been passed in the full tide of health and luxurious self-indulgence, would your spirit now be tender and loving, your disposition amiable and kind? Again, had I. at your age been settled with a companion I loved, in a situation to gratify my tastes and my ambitions- I fully believe that I should have been very cold-hearted and selfish, lived and cared only for myself, perhaps been haughty and imperious- doubtless much more unlovely in character than now: It is true of me as the phrenologist said, that the social principle is the most strongly marked mere ambition, my feelings, very warm and earnest most usually predominate over judgement in the pursuit of any desired object, it is perfectly natural for me to run headlong headless of consequences. The All Wise only knows what I should have become without His retraining Hand. He has hedged my way, he has held me with bit and bridle. It is very probable, nay certain to my mind that Almeda will do more good, contribute more to the happiness of her friends , and consequently enjoy more herself than if her four prospects had not been blasted and her path made narrow and thorny. If the wisdom of the dealings of Providence can be plainly seen in reference to the world, how much more, in the preparation for a higher and nobler state of existence. So Joseph and we all may have cause to bless the afflictive rod which at present seems so dark and trying. Perhaps too the unfolding of Providence may make my mission more plain:- my energies of mind and body and heart too, may find full employ in ministering to his comfort and happiness and how much rather to be chosen than "eating the bread of strangers! A stranger, a mere boarder, has no right to expect, or want, sympathy or indifference - if sick or lonely, or sad, or weary, what matter? who cares? - I do not complain - have no reason to: the experience of a stranger -a mere passenger or sojourner is to new to me. Sister Anna[left hand side]I have had my same old velvet fixed over with blue satin folds on the edge and crown, lined with white. This is the third winter I am wearing my Thibet dress and cloak without any alterations just as good as new![top of page upside down continued from 3 previous pages back= page 1 of this lette]chapter of experience. I am finishing off my education now. Mean to learn all I can.
Title
DeWitt, Elizabeth Anna Rich (half-sister), to Lucy M. Furber (sister) (also to Samuel S. Furber), Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1850-1851, 1853
Creator
Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898
Date
1850-1851, 1853
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 2
BibID
821787
Size
3057px × 3857px 67.50 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_01_fl_02_001_004.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FDBP
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