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Charles my dear Son I want to impress upon your mind Eliab's idea that if you would bathe in cold water wash in cold water sit in cold water like it would help you as much as to have a hired man you would feel so much smarter so lively & strong (But by the way I scold him, for thinking so much of water) he comes home from his work, & so tired & his back so weak he can hardly sit up - then he'll go into his chamber & sit in a tub of cold water, then rub & wash himself till he is all in a perspiration - and go off to his work in the afternoon feeling quite well as he says. But I wish he'd use cold water a little less & that you would use it a great deal more e.g. wash all over once a day in water not very cold & rub and dry yourself thoroughly you would lose no time by it for your would feel so much better that you would more than gain it. You can hardly realise how much more dilegently and constantly the men folks so work here than at Milo. It seems to me that our 3 men folks are not idle an hour in a week put it all together they frequently don't get home to supper till half past seven[upside down]20th To Almeda my Daughter We had awhile ago kind a fix up a plan to have (or see if we could have) you come here & stay 2 or 3 weeks (leave your cow & boy James at Charles's) while I went home & then 1st of July vacation will commence & Lucy & Jane do the work by hiring washing they are old enough & it seemed as if they might but when we came to examine it all round we concluded it would not do as Netty would not be in condition & you would need some fixing up to leave so long so we give it up - & Lucy is going to try & get a girl- if she can't make out to get a good one I shall stay and do what I can, perhaps Lucy A. can help some in the vacation. I think I could get along with the work but the so constant care is sometimes a burden - we have breakfast ready at half past five - write whether you and Lis could come and carry me home at the of a fortnight or 3 weeks if I should write to you that I want to go I cannot tell yet, you know, whether or when
Title
Furber, Lucy M. (sister), to Anna Mayo Stevens Rich Metcalf (mother) (also to siblings; also from Samuel W. Furber), Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1850-1856
Creator
Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898
Date
1850-1856
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 25
BibID
821787
Size
2897px × 3630px 60.21 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_01_fl_25_002_004.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FDVA
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