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Milo Dec. 26th 1847.Dear Brother Isaac Your dear good long letters were joyfully rec'd a few days since, and now Sabbath evening after all have gone to rest but Mother and myself, I will begin a letter to you, not knowing however, when it will be completed. I do not often stop after commencing a letter until it is finished, but 'tis so late I shall write but a few lines tonight, and I am now expecting every day to go to Bangor. Have been waiting weeks for sleighing. We have had warm weather and frequent rains all the fall and winter thus far until within a few days. There is now a little snow - not so much however, but that waggons are used more than sleighs. People prophesy an open winter here abouts. The most agitating topic for the community in this vicinity is that the small pox is in Brownville. Two cases of it there, and eight, I believe in a woods camp beyond. Was carried into the woods by a Mulatto. They have a hospital camp in the woods and are not supposed to bring any more out to Brownville. Dr. Shepherd has had the Varioloid. Our schools are all stopped for four weeks and Dr. Kimball is employed by the select men to vaccinate. Some people are more easily frightened than is meet, you know. We had no meeting today, and shall not probably have many all winter. No preaching at all but Mr. Jones; he has withdrawn his stated appointments, but will be here occasionally. Sorry, lonesome sabbaths. It is late, so with a mental kiss and good night to you I'll- stop.Dec. 30th Evening. Will "try to attempt" to finish this letter tonight. Samuel and Oliver Furber spent last evening here. I have been at work three days and a half on my Herbarium��! Finished it - Alphabetical Index and all - today noon. That is, have just put in all my plants nicely, with descriptions etc. When you come home next spring I'll let you take it and fill[left-hand side] I believe I shall have to refrain from writing much to you, for if I will write, Mother will not, and I know you want to hear from her too![top of letter, upside down] Please remember my love my prayers and my blessing and my continual anxiety for your highest happiness but as Lucy is the scribe and will tell you whatever you desire to know of our affairs my letter if I think write one would be not much but Stale (not sage) advice therefore I will refrain from writing more at this time to my very Dearest Isaac from A.M.M.
Title
Furber, Lucy M. (sister), to Isaac Stevens Metcalf (also from Samuel W. Furber; also to Antoinette B.P. Metcalf), Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1846-1856
Creator
Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898
Date
1846-1856
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 2 Folder 33
BibID
821787
Size
2989px × 3689px 63.13 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_02_fl_33_009_001.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FE6H
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