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Saturday Eve. Oct. 13th ( I believe) 1849.Dear Brother Joseph I was at Bangor yesterday, and Eliab gave me your last two letters to him. They made me feel very bad. It seems to me I cannot believe that you are really growing worse. I don't know what to say to you. I cannot bear the idea of your going away, and yet I am afraid it is best. I don't see how you can go. You are not able to endure the journey. It seems to me you will be all worn out before you could get to any water cure establishment. I do so wish, if it is best for you to go at all, that you had gone the first of last summer, when you were better able. I dare not say anything to discourage you, for I don't know but it is best. I don't know what to say. Would'nt it be better (no matter what it costs) to get a hydropathic doctor to come here and doctor and take care of you, than for you to try to go away so far? But if you do decide that it is best to go, ought not, must not, Mother go with you and stay as long as you stay. What is money compared with life and health and comfort? I dare not say anything either in favor or against your going, but I should think of it well. I can pray for you, dear brother, and I do constantly, that if it can be, you may be restored to health - and resigned to whatever may be in store for you. I have thought of it a great deal. and am very glad that you are so patient and cheerful as you have always been since you have been lame. It does not seem right, certainly, in such a
Title
Furber, Lucy M. (sister), to Joseph M. Metcalf (brother) (also from Samuel W. Furber; also to Anna Mayo Stevens Rich Metca..., Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1844-1850
Creator
Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898
Date
1844-1850
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 45
BibID
821787
Size
2980px × 3724px 63.53 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_02_fl_45_009_001.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FEMQ
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