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Cottage Grove Oct - Nov 4 1851Dear Samuel & LucyYour kind letter was received week ago last Saturday, also Mother's miniature - we all think it a perfect likeness - you were very good and kind to send it. I am so glad she had me taken - Father started last Friday to go after his goods, I don't know when to look for him because it is uncertain where he will find them he may have to go nearly to Chicago, and he may meet them on the river - we did not dare to wait any longer for fear the Lake would freeze and we should not get them this Fall - they have been a constant source o anxiety to us ever since we have been here - I have looked for them so many times that I almost think sometimes they never will come; but I must learn to wait and be patient - we have felt the need of them very much - Theodore and John have gone up to the Fort today to have an experienced surgeon look at John's arm - I am very fearful he will have a stiff arm - Alfred is to work at Theodore's today and I am left to myself - I have washed, and eaten my solitary dinner and now have nothing better to do than to write to you - how lonesome it looks here - there is no kind smile to greet me when I look up and ask me what I am writing to Samuel but silence and sorrow are my companions - everything looks gloomy - the sky is cloudy, and the wind blows cold and chill rustling the dry leaves about our dwelling - Images of the past come thronging bout me - I see the "Old house at home" and with it all the pleasant associations of childhood and youth - I see the happy household band - I hear the kind voice of my Mother Oh! can it be that voice is hushed forever? But I must drive these thoughts from me - We trust that our Mother is now happy in Heaven, let us strive to walk in the "straight and narrow path" looking with an eye of faith to Him who is willing and able to save all who come unto him - then we may hope to meet her there. Oh, what a blissful moment when the friends long severed on earth, shall meet in heaven - I feel that this hope is mine - I trust that through the merits of Him who died to save us, my sins have been forgiven what a blessed hope that when our earthly pilgrimage is over we shall be received into the presence of God our Savior - Sometimes the thought comes
Title
Furber Family: Furber, Mehitable ("Bell") (Samuel's sister), Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1850-1851
Creator
Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898
Date
1850-1851
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 3 Folder 63
BibID
821787
Size
3077px × 4695px 82.70 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_03_fl_63_010_002.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FEZU
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