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My Dear Children Milo 15th Nov. / 53 Your very surprising proposition has been constantly thought of and faithfully talk'd of But I got before my story I mean to say that C. reciev'd your letter last night. C thinks favorably of going and a number of circumstances seem to favor his going he had already sold 10 tons of Hay and Pratt's man is here today buying Cattle so that he can dispose of all he wants to at a fair price I suppose but what to do with the nice Grey Colt is the query he is big enough to sell or to work but has not been broke in so that he is not Saleable nor so Suitable to leave to growhe has two younger ones 1 2 years the other one - which he means to keep Charles has a nice square Chamber finish'd off with a little Closet with shelves, & three nice large drawers on the South side of it & on the north a dark room large enough for a bed but design'd cheifly for a clothes room - has got the back chamber where the hir'd men sleep lath'd and plastered all nice. A granary & workshop in the west end of the woodshed so that he wont have to carry corn wheat oats & beans etc. etc. in to the chambers - wasn't you a leetle disappointed when Anna did not go to see you as she expected I have not yet learned the reason why she did not tho' I had a letter from her a few days since I shall know all about it when I hear from Lucy againC. has just sold some of his Cattle to pay on the debt for all he has been so situated with Pratt that couldn't very well set his own price & now and 2 or 3 times before he has sold the cattle from 1 to 5 dollars more than he gave, just as soon as he got them before he drove them out of town. I wish C. was a littleright-hand side more like S.W. Furber about trading.
Title
Metcalf, Anna Mayo Stevens Rich (mother), to Isaac and Antoinette B.P. Metcalf (wife), 1852-1860, Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers
Creator
Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898
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 4 Folder 82
BibID
821787
Size
3477px × 4318px 85.94 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_04_fl_82_012_001.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FG7P
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