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opportunity to make use of the same sermon a number of time which some have. Last week I went with father to Concord. I enjoyed the ride and the glorious Autumnal scenery very much. It seemed to me 'tho trees had never before assumed colors so lifelike so brilliant and lustrous. No wonder the poor foreigners thought America had painted trees. The leaves already begin to fall, and while I write, they drop, one by one, from the maple trees by the door. Father says he does not love to think summer is gone - he likes the warm weather. Does it seems any like New England where you are at Mr. Root's? Or, have they become thoroughly westernized by this time? Does he have a considerable audience to listen to his Sabbath Service? I was much interested in the story of your Sabbath experience. I have never attended a Class meeting - but from what I have known about them I have formed a very favorable opinion. Mother has attended them, and has often said she thought a similar service would be of great benefit to any people. Very glad you found so good and kind a friend in Dr. Lucas and hope his care and prescriptions have made you much better ere this. I suppose it will be some time before you will be fully well and strong again, even if you recover as rapidly as could be expected. It seems as if I could hardly wait for your next letter, to tell me how you are. I believe I mentioned in the last letter, that I should be glad to hear once in two weeks. Perhaps you will think this altogether too great a demand on your time. If so, of course I would be unwilling to have it so, - but a very short letter will do a very great deal of good. I am writing in father's study now, and I do wish you could hear the music. It is a delightful day; warm as summer, and the buzzing fly, the chirping cricket & the "hum-drum grasshopper" are performing each their part, and a merry little bird perched on the topmost bough of a maple tree, plays an interlude occasionally. But I must stop, or the mail will be gone. But one thing I had almost forgotten. Father wished me to ask whether, if you decide to remain West, Minnesota would not be as promising a field of labor? I suppose it is far healthier- perhaps even a better climate than New England. I believe father thinks it, perfection. I did not like to ask, because I did not love to think of your being a
Title
Metcalf, Antoinette Brigham Putnam (wife), to Isaac S. Metcalf, Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1850-1866
Creator
Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898
Date
1850-1866
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 104
BibID
821787
Size
2906px × 3833px 63.77 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_04_fl_104_010_004.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FFPD
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