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A. Dunbarton July 8 Dunbarton July 8, 1850.My dear friend Had you been here this morning you would have found me busy about the usual employment of Monday - rub-rub-rubbing. My mother had been so unwell, for three or four weeks, that we have endeavored to finish the washing, for the week, before I go away to school - so that my Monday mornings are no leisure season for me. - but washing is complete now, and a little corner of time is left, before I must go to my week's duties which I improve in writing. Your good letter. was received with much pleasure, last Saturday. I had been looking for it a little longer than usual, and it was the more welcome. Very happy to learn that your brother is no worse and that your sister had so far recovered her health. I wish I could tell you that my dear mother's health was good but this is far from being the case. I have very littleMilo, July 1850[left-hand side and top] "fairest in the youngest" "and yields the sweetest fruit". Is little Lizzie included in the two of your sister's children you mention? I have a class of six little boys in the Sabbath school. O, how much a teacher ought to do to lead the young and tender mind to Christ. He is just the friend they need to keep them from this wicked world. And my own dear brothers are growing up and going forth into the world, to meet its thousand snares, without- this Friend.I must tell you one thing about my rosebush. Every bud with one exception unfolded on the Sabbath. Is that not a little singular? We think it teaches us a very sweet lesson.I think you must be very happy with your brother notwithstanding you must be indoors so constantly. I should like to see a copy of that "Cedar Grove Botany" when it appears. My scholars are very much interested, at present, in the language of flowers. This furnishes a very pleasant theme for conversation in the morning before school, and I hope it is somewhat profitable also.Father and Mother send love to you. Father says it is probably you have recieved a letter from Esq. Steele in this. He told Father some days since, he intended to write. But I must stop. Yours very truly, Antoinette.
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 103
BibID
821787
Size
2427px × 3112px 43.25 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_04_fl_103_007_001.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FFM1
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