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Dear Sister Warwick Dec 25 1847 I have not writen to you since last winter and I dont know as I shall make out now but I will try. last winter my health was very good but in April I was taken with the influenza had a dreadful cough and sore mouth lost my appetite and suffered a great deal for 4 or 5 weeks but after I got up I was pretty well through the summer about four weeks ago my well arm was taken lame it pained me nights but after I got rest I could work all day till last week it was taken worse I was afraid I should I should entirely lose the use of it but it seems to be gaining now but it is very lame yet. if it has been the other arm I should had a Dct. Seen it but that bunch dont trouble us any more than it did two years ago I suppose it grows Some Mr. C is pretty well for a man 72 but he is Deaf and you know he never was like Aaron Bass in the house but Hannah does every thing she can for me So I am well. I suppose you no Esther has gone to Barnam She said she had been confined there ? years and I suppose had to bear a good deal. She got a little nervous and fretful said she needed some change so she came here and stayed awhile got all ready and Harvey carried her to Brattleboro the last day of Nov then she went in the Stage but had to stay all day and all night in Woodstock So it cost her something but I have had a letter She enjoyed the journey grandly she says I think they are glad to have her there but there is no chance for her to lay up any thing She works very dilligently has a great desire to do good in the world and really has done a great deal of good in this town if she was here and well she would do me good now. I suppose you no Samuel buried his youngest child last winter they both felt the loss greatly it was certainly a lovely child 16 months old. Brother Josephs folks are all healthy and happy as usual Humphrey came home before thanksgiving they had all the children and grandchildren and Isaac came out that morning came up here but promised to go there to supper So we could not keep him. Brother Says he likes his business and they like him very much. I dont no but you have various kinds of trouble but I do think you have great reason to be thankful that you have such a family of children you have had to be father and mother both as it were
Title
Various, to Anna Mayo Stevens Rich Metcalf (mother), Isaac Stevens Metcalf family papers, 1841-1857
Creator
Metcalf, Isaac Stevens, 1822-1898
Date
1841-1857
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 95
BibID
821787
Size
2775px × 3431px 54.52 MB
IIIF Resource Type
Canvas
Filename
998217878805867_mms_metcalf_box_04_fl_95_003_001.tif
Unique Identifier
NL11FGLC
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