| Madison County Letters© -
4Apr1846 Copyright 2000 Fredi Perry In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data and images may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or for other presentation without express permission by the contributor(s) Ridge Prairie, Madison Co., Illinois April 4, 1846 Dear Caroline, It is a considerable time since I have heard from you, but the receipt of the Wisconsin Argus of March 10 convinces me that you are still alive. I do not find that your father gets any letters from you: perhaps he never writes to you not being a writing man. I was at Kingston Bluff almost four weeks since. Your father and little Adeline Elisabeth were well; but your step-mother was suggering from salivation. She is no Thomsonian, but still does not like to be salivated. But if she employs calomel doctors she must submit to their management. As to your father, he keeps a set of Thomson's books which he bought of a peddler for about a dollar, but he never keeps an ounce of botanic medicine in his house. The Rev. Mr. Darrow, MD informed me last Saturday that your stepmother had another daughter, and that mother and child were doing well. I am just recovering from an attack of erysipils - not a painful, but a very confining disease. There has been considerable sickness and several deaths in this quarter since my last letter to you. I will try to recollect some of them: (1) Mrs. Brady, formerly Amelia McCray, daughter of Calvin McCray. She was a Roman Catholic, and had Extreme Unction, and all that sort of thing, before she died. (2) Benjamin Posey, son of Jubilee Posey (3) Miss Elizabeth McCoy, sister to Jacob C. Entuman's (?) wife. (4) Jacob C. Gortuman's (?) wife himself (5) Mrs. Deck, daughter of Jepe Renfro (6) Mrs. Crononover, daughter of John C. Dugger (7) Some other children of John C. Dugger (8) Mrs. Braley, wife of Philander Bradey, Collinsville (9) Mrs. Hutchinson, wife of James Hutchinson, blacksmith (10) John Hall, oldest son of Milton Hall (11) George Harvis, son of Wesley Jarvis (12) Henry Clay, junior, son of John G. Jarvis (13) John Wriston, son of Tilman (?) Wriston (14) Samuel G. Bailey, Esq., lawyer, Alton (15) S. T. Diamond, Middleton And a great many others not recollected Marriages. - Thomas Camp to Miss Jane Vineyard, daughter of William Vineyard William Denny to Miss Almeda Allen Capt. D. D. Collins of Collisville, to Miss Elizabeth M. Anderson, daughter of John Anderson, my Jo John. Michael Welsh (?) merchant of Troy, to Miss Lucy G. Hoxsey Mr. Andrews, schoolmate, to Miss Elizabeth Black Izaak Woods, son of Rev. Samuel Wood, to Miss Reed Peaches. - These are mostly cut off throughout the country, but if the weather is favorable hereafter I expect to have some, as the buds begin to show the red. Wheat looks tolerably well at present. Troy is going ahead. It has now 2 churches, and the mend (?) work of a third is done. 3 dry-goods stores; 2 blacksmith shops; 2 taverns; 1 doggery (?); 2 gunsmith, 1 portable circular saw mill which can cut 1500 feet of plank in a day propelled by 6 horses; 4 doctors as soon as Dr. Reiner gets back from the ???; and it is expected that old Doctor Gates will remove into Troy; and he will make the 5th. Macdonough Gates has bought the identical old worn-out Skeamsborough farm on which you lived so long, near Mount Gilead. Heplays schoolmaster in the old Mount Gilead church: and I strongly suspect that his object in buying that old farm was to get a permanent claim to the office of pedayoyme (?) Cyrus Scott, jr., who married Paulina Renfro has removed into the house with old father Jepe Renfro. Squire Scott, who was almost dead with the dropsy, has been so much relieved by Dr. Gates medicines as to be able to ride about, and attend to business. Miss Lydia Ann Scott is teaching School at the Land Ridge on the road to Alton. The Gaskill girls, of the brick house, are still at the Water Lime Factory under the Bluff in the south part of St. Clair Co. James R. Jm. Is with them. George W., who married Janany Tita (?) lives in the brick house. Stephen W. has sold his Maconfirm (?) farm, and bought the old farm of Thomas S. McMahan. I mean the one having a barn and brick cabin. Elder James R. Perrigo, jr., and his wife, Mrs. Hannah Amelia Weeks Perrigo, have removed to the land I gave them on the N.W. 18, 9 N 4E, Knox Co, Ill - Post Office address "Middle Grove, Fulton Co., IL" John L. Weeks goes to college and studies Latin and Algebra! All well at Galesburg. Uncle Norman fell and broke some ribs, but they have got well. His wife has a baby called Gabel (?). Martin George has been teaching school near Ognawka, Ill. Have you made your Vermont trip yet? Are you going to make it? When is Norman? And George? And Lucene Ann ? and Maria ? and - but I believe that is all. I see Uncle Temp keeps his card in the Argus while your husband's is not there. I infer that your husband has business enough without advertising. C. G. Mawzy has become an Alderman. Poor John G. Smith appears to be in a pick of troubles because that previous fellow Bob Walker proposes a duty on foreign sugar and melipis (?) while he lets in tea and coffee and salt free! Well - Bob and Polk and the whole visionary clan of free traders understand which side of their bread is buttered much too well to lose Louisiana by admitting sugar and milapes (?) duty free, or to lose the whole union by laying a duty on tea and coffee. They dare not do it. I wonder whether John G. Smith ever read Mr. Polk's celebrated Kane Letter by which he carried the states of Pennsylvania and New York. There was Protection, by wholesale! I think it would ?? mr. Polk to draw up a revenue bill in conformity with the principles laid down in his annual message. Polk and Bob Walker a great favorites with John Bull just now. Bob's Treasury Report pleased John so well that he got it printed and laid before Parliament. John will speed his corn laws three years hence provided we repeal our Tariff now ----- perhaps! No fight about Oregon, now: Polk and Peel are too loving for that. Polk will knock under at 49 degrees or things will be suffered to remain in status quo. Then the people of Oregon will govern that country themselves - as they ought to do. It is too far off to do the U.S. any good, or to derive any benefit from us - except a fine office holder. W can never be of any benefit to those who live east of the Rocky mountains. Let them alone, and Oregon and California will naturally form a Republic by themselves, friendly to the U.S. and more profitable to the U.S. than if a colony or member of the confederacy. Truly yours. George Churchill. |