Letter 42 Original Page 1
Letter 42 Original Page 2
Letter 42 Original Page 3
Letter 42 Original Page 4
Letter 42 Enhanced Page 1
Letter 42 Enhanced Page 2
Letter 42 Enhanced Page 3
Letter 42 Enhanced Page 4
THE
CORRESPONDANCE BETWEEN ROBERT BOND JR. (1819- 1894) AND WIFE SARAH ANN (MAIDEN
NAME “FISK”—1823-1909) BETWEEN 1862 AND 1868
From the Mary/Sue Collection
Transcription of Letter “42”—from Robert to Sarah
28 March 1865—Date Provided in Letter
Transcribed by William B. Bond—Sept., 2013
PAGE 1:
Goldsboro North Carolina March 28th 1865
Ever Dear Wife
I received A letter from you
Feb 12th and one Jan 22nd
and was glad to here1 that you
was as will2 as you was I hope God
well gide3 you rite4, I received
your letters with mush5 joy I had
not heard from you for two manths6
I am will2 and hope I shall see
you be forelong7 we have not
been paid yet, But I well8
send you twenty Dollars in
this letter youse9 all the mony10
you need for I live for you
this is from your Ever true
husband Robert Bond
write to me soon, give me
one kiss your11 for ever12 Robert Bond
(Written in the
right margin of the page)
my love his13 your11 for ever
PAGE 2:
give my love to SarahA &
LouisaB, AlvaroC is will2
kiss WillieD for me
I was glad to here1 that
Luella Hortense BondE
was A good girl I hope
I shall see her soon
I shall send you A box of
write to me soon as you can
Robert Bond
I well8 put in ten Dollars
more in this letter
that will be 30 Dollars
NOTES:
1. hear
2. well
3. guide
4. right
5. much
6. months
7. before long
8. will
9. use
10. money
11. yours
12. forever
13. is
LIST OF FAMILY MEMBERS MENTIONED:
A. Sarah Elizabeth Bond (1847-1912)— Daughter
and second oldest of the 4 children of Robert and Sarah to survive to
adulthood.
B. Louisa Maria Bond (1845-1896)—Daughter and
oldest of the 4 children of Robert and Sarah to survive to adulthood. Married
to Alvaro N. Griffin (1838-1916) who is away from home serving—along with
Robert—in the 12th Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers Company E during
the Civil War.
C. Alvaro N Griffin (1838-1916) who is away from
home serving—along with Robert—in the 12th Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers
Company E during the Civil War. Husband of Louisa Maria Bond (1845-1896)—Daughter
and oldest of the 4 children of Robert and Sarah to survive to adulthood.
D.
William Othello “Willie” Bond (1860-1928)—Son and youngest of the 4 children of
Robert and Sarah to survive to adulthood.
E. Luella Hortense “Lellie” Bond
(1856-1893)—Daughter and third oldest of the 4 children of Robert and Sarah to
survive to adulthood.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
NOTE 1: This letter was written on a
single sheet of paper folded in half to make four “pages”—although only pages
one and two have writing on them. In the
upper left corner of page 1 there appears to be the embossed seal of an acorn
with the word “SUPER” written across it. This seal indicates the paper
manufacturer as was common for the time. There is also an illustration of a
bird with a letter tied around its neck. Printed as letterhead on page 1 is the
following:
THE U. S.
CHRISTIAN COMMISSION
sends this sheet
as a messenger between the soldier and his
home. Let it
hasten to those who wait for tidings.
NOTE 2: This letter was found
inside an envelope which had a postmark of:
“VICKSBURG MISS
MAR 8 1864”
Clearly this envelope is not the original for this letter.
NOTE
3:
This letter was written “in the field” most likely under very difficult circumstances.
So it is a treasure that it still exists. It should be noted that Robert’s
handwriting and spelling in this letter are much improved over that found in
letters 2 and 3. The writing in this
letter is quite clear and the words are distinct—although many are misspelled. So the transcription should be very accurate.
But if anyone who examines a scan of the original can better make out what the
words are or can see anywhere that there is an error in the transcription, I
would welcome their input.
NOTE 4:
The spelling and grammar in this letter
are reasonable so I do not believe an overall transcription is necessary.
NOTE 5:
The letter closes with Robert writing “I will put in ten Dollars more in this letter that will be
30 Dollars” This indicates—to me at
least—that although the letter was dated March 28th, 1865 on page 1,
it might not have been mailed until later.
NOTE 6: The previously dated letter in
the collection of Mary and Sue is July 11th 1864. So there is a
“gap” of over 8 months in the correspondence of Robert and Sarah in their
collection. Fortunately in the collection of Billie P, there are letters dated
August 22, 1864, September 16th, 1864, September 25th,
1864, October 31st, 1864, and December 17th, 1864 which fill
in the gap. However neither collection
contains the letters dated January 22nd 1865 and February 12th
1865 referenced in this letter.
NOTE 7: The “STORY OF THE SERVICE OF
COMPANY E, AND OF THE TWELFTH WISCONSIN REGIMENT, VETERAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY IN
THE WAR OF THE REBELLION” (Published 1893 and available on CD) indicates on page 419 that the company left
Fayetteville, North Carolina (now the home of Fort Bragg) for Goldsboro, North
Carolina (About 50 miles northeast) on March 15th, 1865. At this
stage the company was part of Sherman’s army. There were about 100,000 soldiers
arriving in Goldsboro, North Carolina on March 23 or 24, 1965 in the command of
Generals Sherman, Terry, and Schofield. (Page 421) The company remained in
Goldsboro until April 10th at which point they left for Raleigh,
North Carolina. (Page 422)
NOTE 8:
This letter starts with Robert indicating that he had received Sarah’s
letters “with mush joy”, letting her know that
he was glad that she is “will”, and acknowledging that he and
son-in-law Alvaro are also “will.” He sends Sarah 30 dollars with
the letter and sends his love to his children saying that he is glad that his
daughter Luella was a “good girl.” The letter indicates that
Robert will send Sarah a “box of things” if he can. I have no
idea what this box of things might be.
No comments:
Post a Comment