Letter Number 43--From the Mary/Sue Collection--Robert to Sarah--9 April 1865 (Date Provided in Letter)

 

Letter 43 Original Front

 

Letter 43 Original Reverse

 

Letter 43 Enhanced Front

 

Letter 43 Enhanced Reverse

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 “43”—from Robert to Sarah

9 April 1865—Date Provided in Letter

Transcribed by William B. Bond—October, 2013

FRONT:

A¹               Goldsboro, N. C

                   Apral² 9^th 1865

          ever Dear Wife I take my pen

in hand to let you no³ that I

am well and hope thee⁴ lines

will find you the Same, I recieved⁵

your letter date⁶ March 5^th

I was glad to hear that you was

as well as you was we Shall

march to morow⁷ I have Sent

you $30 Dollars in one letter⁸

and I will Send you ten

more in this, and I will Send

you five Books

          my Love to you ever

Dear wife from your true

husband   Robert Bond

          one kiiz⁹ from you

          write Soon

NOTES:

1.  This looks like an upper case “A” which was partially erased.

2.  April

3.  know

4.  these

5.  received

6.  dated

7.  tomorrow The company will march to Raleigh, North Carolina beginning April 10^th, 1865. (See Note 7 below)

8.  The letter dated 28 March 1865

9.  kiss

LIST OF FAMILY MEMBERS MENTIONED:

There are no family members mentioned in this letter.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

NOTE 1: This letter was written on a single blue sheet of paper with writing on the front only. There is no “embossed seal” at the upper left of the front side as was common for the time. This is the only letter on blue paper in the collection. This is also the last dated letter written between Robert and Sarah during the Civil War from the collection of Mary and Sue. (There is one later letter dated March 28^th 1865 written from Sarah to Robert in the Billie P collection.) This is not too surprising since Robert was “mustered out” of service on May 31^st, 1865—less than two months after the letter was written.

NOTE 2:  This letter was found inside an envelope which had a postmark of:

“LINCOLN NEB, JUNE 5”

The letter was addressed:

Mrs. Sarah A Bond

Lyndon Station

Juneau Co

Wisconsin

Originally there was a stamp on the letter, but it appears to have been removed. Since Robert was in North Carolina at the time this letter was written, 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 several 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:  This letter mentions that “…I will send you five Books” In Roberts letter dated March 28^th, he mentions that “…I shall send you A box of

Stufe things if I Can.” The books may be the box of things he was referring to.

NOTE 6: This letter refers to a letter received by Robert from Sarah dated March 5^th, 1865. Neither the collection of Mary and Sue nor the collection of Billie P includes that 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 Robert’s company arrived in Goldsboro, North Carolina on March 23 or 24, 1965 (Page 421) and remained in Goldsboro until April 10^th at which point the company left for Raleigh, North Carolina. (Page 422)

 

NOTE 8:  This letter starts with Robert indicating that he is well and his hopes that the letter will find his wife Sarah the same. He writes that he received Sarah’s letter of March 5^th and that the company will “march to morrow” (for Raleigh, North Carolina). Robert next indicates that he sent Sarah $30 in an earlier letter (the one dated March 28^th, 1865) and will enclose another $10 with this letter. The letter closes with Robert reassuring Sarah of his love.