Letter Number 45--From the Mary/Sue Collection--Robert to Sarah--Probably the winter of 1867 or 1868 (Date Inferred From Context)

 

Letter 45 Original Front

 

Letter 45 Original Reverse

 

Letter 45 Enhanced Front

 

Letter 45 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 “45”—from Robert to Sarah

Probably the winter of 1867 or 1868—Date Inferred From Context

Transcribed by William B. Bond—November, 2013

Front:

          Wood. Co Wis

Ever Dear Wife I seat

myself to writ¹ you a few lines

to let you know that I am Well

hopeing that are the same

Hamilton Will chop your Wood

if he can and will get fodder

for the stock I am glad that

thare² is a revial³ of religion my

I am with you⁴

          My Love to you

All writ¹ as sone⁵ as you can

From your ever true

          Robert Bond

NOTES:

1.  write

2.  there

3.  revival

4. I am not sure what the phrase “…my I am with you...” means

5.  soon

LIST OF FAMILY MEMBERS MENTIONED:

There are no family members mentioned in this letter.

LIST OF OTHER INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED:

A. “Hamilton” This is presumably a helpful neighbor.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

NOTE 1: It should be noted that Robert’s handwriting and spelling in this letter are much improved over that found in letters 2 and 3—but is still irregular. 

If anyone who examines a scan of the original letter 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.

The following is my attempt at a transcription of the letter with spelling and grammar corrected:

FRONT:

          Wood Co., Wis.

Ever Dear Wife I seat

myself to write you a few lines

to let you know that I am well

hoping that (you) are the same.

Hamilton will chop your wood

if he can and will get fodder

for the stock. I am glad that

there is a revival of religion my

I am with you.

          My love to you

all. Write as soon as you can.

          From your ever true,

                   Robert Bond.

NOTE 2:  Questions about this letter are:

(1) This letter is undated, so when was it written? The answer to this question is almost certainly during the winter of 1867 or 1868. From the Mary/Sue collection of letters, there are 2 letters (3 counting this one!) written by Robert to Sarah from Wood County, Wisconsin—one dated February 1^st, 1867, and one dated February 12^th, 1867. From this same collection, there is one letter written by Sarah to Robert in Wood County, Wisconsin dated February 26^th, 1867. From the Billie P collection of letters, there are two letters written by Robert to Sarah from Wood County, Wisconsin—one dated February 25^th, 1867, and one dated February 29^th, 1868.  So Robert seems to have been in Wood County, Wisconsin during the winters of 1867 and 1868. The date this letter was written might be able to be fixed more precisely if a reference to the “revival of religion” or the work that Mr. Hamilton might be able to do on the farm could be found in another letter.

(2) Why was Robert in Wood County, Wisconsin long enough to necessitate letter writing and what was he doing there? Wood County is about 50 miles northeast from Lyndon, Wisconsin where Sarah is living on the family farm. Possibly he was there to earn money by chopping winter wood. In a letter dated December 18^th 1863, Sarah writes: “…I have got J Vail to get my wood I have to pay him seven shillings per cord stove wood cut ready for the stove in the wood so I get no chips” From this it sounds as if her winter wood was cut “in the wood” (Wood County?) and then sold. But 50 miles is a long way to bring wood for heating—especially since the wood would probably have to be transported by horse drawn wagon. So there must have been some reason for men to go into the woods to work in the winter. In a letter dated December 20^th, 1963, Sarah writes: “Mr and Mrs Cowan have broke up keeping house for the winter she and the girls is going to Michigan and he into the Woods…” Why Robert—and others--would be in Wood County away from home is uncertain.

NOTE 3: This letter is a single sheet of paper with writing on the front side only. There is an “embossed seal” indicating the paper manufacturer at the upper left of the front side as was common on many papers of the time. The embossed seal is oval in shape and it looks like there is the image of the U. S. Capitol Building inside the oval. It seems to be the same as the embossed seal on letters 3, 15, 26, 27 and 28.

 

NOTE 4:  This letter was found loose and not in an envelope.

NOTE 5:  This letter starts with Robert assuring Sarah that he is well and his hopes that Sarah is also well. It continues with him letting Sarah know that Mr. Hamilton would—if possible—chop Sarah’s wood and get fodder for the animals. The letter finishes with Robert expressing that he is glad that there is a revival of religion back home and closes lovingly with a request that family members write to him.