Letter Number 46--From the Mary/Sue Collection--Robert to Sarah--1 February 1867 (Date Provided in Letter)

 

Letter 46 Original Front

 

Letter 46 Original Reverse

 

Letter 46 Enhanced Front

 

Letter 46 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 “46”—from Robert to Sarah

1 February 1867—Date Provided in Letter

Transcribed by William B. Bond—October, 2013

FRONT:

                             feb 1^st 1867

Mr Hall^A is hear¹ in Camp

and as² not brot³ me enny⁴

letter from you, Sarah A

                             Bond

this makes me fele⁵ bad

But my tust⁶ in the

Lord⁶

NOTES:

1.  here

2.  has

3.  brought

4.  any

5.  feel

6.  Word is cut off. From context, it looks like it could be “Lord”

LIST OF FAMILY MEMBERS MENTIONED:

There are no family members mentioned in this letter.

LIST OF OTHER INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED:

A. “Hall” There is an “Oscar Hall” is mentioned in letter #9 dated March 8th, 1863. It is not known whether or not this is the same person. Apparently from the content of other letters, Mr Hall delivers mail back and forth from Lyndon, Wisconsin to “camp.”

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 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:

                   Feb. 1^st 1867

Mr Hall is here in camp

and has not brought me any

letter from you, Sarah A

                             Bond.

This makes me feel bad,

but my trust in the

Lord…

NOTE 2:  Questions about this letter are (1) Why was Robert away from home during February of 1867 long enough to necessitate letter writing--and (2) Where is “camp”? From other letters written during the same winter, “camp” seems to be Wood County, Camp Tigre, “In the Pines”, Wisconsin. Wood County is about 50 miles northeast from Lyndon, Wisconsin where Sarah is living on the family farm. So what was Robert doing there in February, 1867? Possibly it was 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 winter wood is 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. Why Robert would be in Wood County away from home during the winter of 1867 is uncertain.

NOTE 3: This letter was written on a single 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.

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

NOTE 5:  The content of this letter is Robert’s concern that he has not received a letter from his wife Sarah recently.