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Letter 9 Original Page 1 (Pages 5-8 found in Letter 10)
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Letter 9 Original Page 2 (Pages 5-8 found in Letter 10)
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Letter 9 Original Page 3 (Pages 5-8 found in Letter 10)
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Letter 9 Original Page 4 (Pages 5-8 found in Letter 10)
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Letter 9 Enhanced Page 1 (Pages 5-8 found in Letter 10)
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Letter 9 Enhanced Page 2 (Pages 5-8 found in Letter 10)
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Letter 9 Enhanced Page 3 (Pages 5-8 found in Letter 10)
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Letter 9 Enhanced Page 4 (Pages 5-8 found in Letter 10)
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 “9”—from Sarah to Robert
8 March 1863—Date
Provided in Letter
Transcribed by William
B. Bond—Sept., 2013
PAGE
1:
March
8th 1863 Lyndon Juneau Wis
Ever Dear Husband
As I and the little
OnesA & B are alone
this afternoon I seat my self1 to
answer your letter Dated Feb 20th
which was
gladly received last wednesday I
am glad to
hear that you are well, and hope
you do not
wau?2 will not deceive
me about your health
I am not quite well but able to be
about
and help a little about the house
work
SarahC does the main
part of it now I have
a boy doing the chores out door
but think
I shall not keep him long for I
believe
he is a little slower than
Ethelbert it is
Charley Brooks you will remember
he was
at work for Oscar Hall when you
left Bu
but I ???2 Hall the(?)2
job(?)2 he could not earn
his board (so shipped him of3)
and I think so too they say men
cannot be boarded short of $2,50
per week so
high is everything in the line of
eatables
and Charley will eat more than any
man
this side of Millwaukie But I have
tired
your patience probably so will try
to
PAGE
2:
think of
something else I will tell you how
I get along
for wood, the forepart of winter.
of winter4
I hired one and another to haul
and chop a
little at a time as I could, and
when I could
not Sarah and I chopped
for a day or
so at a time ourselves, But
found it
both cold and hard work
about the
later part of Dec I made a bee5
but as I
sent the invitations down?2 in to
the
Gilispice District6 they never got throu7
and those
that were invited six com8
a part of a
day they were Mr Cowen, Vail,
Leach, Lundy,
H Clark, Truell
they got up
wood enough to last untill9
the middle
of Feb then I got a few loads haule10
and chopped
since, which lasted untill9
last
wednesday, when Mrs Brooks made
a bee5
and when they had drawn enough
to her house
to last her until fall, they came
over and
drayed11 for me the rest of the afternoon
what was
hauled at my first bee cost me
about three
Dollars to get chopped for the
stove, this
is not chopped yet what was ha
-uled last
wednesday , I will try to turn the
PAGE
3:
subject once
more I bought ten bushels
of corn
yesterday of Mr Leonard for 45 cts
per bush12
he put it in my grainery But
I heard then
Gilispie say while at the bee5 it was
50 cts in
town, You say you have not got
my letters
for some time you must
have got
some before this for I think
I have
written two or three since I sent
the mittens
I have answered every one
of your
letters and shall continue to do
so as long
as I am able I have got the
side ache
pretty hard this afternoon it
PAGE
4:
troubles be
a good deal of late But I
ought to be
and do feel thankful that
my health
has been restored as much as it
has for I
have been pretty sick for a
little
while, the rest of the family
are as well
as usual little LeellieA
& WillieB
are the fleshiest I ever knew
them to be
or at least for some time WillieB has
gone to bed
and is asleep LeellieA is draw
-ing with
pen & ink She has learned
very fast
this winter but I hope you will
come home
before she is able to thank
write to you
I bought her a new book
FOOT NOTES:
1. myself
2. uncertain of this word
3. off
4. repeated phrase
5. A “bee” is a work party.
6. I can find no record of a “Gilispice (or
Gillespie) District” in Wisconsin. The name may have been changed in the 1930’s
when Kilbourn City had its name changed to “Wisconsin Dells.”
7. through
8. came
9. until
10. hauled
11. “Drayed” means to haul by means of a low,
heavy, sideless cart.
12. bushel
LIST OF INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED:
A. Luella Hortense “Leellie” Bond
(1856-1893)—Third oldest child and daughter of Robert and Sarah
B. William Othello “Willie” Bond
(1860-1928)—Fourth oldest child and only son of Robert and Sarah.
C. Sarah Elizabeth Bond (1847-1912)—Second
oldest child and daughter of Robert and Sarah
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
NOTE 1: This letter was written on a
single sheet of paper folded in half to make four “pages”. There is an
“embossed seal” indicating the paper manufacturer at the upper left of page 1
as was common on many papers of the time. The embossed seal looks like a coat
of arms with a crown over the top. A piece was cut out of the paper giving the
appearance that the top half of pages 3 and 4 is missing. From the context of
the letter, this seems to have been done before the letter was written
and I do not believe any of the writing is missing on these pages.
NOTE 2: This letter ends abruptly
without a closing indicating that there must have been at least one additional page
that is now missing.
NOTE 3:
The writing on the folds of the letter is particularly difficult to
read. In many cases I had to take a “best guess” as to what was written. 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 describes daily
life on the farm of Robert and Sarah in Lyndon, Juneau County, Wisconsin while
Robert is away serving in the Civil War. The major topics are the health of
each other and the children, housework and help around the farm, family finances,
wood for the winter, food for the livestock, and activities of the younger
children.
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