Nelson, PA June 10th
Dear Sister I ought to have written before but neglected it We
have been up to Allens Mary Ann is very miserable Ada was there to
help take care of the baby it ways 18 lbs She wants you to come back
and stay a while with her Aunt Ell has come home we had a letter
from lib Mr and Mrs Wieb (?) are both very sick So is Nat (?) Jeb
(?) is not very well. I wish Brainerd was some where dont you yes
Willie Kemp is dead a young man taken in the days of his youth he
died the night you went away I went up and staid till Night they
feel very bad Bertha dont get any better I fear [undecipherable]
frail body [undecipherable] soon be [undecipherable] away to rest and
Nellie Buck She was buried last Friday poor little Jessie I dont
know what she will do now Willie is gone
Stella is housekeeping She is looking for you every day now Em you
must let your ma come and you come with her
have been up to our old home in Farmington it made me feel
homesick as Soon as we got back Aunt Carrie Sent for us to come over
and eat ice cream it was very nice now it is raining as hard as it
can [undecipherable] down we have had some dreddfull thunder Storms
the river is very high I must close love to emma and family
From Sister Phebe
* * *
Phebe's penmanship was excellent. Usually it is easy to read, altho the
penmanship sometimes is very "flowery" by modern standards -- sometimes
it's hard to figure out a letter. Occasionally the ink/pencil lead has
faded or there is a splotch that obscures the letters. The lack of
punctuation, the unique spellings, omitted words, and non-standard
grammar sometimes make it hard to decide where sentences begin or end.
I have inserted extra spaces where I thought the sentences began. I've
tried to leave things as close to the original as possible. Thus I
didn't insert lots of distracting "[sic]"s for every spelling or grammar
anomaly.
Even though the letter has no major dramatic revelations, it does offer
glimpses of people and the times. I hope you find it interesting
Please feel free to comment on line about this letter and/or add missing
data or contribute to solving its "mysteries".
Letter writer Phebe CAMPBELL Hoyt (1832 - 1917), was a dau. of Joseph
and Ann Clinch Campbell. Presumably the letter recipient was Sarah
CAMPBELL Congdon (1824 - 1892), an older sister.
"June 10th" -- No year is given, but it's easy to determine it's 1883
because of the mention of the death of Willie Kemp and burial of Nellie Buck
"Sister" -- Sarah CAMPBELL Congdon (1824 - 1892).
"Allens" -- Might refer to someone with the Allen surname, such as Wm.
A. Allen (1858 - 1910), but I it seems more likely to refer to Phebe's
brother-in-law, Allen Seely (1826 - 1909).
"Mary Ann" -- Phebe's sister, Mary Ann Campbell (1826 - 1894), wife of
Allen Seely.
"Ada" -- Ada Campbell SEELY Crandall (1856 - 1944), Mary Ann's daughter.
"the baby" -- Samuel Allen Seely, b. Mar 27, 1883, d. 1961). His
mother, Mary E. BABCOCK Seely, died Mar 27, 1883. Sam's father was Jud
Delos Seely (1851 - 1929), Mary Ann's middle child. Jud had not yet
married Mary Louise Hazlett.
"Aunt Ell" --A mystery. It seems unlikely Phebe, when righting to
Sarah, would have used "Aunt" in referring to their sister, Eleanor
CAMPBELL Bosard. Phebe's father, Joseph Campbell, had a sister,
Elizabeth CAMPBELL Ellison (1789 - ?). It could be her. Does anyone
have a death date?
"lib" -- (or possibly 'lil', it's hard to read). If 'lib',
as I
suspect, it refers to Phebe's sister, Elizabeth CAMPBELL Hughey (1830 -
1904).
"Mr & Mrs Wieb" -- ??? Could be 'Weeb'.
"Nat" (?) - ??? Covered by a blob and hard to read.
"Jeb (?)" - ??? Ditto
Brainerd -- Brainerd, Crow Wing Co., MN, home of Elizabeth CAMPBELL
Hughey and Sarah's son, Thomas Edgar Congdon (1850 - 1929). Sarah's
other son, Chas. Harris Congdon (1856 - 1928) may still have lived in
Brainerd, and not yet moved to St.Paul. Elizabeth lived NEAR, not in,
Brainerd, in Long Lake Twp. I'm not positive where Sarah was living at
the time.
"Willie Kemp" -- William A. Kemp, b. 1860, d. in either 1883 or 1884.
He was a son of Harriet Campbell (1832 - 1903), dau. James & Mary
Blackwell Campbell. According to my notes, he was unmarried.
"Bertha" -- I believe this is Bertha Loop, b. 10/16/1867, d. 7/19/1883,
daughter of Phebe's sister, Maria B. Campbell (1842 - 1873).
"little Jessie" -- ??? A friend of Bertha? Jessie Ann CAMPBELL Ellison
was almost 23 then, so she probably wouldn't have been "Little Jessie".
Any ideas?
"Nellie Buck" -- Nellie Buck, b. 1861 or 1852, d. 5/30/1883 in
Hornellsville, NY. That fits with "buried last Friday." She was a
daughter of Amanda M. Hoyt (1839/1840 - 1881) and Dr. Lester W. Buck, a
dentist in Addison, NY. I haven't added the item to my database yet,
but recently read how he was related to Jabez Leroy Buck and Geo.
Wallace Buck. Stay tuned for details and remind me in a week or two if
I haven't posted it by then. It's easy to get sidetracked.
"Stella" -- Stella Ann LOOP Hooker Wilbur (1863 - 1933) sister of Bertha
Loop, above.
"Em" -- Emma Eudora CONGDON Buck (1848 - 1928), dau. of Sarah.
"Farmington" -- Farmington Twp., Tioga Co., PA, where Phebe's first
child was born. Lots of people in Farmington Twp. had postal address in
Nelson or other hamlets outside the township. That can cause a lot of
confusion as to where someone lived at a particular time.
"Aunt Carrie" -- Very possibly Caroline POWER Blackwell (1825 - 1905),
sister-in-law of Mary BLACKWELL Campbell. If I recall correctly, Enoch
Blackwell (1814 - 1884) was an honorary uncle. There wasn't a "real"
Aunt Carrie that I know of, and I didn't find any other likely
candidates for honorary aunt when searching my database for CARRIE or
CAROLYN.