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Title: Matthew Brooks, Philadelphia, to His Sister [Co Tyrone?]
ID308
CollectionIrish Emigration Database
FileBrooks, Matthew/18
Year1862
SenderBrooks, Matthew
Sender Gendermale
Sender Occupationunknown
Sender Religionunknown
OriginPhiladelphia, Penn., USA
DestinationCo.Tyrone, N.Ireland
RecipientClark, Rebecca
Recipient Genderfemale
Relationshipsiblings
SourceT 2700/8: Copied by Permission of Reverend Canon J.H. Gebbie B.A., Newtownstewart, County Tyrone. #TYPE EMG Matthew Brooks, Philadelphia, U.S.A., to His Sister [Rebecca Clark?], [Urney?], [County Tyrone?], [?] October 1862.
ArchivePublic Record Office Northern Ireland.
Doc. No.9007179
Date01/10/1862
Partial Date
Doc. TypeEMG
Log07:08:1990 JM created 01:11:1990 CD input 05:11:19
Word Count717
Genre
Note
TranscriptTo:- [Rebecca Clark, Urney, County Tyrone?]
From:- Philadelphia October the [?]

1862
Dear sister i now write you a few
lines to inform you that i am enjoying
good health but i find getting weak in
the back for some time back and not
so active on foot as i used to be i received
margrit's [Margaret's?] kind letter the 12th day after
date which astonished me very much
when i seen how Joseph met with his death
robert and ann had ar[r?]ived here some weeks
before and me not knowing whether the[y?]
had received the news or not i took the
letter to them and it was greeves [grevious?] newes [news?] to them
the[y?] had got no account of the accident at the
time but got a letter shortly after robert
has got to work in a foundry and payes [pays?]
seven dollars per week for their board
Dear sister i would have sent you a little
money before now but the[re?] always remain
such heavy discounts on this trash of
paper money that we hear it is forty per cent
below par and some times fifty per cent
we have no hope of seeing either gold
or silver in sirculation [circulation?] here again a man
in ireland wood [would?] think it hard to go to bank
with one hundred pound of paper money
and receive but sixty pound in gold
this is how we are situated in philadelphia
all the good that i see the war has done
was freeing the darkeys and making
slaves of the white men paying the
war debt and a great many of the
darkeys was better of before the[y?] got
free than what the[y?] are since the[re?] are
numbers of them pleading to get back
to the[i?]r maseys [masters?] again but their maseys [masters?]
will have nothing to do with them
the[y?] have to pay so high for provisions
that the[y?] wont get along at all and
A great many of them cant get employment
we had a very great truth [drought?] here this
summer and great scarsity [scarcity?] of watter [water?]
and some very destructive fires we had
one great fire here a large range of
government stores that was burned to
ashes the loss was estimated
to six million of dollars the firemen
had no supply of watter [water?] to quench the
flames and all was burned to ashes
at one time this summer it was five
dollars of a fine to wash the pavement
before your door with a bucket of water
the watter [water?] was so scarce i now inform
you of what hap[p?]ened our old neabor [neighbour?]
John Monteith son to david monteith
the blacksmith in June last was a year
his wife went to market as usual and
when she returned she inquired if he
had got up yet and she was told no
she then went up to bed room and
found him laying [lying?] in the bedroom floor
and his throat cut from ear to ear
he was an industrious man all his dayes [days?]
and well of[f?] and well thought of by all
who [k?]new him the[re?] can be no reason asighn [assigned?]
for the evell [evil?] act Dear sister i now wish
to inform you that yur old neabour [neighbour?]
nancy cummins has been living in
town this last year and has got quite
well of her broken leg
but she has gone out to the country
again lately but not to the same part
she has gone to live for some time
with a step dau[gh?]ter of Mrs caldwels
down in the state of maryland
Mrs caldwell is wel[l?] I send my
respects to Mr Love and family
and likwis [likewise?] James simpson
i was very sor[r?]y when hugh love
Ar[r?]ived here that i had not more of
his company i believe i was not more
than tuo [two?] [h?]ours in his company
at that time i was very busy and had
scarce an [h?]our to spare but if he had told
me that he was going to leave philadelphia so soon
i would have spent a day or two with him
let the consequence be as it would
Dear sister i hope when you receive
these few lines it will find you all
in good health i have no more to
say at present and remains your kind brother
Matthew Brooks