| Title: | Jane White, Goderich to Eleanor McIlwrath, Newtownards. |
|---|---|
| ID | 3297 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | White, Jane/1(2) |
| Year | 1864 |
| Sender | White, Jane |
| Sender Gender | female |
| Sender Occupation | unknown |
| Sender Religion | Protestant (Presbyterian?) |
| Origin | Goderich, Ontario, Canada |
| Destination | Newtownards, Co. Down, N.Ireland |
| Recipient | McIlwrath (n. Wallace), Eleanor |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | friends |
| Source | D 1195/3/23: Presented by J. W. Russell & Co., Solicitors, 4 High Street, Newtownards, Co. Down. |
| Archive | The Public Record Office, Northern Ireland. |
| Doc. No. | 9112104 |
| Date | 09/01/1864 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by JM 29:11:1993 |
| Word Count | 1151 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | To: Eleanor [McIlwrath?] [nee Wallace?] [Newtownards?] [County Down?] [Ireland?] From: Jane White Goderich [Ontario?] [Canada?] January 9 1864 Goderich January 9th 1864 My dear Eleanor I have been long thinking of writing to you, I thought of writing before I received your last letter, I was much pleased to see your likeness, I recollected your face in a moment, the expression seemed so familiar to me, but I feel satisfied you are handsome, because they seldom succeed in making anyone as well-looking as they really are, but it is a wonderful discovery of the age, Mr McIlwrath is greatly admired too, he is considered a handsome man by everyone who saw his likeness. I do not know that you will know my likeness, let me know if you do, my cheeks have fallen in rather, I fretted about that complaint in my throat, but I feel much better [torn] the cause of making me thinner I am glad you are better, I hope you are quite strong again, your little boy must be a great amusement & comfort to you. I suppose you are tired of hearing about the American War, it is a pity of both sides, how the South succeeds of course we do not well know, but I think they will soon be exhausted now surely, the Northerns [Northeners?] are very much amazed at being beat so often, a number of young men from Canada are in the Federal army a poor deserter from it was round begging here one day lately. he was an Irishman, a Yankee sharper ran away from this town lately, he passed off here for a respectable person, some #PAGE 2 of the townsmen were so so foolish as to lend him large sums of money, he cleared off with his spoils over to the American [side?] [torn] after him with the [intention?] of giving him up as a deserter if he deserted from the Federal Army before he came here, I felt pleased they could not find him when they went over, because if he had been found he would likely have been shot though he rather deserved it. This town is a great Confederate place, a friend of ours called in lately, he was speaking of a Captain of a steamboat on this line, he has come from the States for the winter with his wife & family, they live next door to us in one of my father's houses this friend said to my father, you will find Captain Travers a quiet decent man but a stiff Federalist I laughed and said my mother and him would be company for each other, because she is an unflinching Northern in her sympathies, she always expresses herself sorry when she hears of any new victory won by the South, the Northerns [Northerners?] somehow are too ready to dismiss their Generals after being defeated and appoint others, a person formerly of Goderich Mr [J. Keays?] a merchant who went to reside in Buffalo, about 2 or 3 years ago, who was appointed to command a company of men was defeated by the Southerns [Southerners?], he was tried by a Court Martial for allowing himself to be beat, I did not hear how he managed to get off the South must be in a bad state, prices of everything so dear, they must be perfectly desperate, I hear if anyone tries to resist the Conscription, they hunt their bloodhounds after them, the dogs they keep to hunt their slaves, the South is surely an outlandish place, the climate must be nice, this is fearful winter here, last week the weather commencing early on new years morning was tremendous I think there is no doubt but the succeeding three days it was 20 degrees below zero at times, over in Milwaukee is [it?] was "40 degrees below zero" now my dear Eleanor I just leave you to [judge?] what the sufferings of poor people must have been, actually it is almost enough to [kill?] any one [anyone?]. the rail cars over somewhere #PAGE 3 on a railroad crossing over a part of the prairies, [were?] frozen up on one of the three bad days, & refused to stir, the fuel inside was soon consumed in the stoves by the freezing passengers, and three or four of them were actually frozen to death, the weather has moderated greatly and the wind abated, it is the storms that cause the cold to be so dreadful, I felt a terror those 3 nights at the sound of the storm, though there was a fire in the stove in the bedroom I could not get myself warmed, it was prophesyed this winter would be unusually severe from some of the wild animals taking precautions against it, I heard some of them were making double linings for their houses The Volunteers are raised all over Canada, we had a review here in the fall. Miss McMordie was married about three months ago to a farmer & mill owner, I believe, they live at M--chest-- [Manchester?] a village about ten miles above this town, I hear she has married tolerably well, you will recollect at Miss Kingham's school, her mother kept a shop behind the Market [House?], there was a niece of Mr- [Mrs?] Halliday's, (late of Square Newtownards) in this town a Mrs Saunders a very nice young person, her husband is a Scotchman, there are two children, my father would like to know if Mr Kennedy is living & well, Mr & Mrs Kennedy lived beside Mr Powell's, I cannot recollect you mentioning them in any of your letters. we had a stirring contest here last Monday & Tuesday for the Election of Mayor, I could not describe to you the one hundredth part of the fiery excitement there was. Mr Watson and Mr Dell-- [Dellor?] the [pious?] Methodist who formerly tried it, he is again defeated by a majority of 28. on Tuesday evening the Watson party made the usual parade of victory carrying brooms sweeping part upward in the sleighs as much as to say they had swept Mr D [Dellor?] off the course. some persons objected to Mr Dellor because they thought he might not be so worldly minded, and he such a professing Christian, but rather be visiting the fatherless and widow in their affliction and carry out the scriptural injunction. I think there is reality and truth in the idea. This election costs both the Candidates upwards of one hundred pounds, and the honour lasts only one year. Please remember me affectionately to Mr & Mrs Milliken [torn] & family. Wishing you and Mr McIlwrath a happy new year and many happy returns of the season I remain your sincere friend Jane White My Father & Mother send their best regards #PAGE 4 I have just heard the Election is to be overturned upon some error the lawyers in the Dellor vote have found out, this is the ground for lawsuits, there are more than fourteen lawyers in Goderich all ready to pounce upon anything that goes wrong. |
