| Title: | William McClurg, Cincinnati, to David McClorg, Templemoyle. |
|---|---|
| ID | 3788 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | mcclorg, william/10 |
| Year | 1832 |
| Sender | McClorg, William |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | employed in a garden and nursery |
| Sender Religion | Protestant |
| Origin | Cincinnati, Ohio, USA |
| Destination | Templemoyle, Co. Derry, N.Ireland |
| Recipient | McClorg, David and Anne |
| Recipient Gender | male-female |
| Relationship | son-parents |
| Source | T 1227/25: Photocopied by Courtesy of Mr A MacLurg. #TYPE EMG William McClurg, Cincinnati, to David McClorg, Templemoyle, Co Londonderry, 3 April 1832. |
| Archive | Public Record Office, N. Ireland |
| Doc. No. | 8905208 |
| Date | 03/04/1832 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | 28:06:1989 LT created 05:12:1990 CD input 06:12:19 |
| Word Count | 876 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | To:- Mr David McLurg Templemoyle Care of the postmaster in NewtownLimavady County L. Derry [Londonderry?] Ireland Cincinnati 3d April 1832 Dear parents brethren & sisters the present affords me an opportunity of informing you that I am in good health at present hoping you my relatives & friends may be enjoying the same blessing when you receive these lines, this is the third time I have written to you & never have received a line from you, if you have wrote it is probable the [they?] have been mislaid or otherwise lost if this letter comes to hand I hope you will not long delay in sending an answer which would satisfy me very much, I left brother Josephs a year past last March & came into Pittsburgh the first of April, I wrought in a gentlemans garden I had good wages & good pay during the time I stopped there I boarded with Mr Thompson he was very friendly to me had I been his brother he could not have shewn me more kindness I went out to the country in harvest & stopped with Robert Barr till pretty late in the fall he wanted me to stay with him all winter I had several offers from farmers but would not stay John Barr & family was well at that time Hugh Boyds farm & Mr Barr's joined so that I could see them every week which gave me very much satisfaction they were all well when I left that place I then came into Pittsburgh took a notion of getting to see Cincinnati I embarked on a steam boat & arrived here the first of December the Ohio is a beautiful river & is the means of great internal trade to this Western county by the steam boats which daily ply on its waters this is a handsome City containg [containing?] about thirty thousand inhabitants; there are six hundred & forty acres within the corporation line it originally cost forty nine Dollars & now there are some parts at the steam boat landing selling at thirty Dollars per inch, there were five hundred houses built here last summer mostly all brick I went out to see cousins David & John [P?]ollock they were very glad to see me & would not let me return untill [until?] I stayed with them ten days, John was in at market last week said they were all well the winter was very hard here the river was shut up from commerce a long time, when the ice dissolved the boats in the rivers was much injured some carried off some partly broken & others entirely sunk the ice being so thick & such a body of it running together nothing could stand before it, at this time they [the?] people thought themselves in a bad fix but the worst was not yet come, when the ice was done running after some weeks we had several days of heavy rain the Ohio & its tributary streams rose very rapidly, you may guess with what rapidity it rose when on Saturday the 11th February where horse and drags were going in watersreet the next monday evening it sailed a steam Boat, it continued to rise to an alarming extent until all the lower parts of the City was completely inundated they [the?] inhabitants was in great distress most of them had to abandon their houses & go to the upper part of the city, boats skiffs & canoes were going in every direction I never saw any thing like it before it was by far the highest flood ever seen here by whitemen, some newspapers said it rose 51 others 63 feet above low watermark some towns lying low the steamers passed so high as the roofs of the houses, it carried off a great numbers of buildings bridges & mills all commerce was stopped no boats could run the current was so strong & the [?] so covered with driftwood snaggs & sawy[ers?] after [?] weeks it abated & fell within its usual & business has reassumed its former activity, it was serious loss to the City & its effects have been felt all along its course provisions here are plenty of all kinds being supplied with a large market six days in the week there are no men live better in this country than good farmers I have been working in a garden & nursery this spring & have the same wages I had last spring in Pittsburgh you may think little of it but there are no employment reckoned mean here when followed in honesty I board with Mr Baird John [B?]ollocks brother-in-law let Mr Taylors people know he is well I saw friend Samuel Guy shortly ago he is a smart nice young man & is well thought of by his employers I saw James Erwin he was very glad to see me N.B. Direct to William McLurg Care of Mr Wm [William?] Baird corner of water & Plumb Streets Cincinati Ohio I add not but desiring to be remembered to my Relatives & acquaintances I subscribe myself your affectionate son Wm [William?] McLurg I have not heard from John or Robert these fourteen months I heard from Joseph last summer when you write let me know if any of them wrote since I left Ireland |
