| Title: | Stewart, Frances to Atwood, Annie, 1869 |
|---|---|
| ID | 4793 |
| Collection | Revisiting Our Forest Home, The immigrant letters of Frances Stewart [J. L. Aoki] |
| File | stewart/75 |
| Year | 1869 |
| Sender | Stewart, Frances |
| Sender Gender | female |
| Sender Occupation | housewife |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Goodwood, Upper Canada |
| Destination | Gore's Landing, Ontario, Canada |
| Recipient | Atwood, Annie |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | friends |
| Source | |
| Archive | |
| Doc. No. | |
| Date | |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | |
| Log | unknown |
| Word Count | 610 |
| Genre | family, illness |
| Note | |
| Transcript | 1869: September 17 To Annie Atwood, Gore's Landing, Ontario 17th Sept'r 1869 Friday My dearest Annie You don't know how great I was disappointed in not seeing you when you were in Douro. You had been some days in our neighbourhood before I heard of your arrival & then I hoped you would be able to give us at least one day before you left, but by a letter from your dear Mother I found you were kept in a state of great anxiety almost during your whole visit by the illness of your children, which grieved me very much. I hope they & yourself have been much better since your return home & that you were none the worse of your short & anxious sojourn at Lakefield & found Mr. Atwood quite well & all your household affairs prospering on your return-.. I have nothing to say of ourselves but a list of sickness. Here at Goodwood seems the only part of the country exempt from the sad trouble of illness. Four of my daughters in law are now ill & under medical treatment, Anna who will I trust soon be better but dear Ellen is a great sufferer & has had some severe pain in one of her eyes, in addition to her usual state of weakness & suffering from other causes. I have not seen her for some weeks as I never go out now & she has not been able to drive so far though she is out every day for a short drive on smooth roads. Mary Dunlop was with us for some days lately which was quite a treat. She is a very nice companion. I am very much grieved that we are so separated from my dearly loved friend, your dear Mamma. It seems so strange never to be together now but some way we have never been like our ojd Selves since our burning, & also having the school in this house makes a difference at least for the mornings as the drawing room is occupied by the music pupils & the dining room is the school room, so that I sit generally in the hall. It seems long since I have heard from you. How does your dairy succeed this year. Have you made much butter or have you any sale for it nearer than Cobourg. It is a tolerable price now. Have you many sheep and lambs & how has your wheat turned out. You know I am always interested in your rural affairs. Have you a good servant! If you have you are better off than we are for ours has gone home to help her father & poor Kate has had such a creature as I am sure she w'd have been better almost without any, except that she could milk & churn but she could neither wash nor bake or [ ], & she broke & wasted more than her wages could repay. So at last Kate sent her away & she is far from able for the household work as her baby is very restless & cross.... Indeed dear Annie we think of scarcely anything now but illness, so many are suffering. Louisa too is very ill but I hope with care may be restored in time. So you see it is hard to make out a cheerful letter & you must forgive this vile scribble written in haste & if you can spare time indulge me with one of your interesting letters. With kind regards to Mr. A. & all my friends in your neighbourhood. Believe me as ever, your own old loving Mamma Stewart.... |
