| Title: | Diaries of James Harshaw, Donaghmore, Co Down |
|---|---|
| ID | 1338 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Harshaw, James/71 |
| Year | 1849 |
| Sender | Harshaw, James |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | farmer? |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Donaghmore, Co. Down, N.Ireland |
| Destination | St. Louis, Missouri, USA |
| Recipient | unknown |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | newphew-aunt |
| Source | D 4149/D/2: Deposited by Marjorie Harshaw Robie, 12 High Street,Ipswich MA 01938, USA |
| Archive | The Public Record Office, N Ireland |
| Doc. No. | 9907089 |
| Date | 28/03/1849 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | LTE |
| Log | Document added by LT, 19:07:99. |
| Word Count | 1220 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Copy of a letter of John's to his Aunt Kennedy St Louis Donaghmore March 28th 1849 My Dear Aunt My father desires me to acknowledge your letter that left St Louis on the 7th Feb. last which arrived here on the 8th March, & was very glad to hear that you & all your family were quite well, although the Colera [Cholera?] is raging around you. That fatal disese [disease?] is very prevalent here at present, & has been so especially in the towns for some time past & I hope it shall not make its appearance in the country. Belfast appears to have suffered more from its ravages than any other town. Since you last heard from this country there has been some deaths took place among your friends here. Your Uncle Alex. Mulligan died on the 9th of Nov. last after a short illness. None of his friends here knew of his sickness until they saw an account of his death in the Newspapers. He made a will & left œ700 among his relatives in Donaghmore, but forgot my Aunt Young Wm [William?] & Billy McCague. His wife gets the remainder of his property which is supposed to be worth œ1000. his bequests are as follows - To Wm. [William?] Bradford œ300, Jas. [James?] Harshaw œ200, W K Harshaw œ50 Alex McCague œ40 Mrs English œ40, and his sister Peggy œ50. Your Uncle was a determined Seceder to the last & when in this country so great was his hatred to the late members of the Secession Synod that he wd [would?] not preach in one of their houses He preferred to officiate in the Methodist house that has been created about 3 or 4 years ago near Sam Neills house, or Joe Kidds on the bog. It was John Martin our friend of Loughorne that took so active a part in trying to persuade the English government or rather the people of Ireland that the course of policy carried on towards this country was one that was opposed to the laws of nature and of God; and is now lying in Dublin under sentence of transportation for 10 years. He is the best man I know, or perhaps ever will on this earth. He was too good to live among us. This country is brought to a sad state, nothing but beggars liars thieves & murderers, in it. Those persons that have the means are flying as fast as they can to your country, & selling all they have before the poor-rate collector & landlord takes all from them. Some person or persons are to blame for bringing the country to such a pass, but John Martin is free of it certainly If I leave this country & go to yours could I get a fine large farm free from taxes, and if so will you give me Jane. All these people are well. My Mother is fat & pretty & active, & she is as broad as long still. James Harshaw is living with Wm. [William?] Magowan in Portnorris carrying on a grocery & haberdashery concern extensively. Sarah Ann has gone to a Boarding school there about two months ago. She is a fine healthy thing, & will be nearly as handsome as my Mother & you were, long ago they say. Andrew is as tall as me, but handsomer, He attends the young cattle, & takes great delight in rearing good pretty calves that take the premiums at the Cattle Shows. He assists my father with the farming operations, but he is in great repute among the ladies, & scarcely an enemy among them. He is very gallant, & considered a fine man for an evening party. He thinks his Mother's waist & all of her, never was so neat & nice as the young lady's with whom he associates now are. Willy has served his time at Banbridge to bleaching & managing linens, & is now at home. He talks of going to your country immediately. Robert has been attending to his books & has entered Belfast College for the first, this winter. He is there at present & my Mother is uneasy about him as the Cholera is raging there. She went to see him last week, & it was the first time for her to see Belfast & to see a Railway, & she is well pleased with both, & can tell a good deal about them. When there she got two new teeth in & looks well since. Absalom is a delicate boy, he has a gear (sic) cough. He attends school & runs about with a dog killing rats & hunting etc. Jane Harshaw, her son & man are right well. She lives near my Aunt Young. Mary Harshaw is well, & her tall man also. She lives on the next townland to my Mother. My father says that Absalom alias Samuel is the prettiest, & Wessel alias Robert is the best of them all. My Aunt Young enjoys good health & is heavier & fatter than my mother. All her sons are well. William is getting on well in Sam Neill's old place. He has a son & is very fond of him. When sitting in his parlour you can hear the people singing in the Methodist house. Old Billy McCague took unwell about 3 months ago & my mother says he will never rise. There is no change for better or worse in him this good time. Poor Wm [William?] McCague is still confined to the house, he is improving a little, but neither father nor son are able to see how things are going with the farm. Alex is rich & healthy, & the world is flowing on him looks after his father's business as much as he can, as he lives beside him. The talk at present is about a prossesion [procession?] of Ribbonmen that took place here & at Downpatrick on St. Patricks Day. The Orangmen was shot at Ballnaferan [Ballynafern?] & two persons at Downpatrick. There has been some sudden deaths here latterly - a son of Isaac Bradfords died suddenly in Decr. [December?] & Billy McKinstry (known as Pitt McKinstry) was found dead the other morning on the road at Donaghmore Meetinghouse. He was to be married that day. He was in Newry the day previous, & left Robt. [Robert?] Young's about 11 oclock nearly drunk, & was not seen till he was found dead the next morning. Our minister Mr Moore is living in A Marshalls place in Buskhill. He is considered a good man, & my mother is delighted with him. She thinks there is none in the Assembly to surpass him. Prices of grain is very low here now corn only 5/4 per cwt & wheat 8/0. Bad prospect for farmers to pay high rates. My father paid nearly œ40 of poor rates last year. The weather has been exceedingly fine this winter. We had no snow only a little that was the morning that McKinstry was found dead & it fled during the day. The farmers were for sowing oats in February, which was fine & now appears to be bad. Your Aunt Peggy is living in her own house in Ringolish with Mrs Sam Mulligar & enjoys good health. Marthy Campbell was here yesterday enquiring for you. Hoping to hear from you soon again I am dear Aunt Yours very sincerely John Harshaw |
