| Title: | William Hill, S. Carolina, to His Brother David, Ballymena. |
|---|---|
| ID | 1435 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Hill, William/19 |
| Year | 1859 |
| Sender | Hill, William |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | businessman |
| Sender Religion | Protestant |
| Origin | Abbeville, South Carolina, USA |
| Destination | Ballymena, Co. Antrim, N.Ireland |
| Recipient | Hill, David |
| Recipient Gender | male |
| Relationship | siblings |
| Source | T 2305/37: Presented by South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S. Carolina. |
| Archive | The Public Record Office, N. Ireland. |
| Doc. No. | 9401057 |
| Date | 07/07/1859 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by LT, 02:03:1994. |
| Word Count | 508 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Abbeville [C. H.?] So. Ca. [South Carolina?] 7 July 1859 Dear Bro.[Brother?] David This letter will introduce to you my son Robert Emmet who leaves here directly to visit the land of his fathers, in company with Malcom [Malcolm?] Erwin. His health has not been good for some time, and I have thought that a trip accross the Altantic [Atlantic?] and a residence for a few months in your bracing climate may be of advantage. He is inexperienced in the world having never been much from home, and will, no doubt feel rather awkward in a new hemisphere, where the people, the manners and the customs, and indeed everything will seem so different from, what he has been accustomed to; but you must all make due allowance. One thing I know, that he will be among friends - for the Irish are proverbial for friendship to Americans, and I will feel quite easy on his account when I know that yourself, Bros [Brothers?] John, Hugh; William McMurtry, Cg. [B?]aird, and others, will excersise [exercise?] that Guardianship towards him, which thoughtless youth so much require. He will be suprised [surprised?], astonished - pleased when he gets to Ireland. His impressions will be greatly changed. He believes - as indeed most untravelled Americans believe, that Ireland is a poor country - that its people are a coarse, rough, untutored, ignorant, unpolished and semi-civilized race, that nothing elegant or refined belong to the country; but that poverty and want, rags squalor and wretchedness reign triumphant. He has no conception of the state of improvement, and the beauty of your green fields and snug farms, and the contrast between here and there will shake him deeply. His ideas respecting Ireland, and the Irish, are of course derived from the appearance and character of the Irish here, of whom it must be said, they are a very poor sample of the Irish at home. It is true that most of the emigrants from Ireland are of the lowest rank, and consequently have never had opportunity of polish, and when they get here, and find whiskey cheap the [they?] indulge to excess, get to fighting and brawling, and disgrace themselves, and reflect discredit on the better class of their countrymen. We have a good many of the rowdy class of Irish here in this little town and neighborhood - mostly of the Real Irish, or papist stock, and their looks and uncouth appearance often bring to my mind the Pigmen that I had seen, when a boy in Ballynure Fairs. My health is as good as usual and my family are all well. As I did not know until to-day that Emmet would start to-morrow I am necessarily hurried, and as there is no occasion for a long letter as he can answer all questions I will conclude by remainning [remaining?] your affectionate Brother William P.S. remember me kindly to the friends and to Mr Hay and [Leslie?] Jenny Mary Murdoch and the cousins in Ballyclare, [etc?] [etc?] Finally, I hope to see you all once more before I die. W. H. [William?] [Hill?] |
