| Title: | John Kelly, Allegheny to "Dear Mary" |
|---|---|
| ID | 1598 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Kelly, John/22 |
| Year | 1865 |
| Sender | Kelly, John |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | unknown |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Allegheny, Penn., USA |
| Destination | USA? |
| Recipient | Mary |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | friends? relatives? |
| Source | The Kelly Family Documents: Copyright Retained by The Ulster American Folk Park |
| Archive | The Ulster American Folk Park |
| Doc. No. | 300011 |
| Date | 12/10/1865 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by LT, 14:03:00. |
| Word Count | 540 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Oct. 12-65. Wilkin's P.O. Allegheny Co. Dear Mary Just returned from my trip to Erie, I will now give you an abstract of my journey, & other matters. I abode one year in Erie 44 years ago, &, was never there since. population then, 800 & now I was informed it is 18000. one person, & one house, are all I could recognise of former times. all gone, & I soon will be, also. I found John Kelly in a situation far above what I had anticipated. He occupies & owns a beautiful & extensive house & had one room fixt [fixed?] up & handsomely furnished for your Mother & me, expecting her also. His first Wife had 4 children all of whom look well, & the present Wife 2 children both red-haired, &, altho [although?] she treated me very respectfully, one thing I very much disliked, & was surprised that he would sanction, viz. the children of the first Wife occupied the second Table, altho [although?] room enough at the first. He paid $5000 down for his [plan?] house built, & improvements all made; he has shares in many of the Wells, & has besides a salary of $1800 annually for superintending two Wells - owned by N.Y. [New York?] Co. He wishes you to go & see them he says he could get you a situation at any time, he is highly respected in Erie. I went to their Church & he occupied the front Pew. I went with Jno. [John?] to Fredonia N.Y. [New York?] State 40 miles to see Susan K. now Mrs. Newton. she is a clever & kind woman & I think the chief of that family. her husband is a farmer, he is a cheesemonger, & they make (you will say incredible) 48 cheeses daily. John says if you would know his engagedness you would not blame him for not replying to your letter but, I believe bad spelling & worse writing is the cause of his silence. He & I left Erie on Monday 9th Inst, & he would be there in time to witness one of the most desolating Oil Conflagrations that ever occurred there I will be uneasy till I know whether he will be one of the sufferers. This morning Fan has lost her two girls, & Ellen knows what that means, Your Mother in fits & vows she will just go back to Ellen so she will - she is old Mrs Fickle. I believe Robert has sown all his wild oats as the phrase is. - he has got a house at last & will commence House keeping this week. he feels very much the want of means, but, George & Jno. [John?] Liggett I think will aid him, he is much respected here you may know, since he has been tendered the superintendency of the Sabbath school, he pays $15 per month for a mean house, & labor & materials are so high he can not attempt building till next year. I will write to David & the Ladies next week how are they doing, & do they like their situation? All write in love to Doll, Ellen dear little Carrie & Bud, & Your own old self. God bless You all. Affectionately. John Kelly |
