| Title: | E Phelps, Moyallen to Maria Newsom, Kings County |
|---|---|
| ID | 2124 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Phelps, E/137 |
| Year | 1824 |
| Sender | Phepls, E. |
| Sender Gender | female |
| Sender Occupation | unknown |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Moyallen, Co. Armagh? N.Ireland |
| Destination | Edenderry, Kings County, Ireland |
| Recipient | Newsom, Maria |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | niece-aunt |
| Source | D 1762/47: Presented by JSW Richardson Esq, The Wood House,Bessbrook, Co Armagh |
| Archive | The Public Record Office, Northern Ireland |
| Doc. No. | 101141 |
| Date | 04/01/1824 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | LET |
| Log | Document added by LT, 11:01:01. |
| Word Count | 3569 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | [Cover of Letter] [Postmarks] G [Gilford?] 6 Ja [January?] 6 1824 Gilford 6/7 Single sheet Robert Newsom Mr Wilson Edenderry Kings County [Offaly?] for Maria Newson [page one] Moyallen January 4 1824 My Dear Maria appearances are fallacious, so therefore thou must not measure my affections for thee by my long silence, which I know not how to account for except from not having any thing very interesting to communicate sister Sally having written so lately to thy mamma but this day week having brought us a large package of letters from our dear American wanderers I think I can not entertain thee better than giving these extracts out of them which was highly interesting to us & to enable me to do so as satisfactorily as possible I have taken a long sheet of paper the coarseness of which thou must excuse but in the first place I must thank thee my dear Maria for thy [truly?] kind & acceptable letter also for thy beautiful present of [wrists?] which I [fear?] was an encroachment in thy time indeed they are almost to [too?] [nice?] for me but highly prized for being thy [work?] the former [pall?] thee & wished have been greatly admired But thou will say it in time to hear some thing of [kindness?] the letters are dated from Kingston the 9th of Novr which is very quick when they were all in the enjoyment of good health & had been so ever since they went over which is great blessing as it had not been considered a healthy season by the inhabitants fever & ague being very prevalent & fatal with [children?] Henrietta wrote in June an account of her travels from the time she landed at Quebec until she wrote but unfortunately she has sent the letter to her cousin Joseph which has disappointed me & she gives a very handsome [Page two, across narrow] description of the journey on the St Lawrence in many places but I have a letter from sister to [H?] Richardson also from [Moyallen?] She sent us not knowing we had received letters with a [minuter?] account of their voyage I may call it such being on water She [commenses?] on their taking their passage on a steam boat for Montreal which are fitted up in [new?] style the first day she was able to be up to witness the beauties of the scenery but was the [---?] [------?] admired it greatly they met some very agreeable gentlemen who gave them a great deal of information about the country, Montreal is a large town kept clean & a great deal of business done in it they stopt [stopped?] their [there?] a [few?] days to rest & took their passage from that to Kingston in a [Durham?] boat but in consequence of a great rapid between that & Lachine a distance of 9 miles they travelled in what they call a calash so far, to make the boat as light as possible she says the road seemed [thick?] they could imagine themselves driving through a gentlemens demesne the scenery was so delightful they had to stop all night at Lachine the mistress a great varago [virago?] & an Irish woman & what was worse they had to [encounter?] bugs & different sorts of vermins the next morning they went on board the boat which was quite a new conveyance they are made quite flat bottomed so as to draw very little water the river is in some places so shallow & they have to keep quite close to the shore as the current is so strong they could be carried down & dashed to pieces, they next stopped at the cascades where they got very dirty beds & plenty of creepies the next night again on shore with as bad [parts?] which determined them to lay down their own beds & sleep in the boat which they did for 9 nights she says "there we were in an open boat & the only place we had to shelter us was quite open in the front Joseph could scarcely stand upright in it we had three nights of dreadful rain thunder & lightning (the latter much stronger than at home) I can scarcely keep from shuddering when I think of those nights the rain fell in torrents & the thunder seemed to break past over the boat the nights [fortunately?] were short & the [burning?] sun soon dried our bed clothes my cough got daily worse I thought I should never [Page three narrow] [loose?] it [we?] were dreadfully bit by muscetoes [mosquitoes?] which fastened on our hands, faces, necks & every where they could even our feet landed by the shore Joseph was like one recovering out of the small [smallpox?] for we had no relief night or day but to our great joy when we arrived here we found this place quite free of them the St Lawrence is certainly one of the most beautiful rivers in the world but I cannot pretend to give thee a just idea of the grand romantick [romantic?] scenery that every here & there strikes the eye the most beautiful islands of different sizes & forms some thickly covered with trees & shrubs, others with nothing but the [rock?] that forms them to be seen except at the top where thick clusters of green trees are to be seen; It is here the sweet smelling Arbor vita [arbor vitae?] grows in such [luxuriance?] the most beautiful part of the river is the thousand islands picture to thyself an immense expanse of water thickly covered with immeasurable islands vieing [vying?] with each other in beauty I was much struck with the village of Brookville [Brockville?] which is about eighty miles from this for a length of way the rocks had been [hanging?] almost perpendicular thickly covered with trees shrubs we went so close as to be able to catch hold of the branches when all [torn] [one?] we came in [----?] of this little village [torn] close to the waters edge we came up a number [torn?] rapids some of which have a terrific appearance boats have to be drawn up them with horses oxen ours took eight & sometimes they had hard work the last of them is a mile in length I stood a long time on the shore looking at the wild majestic grangeur [grandeur?] of the scenery the water for a great breadth running with great intensity over immense rocks which dashed the spray into the air to a great height, at those places we always got out to walk we were twelve days & nine nights in the boat & the captain & men very disagreeable sadly given to drink & great cursers we were all delighted to get here I was almost worn out, I dont think I could have passed another night in the boat, we stopped two days at an hotel when we took the house we are in at present a short way out of Kingston at 8 dollars a month with only a yard to it, houses get very high here I think it is about as large as Lisburn but covers more ground it is prettily situated close to the water edge Long island is nearly opposite Wolfsland [Wolfe Island?] lies between this & is they are both to be seen from this I took a jaunt into the country some weeks ago, a few miles out [page four across narrow] of town I was much struck by the appearance of the country in some places the woods are close to the side of of the road we came to a sudden turn where the rest of the road was hid from our view & nothing to be seen but an immense forest of full grown trees as far as the eye could reach there are frequently bears seen in the neighbourhood of this town there are wolves at some distance "I have given thee a long extract out of sisters letters I believe nearly as much as I can spare room for it makes one indeed shudder to think of all they had to incountre [encounter?] & thy aunts frame so weak & debilitated by anxiety before she undertook it I think if people knew all that was before them they would not not so very anxious to go to America she says it would be impossible for her to describe her sensations on parting [&?] [aunt?] & her two dear children in the cabin of the [entire sentence illegible] gain & now sometimes when sitting by the fire she closes her eyes & fancys [fancies?] herself in Lisburn sitting with them but the pleasing vision soon vanishes & the little probability of its ever being realised soon vanises [vanishes?] poor thing I beleive & am sure she suffered greatly leaving all her friends, she makes many allusions to dear Ireland, she says it is quite a treat to see a genteel person to speak to the friends are very uncouth the [they?] have not a meeting house but meet at a friends house three miles from town his wife had been ill of a fever sister asked him how she was, he said she had been quite smart but that is she had been better but she was not so well then they have a very singular manner of expressing themselves if in the market what the [they?] have to sell they say nothing but a few notions those notions consist [Page five, accross broad] of fowl butter, eggs, cheese & such things & others if you ask them what they have to sell nothing but trick & plunder one might think they had stolen them thy aunt regretted greatly not taking a good servant out with them as for not having one their linen had to lie unwashed until the [they?] reached Kingston when a great deal of it was mildewed & some if it rotten which will be a serious loss then as they got a few kitchen utensils Henretta [Henrietta?] did all she could bringing in a person for the day is very expensive 2:6 [2 shillings and sixpence?] a day & do very little, they did without a servant [until?] sister [was?] confined, James was cook, she regrets now they did not leave the little boy at school which was what we wanted them to do Thomas soon tired teaching them & their father has taken them in hand, the weather was intensly hot at first [Eliza?] says Henrietta often laughed at her & said she hoped she had got the cold out of her bones at last, she now prefered the cold weather the flies are so very annoying in the warm, lighting on every part of you, the table where they are eating will be black with them & they must have the windows open to admit all the air they can the frost had just commenced when they wrote. It is time for me now to begin to Henriettas letter with an account of her travels to the half years meeting of young street twenty eight miles above York [Ottawa?] "She says, I found it quite different from the meetings at home it began on a fourth day & lasts two days it is about as large as the quarterly meetings at home they have meetings for business each day after the meeting for worship William Foster was at it also another public friend from Indianna [Indiana?] called George Madden, the friends all bring their children & dogs to meeting with them & a little boy with apples or cakes for them sometimes they are very noisy I think their mothers cannot get much good of their meeting with them when the children with them began to sing, & the dogs to fight, I could scarcely hear what was said when a friend was speaking, altogether I think it was more like a nursery than a place of worship, there was not the least scheming in at the women never think of sitting the meeting out in the seat they take when they go in, but constantly moving about & going in & out, the first day of the meeting [page six broad] was very wet, & I was really amused to see them tieing their handkerchiefs on their bonnets to prevent the rain from spoiling them & putting on their cloaks all this was done in meeting, they dress very ugly & wear a variety of very ill chosen colours & what suprized [surprised?] me very much was to see one of the publick [public?] friends daughters with two [rows?] of a necklace which they think quite a requisite part of dress, some of them when they come to York [Ottawa?] [want?] to know where the town is, for they cannot see it for the houses. The friends house we lodged at they were very agreeable people (they were Yankees) & did all they could to make us comfortable they said they knew our manners & theirs were quite different but hoped we would put up with it, the mistress of the house invited me to go see her when she would pay me more attention & kisses me when we parted with much affection Young St is two hundred & 28 miles from this as my father wished to see several places in order to be better able to determine where to settle we made a long excursion of it & travelled upwards of 600 miles we were at the for [fore?] famed falls of Niagara which is indeed well worth seeing a person can have no idea of its grandeur without beholding it, form to thyself what it must be a breadth of water half a mile broad falling 170 feet perpendicular making a most tremendous noise, to look at it from the brink the water is a beautiful green appearance running down, we went down a winding staircase of 115 steps to the water edge here we could not see the fall at all for the mist & only the great noise it made, I was wet through with the spray, it is altogether a most sublime sight & cannot pretend to give thee a just idea of its grandeur, we could see the mist quite plain ascending into the air & caused by the water falling at 50 miles distance through the lumineer a great concourse of people from all parts of the world the land lord told us he has fifty or sixty strangers every day, there is an excellent hotel & a fine view of the fall from the balcony of the house all through the Niagara district there are peaches growing in great abundance & the apple trees were bending to the ground they are so loaded we returned by the genesse [Genesee?] country which is part of the frontier states the country in parts is beautifully romantick [romantic?] & finely diversified with hill & dale every 10 miles we came to a nice little town or vilage [village?] [Page seven across broad] The people were every where very civil & wished we would settle in their neighbourhood they took us for English people we travelled over a wooden bridge a mile & three perch long in many places we went through roads ten or twelve miles long the road sometimes so narrow the branches of the trees would touch our faces there are what they call log roads, the trees cut down & laid across we got bad jolting my bones ached for some time after we travelled in a four wheeled pleasure or jaunting waggon the only kind of vehicle that would answer the roads in this country "She says the largest steam boat in Canada is here which is a thousand tons burden [burthen?] it goes up Lake Ontario to York [Ottawa?] and Niagara the swell in the Lake is often as great as the western ocean The manner of laying out breakfast and tea is quite different from home they have eggs cheese plumb [plum?] [small?] peach & [rare?] apple & [?] & [?] [&?] [once?] fried fish & three or four kinds of cold meat The Indians are queer looking people they are of a copper colour & wear their blankets about their shoulders & their long black hair down their backs they are very fierce looking & very fond of spirits to get which they sell all they have" I think I have now given thee the brief contents of [those?] two letters thy aunt says she likes the country better than she expected that she is grown quite fat & would scarcely be known for the way worn traveller that landed there a few months ago she was taken for a [Gent?] [Gentleman's?] daughter the Cannadian [Canadian?] is thriving finely Thomas tells her she is too fond of her I must now give thee the contents of thy uncles letter they have not yet been able to settle themselves to their minds they find land so much dearer than what it is represented here but in the course of all his travels he did not see any situation he preferred so much as Kingston in some places the soil may be better but then they are so far away from a market that the disadvantages are great which has quite decided him in favour of Kingston which there is a ready soil & ready money for every thing you bring to market which is a great advantage & a place that is rising greatly it is a thought it will soon be the seat a [of?] government my brother was looking at a farm he thought could answer him nicely a neat house in it [torn] asked 800 for it which was quite beyond his means so he has [torn] on taking an uncleared one which he thinks he can get for about 25 [torn] prefers it to a government grant as he says they are all so [torn] back & the duty & expenses are [Page eight across broad] nearly equivalent to the purchasing of one I believe the accounts that come over here are very much exagerated [exaggerated?] & none have surprised us more than William Crothers's Joshua passed his farm he says he has 18 acres badly chosed [chosen?] & the stream he represented as being such a fine one you would scarcely know where it was Peggy told him the two years they have had it they have been barely able to raise as much off [of?] it as would support their family & this year they would have to [buy?] & [they?] are 28 miles from a market over a bad road so I think there is little doubt of Kingston being the most eligible situation & though it is formidable to take a farm that requires such hard work I hope in time they will be remunerated for their exertions now my dear Maria I think I have given thee all the information their letters contain which I hope may amuse thee I fear thou will difficulty (sic) making it out for I am indeed tired writing that is my fingers I must now give thee a little home news poor [Susy?] Mc Donnel died at three o clock yesterday morning it was only the last week confined to her bed weakness & difficulty of breathing was her complaint she made a [peaceful?] happy end she is to be interred tomorrow her daughters will have a great loss Lucia Richardson has been very very poorly weakness was her complaint they were rather alarmed for her but she is better Aunt Besty came down [last?] week none of us have seen her yet have you heard of Joseph Harveys illness he was seized about a fortnight since with a throwing up of blood the Dr thought he burst a blood vessel he is not allowed even to turn in the bed & kept as low as possible for fear of any return his wife is greatly to be felt for [S?] Christy still helps up I suppose you heard her niece [E?] Watson is with her she is a fine looking girl but not handsome Sally receives very good accounts from [Dotty?] [her?] [boy?] James continues better they think thy friend M Davison also better to [too?] she is somedays but poorly the rest John Wakefield is in a very delicate state of health his friend are rather alarmed for him his complaint is weakness & loss of appetite I shall be sorry for his wife though I know her this family are all well except sister S who has a little cold but she is better & was at meeting to day mother sisters brothers also the children join me in dear love to my brother & sister Lydia & the boys & not forgetting thyself believe me my dear Maria thy [sincerely?] [affectionate?] niece E Phelps. [postscript] Poor C Beatty is not so well since the cold weather [set?] [in?] James Crawford has got a [sore?] time [postscript] of that [family?] are well Anne Haughton has got a son & recovering finely I did not hear whether the [---?] [is?] paid of amount [Be?] all set at Christmas when thou hast an opportunity I wish thou would send this letter to read which I think she would like [postscript] G [George?] [Darley?] was very poorly after Marys marriage but he is better she is to live with her father this winter she went to the [country?] for a week |
