| Title: | Matthew Brooks, Philadelphia, to His Sister [Co Tyrone?] |
|---|---|
| ID | 308 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Brooks, Matthew/18 |
| Year | 1862 |
| Sender | Brooks, Matthew |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | unknown |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Penn., USA |
| Destination | Co.Tyrone, N.Ireland |
| Recipient | Clark, Rebecca |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | siblings |
| Source | T 2700/8: Copied by Permission of Reverend Canon J.H. Gebbie B.A., Newtownstewart, County Tyrone. #TYPE EMG Matthew Brooks, Philadelphia, U.S.A., to His Sister [Rebecca Clark?], [Urney?], [County Tyrone?], [?] October 1862. |
| Archive | Public Record Office Northern Ireland. |
| Doc. No. | 9007179 |
| Date | 01/10/1862 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | 07:08:1990 JM created 01:11:1990 CD input 05:11:19 |
| Word Count | 717 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | To:- [Rebecca Clark, Urney, County Tyrone?] From:- Philadelphia October the [?] 1862 Dear sister i now write you a few lines to inform you that i am enjoying good health but i find getting weak in the back for some time back and not so active on foot as i used to be i received margrit's [Margaret's?] kind letter the 12th day after date which astonished me very much when i seen how Joseph met with his death robert and ann had ar[r?]ived here some weeks before and me not knowing whether the[y?] had received the news or not i took the letter to them and it was greeves [grevious?] newes [news?] to them the[y?] had got no account of the accident at the time but got a letter shortly after robert has got to work in a foundry and payes [pays?] seven dollars per week for their board Dear sister i would have sent you a little money before now but the[re?] always remain such heavy discounts on this trash of paper money that we hear it is forty per cent below par and some times fifty per cent we have no hope of seeing either gold or silver in sirculation [circulation?] here again a man in ireland wood [would?] think it hard to go to bank with one hundred pound of paper money and receive but sixty pound in gold this is how we are situated in philadelphia all the good that i see the war has done was freeing the darkeys and making slaves of the white men paying the war debt and a great many of the darkeys was better of before the[y?] got free than what the[y?] are since the[re?] are numbers of them pleading to get back to the[i?]r maseys [masters?] again but their maseys [masters?] will have nothing to do with them the[y?] have to pay so high for provisions that the[y?] wont get along at all and A great many of them cant get employment we had a very great truth [drought?] here this summer and great scarsity [scarcity?] of watter [water?] and some very destructive fires we had one great fire here a large range of government stores that was burned to ashes the loss was estimated to six million of dollars the firemen had no supply of watter [water?] to quench the flames and all was burned to ashes at one time this summer it was five dollars of a fine to wash the pavement before your door with a bucket of water the watter [water?] was so scarce i now inform you of what hap[p?]ened our old neabor [neighbour?] John Monteith son to david monteith the blacksmith in June last was a year his wife went to market as usual and when she returned she inquired if he had got up yet and she was told no she then went up to bed room and found him laying [lying?] in the bedroom floor and his throat cut from ear to ear he was an industrious man all his dayes [days?] and well of[f?] and well thought of by all who [k?]new him the[re?] can be no reason asighn [assigned?] for the evell [evil?] act Dear sister i now wish to inform you that yur old neabour [neighbour?] nancy cummins has been living in town this last year and has got quite well of her broken leg but she has gone out to the country again lately but not to the same part she has gone to live for some time with a step dau[gh?]ter of Mrs caldwels down in the state of maryland Mrs caldwell is wel[l?] I send my respects to Mr Love and family and likwis [likewise?] James simpson i was very sor[r?]y when hugh love Ar[r?]ived here that i had not more of his company i believe i was not more than tuo [two?] [h?]ours in his company at that time i was very busy and had scarce an [h?]our to spare but if he had told me that he was going to leave philadelphia so soon i would have spent a day or two with him let the consequence be as it would Dear sister i hope when you receive these few lines it will find you all in good health i have no more to say at present and remains your kind brother Matthew Brooks |
