| Title: | William Wightman, Florence, Alabama to Mr McNeilly, [Ireland?]. |
|---|---|
| ID | 3339 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Wightman, William Jr/25 |
| Year | 1841 |
| Sender | Wightman, William Jr. |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | unknown |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Florence, Alabama, USA |
| Destination | N.Ireland |
| Recipient | McNeilly, D.W. |
| Recipient Gender | male |
| Relationship | Mr. McNeilly worked in the Wightman household (see |
| Source | T 1475/1 p.55: Copied by Permission of Miss A. McKisack, 9, Mount Pleasant, Belfast. |
| Archive | The Public Record Office, Northern Ireland. |
| Doc. No. | 9006073 |
| Date | 27/11/1841 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by JM 01:09:1993. |
| Word Count | 932 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Florance [Florence?] 27th November 1841. My dear Mr McNeilly, We arrived here about the beginning of October, having stopped a week in New York, and one in Philadelphia. The weather during our travelling was delightful, so that we enjoyed it very much, except the last two or three days, when we had to travel in the stage, both day and night which was very fatiguing to my Mother, as she could not sleep sitting up straight, with so great a noise and motion, which the rumbling of the wheels produced. The part of the country through which we passed was interspersed with beautiful scenery, and was generally well cultivated. The fences are all made of wood, nothing being seen like a hedge or a ditch, which would take too much time and trouble for making them. We travelled principally by land, most of the rivers being too low, there not having been any rain of consequence for some time previous. The roads are in general good, particularly the National road, which is about twelve hundred miles long. Some of the hotels where we stopped are on a very extensive scale, containing five hundred large apartments. My brother John is not like what Mother expected to see him, from hearing of his having always enjoyed good health, she thought he was Stout, instead of which he is very thin. Flesh meat is very cheap here, it being sold at three or four cents per pound, but then you have to take more than you really want, a cent is about the same as a halfpenny. The weather has continued like summer weather to me, since we arrived, with the exception of one or two rainy days when we had a good deal of Thunder and sheet Lightning, which was very Beautiful, and not at all dangerous. The bridge over the Jennessee at this place is nearly half a mile long, it is built of wood, and cost $150,000 Persons going over it on horseback or in any kind of vehicle, are not allowed to go faster than a walk, which is the case in nearly all the bridges that we passed over in our travelling. We have purchased a house and Garden with Carriage House, etc., for $2500 or $500 for as long as water runs and trees grow. We are at present staying at Uncle Simpsons as we are not to get possession of our own house till 1st January which is the time for moving here. My Uncle's plantation is about 9 miles from Florence, he has a very good house on it, but they seldom go to stay any time in it. We all went to it about a fortnight since, my three cousins and I on horseback and the rest in the carriage and Buggy, which last is something like a gig holding two person. During our stay there, which was only two days, my cousins and I went out in the woods to shoot squirrels, we did not see very many and those we did were too high to shoot at with any chance of killing. However, we shot some wild ducks and snips, near this house on a small pond. There are about one hundred negroes employed on the plantation. Some fields about Florence contain 500 and some 600 Acres. In Ireland a farm one quarter the size would be considered #PAGE 2 large. The Indians about this neighborhood have all sold their lands, and are gone to the west of the Mississippi. Among the places where we visited during our stay at Philadelphia, was the Chinese Museum, which has since been shipped for London, to be exhibited there It consisted of a large room full of Chinese manufactures, Animals, Agricultural Tools, models and bridges, and ships, drawings, a great number of beautiful lamps, wax figures of Mandarins and other public officers etc., The whole were collected by an American Merchant who got them smuggled out of the country at great expense during fifteen years residence on the coast - they are well worth seeing. We also visited Laurel Green, one of their burying grounds, it is very tastefully laid out, and there is some very fine sculpture in it, it seemed like a public walk there were so many people in it. Philadelphia is a fine city, and is kept a great deal cleaner than New York, it seems very quiet however after being in the latter city, where there is so much stir. Cotton is not expected to bring so high a price as it did last year. The fields of Cotton looked very pretty before the frost came, which blackens the stalks but does not do any injury to the Cotton. I did not like the bread made of the Indian Corn at first, but I have begun to like it very well. The corn is not so plenty as it was last year, and consequently is selling higher. I hope your crops and Mr James both turned out very well, and that you have not been troubled with rheumatism or any other complaint. John intends soon writing to Mr James. There is no regular market here, but there are a good many waggons come in nearly every day with Meat Fowls, Butter, Eggs Vegetables etc. My Mother, Sister and Brother join me in kind remembrance to you, Mrs McNeilly, Miss Waddell and Mr & Mrs Murphy and all their family, and also when you are writing to Mr James Believe me, Dear Sir, Yours with sincere affection. William Wightman. P.S. I suppose you received my letter dated from New York. |
