| Title: | Distressed Cotton Weavers to A. T. Stewart, Esq. |
|---|---|
| ID | 3991 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | 1861-70/37 |
| Year | 1863 |
| Sender | Passengers of the Mary Edson |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | cotton weavers |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | New York, USA |
| Destination | N.Ireland |
| Recipient | Stewart, Alexander T. |
| Recipient Gender | male |
| Relationship | unknown |
| Source | The Belfast Newsletter, Saturday, 19 September, 1863 |
| Archive | The Central Library, Belfast |
| Doc. No. | 800168 |
| Date | 19/09/1863 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | LET |
| Log | Document added by LT, 10:08:00. |
| Word Count | 434 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | THE EMIGRANT SHIP MARY EDSON. We take the following address to A. T. Stewart, Esq., from the New York Herald, of the 3rd inst.:- "New York, August 31, 1863. "To Alex T. Stewart, Esq. " Honored Sir, We, the passengers of the ship Mary Edson, take this pleasing opportunity of expressing to you our most profound gratitude and respect, and now beg to offer you our warmest and most heartful thanks for the munificent act of your bounteous and noble generosity. In freighting, at your sole expense, the aforesaid ship with a full cargo of provisions and breadstuffs for the distressed cotton operatives of Lisburn, and in gratuitously conveying the unemployed operatives of Lisburn and Belfast to the friendly shores of America, we behold in you, Sir, the author of this most unparalleled act of Christian benevolence, a gentleman worthy of the highest praise and commendation, whose name will ever be remembered by us with the liveliest feelings of gratitude and emotion. Society and nations, to express their gratitude, have raised monuments of stone to perpetuate the memory of their great men; but you, honored and respected Sir, have graven upon the hearts of the inhabitants of your native town, and upon us, the recipients of your bounty, a monumental tablet of gratitude that time or distance can never efface. We feel, Sir, our complete inability to express to you in words the feelings of our hearts on this ever-memorable occasion. We are proud this day of the high privilege we have of calling you our countryman. When famine and distress visited your native land, you, honored Sir, with the philanthropy of a Howard, came forward, and out of your rich abundance supplied the wants of the needy, and have given unto us free passages to the land of your adoption, where, by honest industry and exertion, we hope to better our condition, and, if Providence should bless our endeavours to build us a happy home in the country of our choice, we will ever acknowledge with unmingled feelings of grateful rememberance that we owe all to the bountiful benevolence of your truly noble generosity. "Honored Sir, we beg of you to accept, through the medium of this humble address (which is but a poor expression of our feelings), our most sincere and grateful thanks for this magnificent gift of your generous bounty. We take this opportunity of returning our sincere thanks to Captain Nickerson and his crew for their marked civility and kindness shown to us, nothing being wanting on their part to render our voyage pleasant and agreeable. In conclusion, we will most devoutly pray that God will abundantly bless and reward you, and the honored partner of your joys, with all spiritual and temporal blessings, both in this life and that which is to come. " Signed on behalf of the passengers, "JAMES DUFFY. "JOHN DOHERTY. "HUGH SLOAN. "WILLIAM MOATE. "JOHN CRAWFORD. "ROBERT BURKE. |
