Harriet's Letter dated February 1, 1868

Dear Owen,

You are only 4 years old. Your father ded almost 4 years. Your mother just died. Suffering so much since you was 2. In these letrs I will tell about your family. If your reading this then God ansered my prayers. You are with a good family who made you go to school and learn reading. I want my son William to be your father. I went to the office yesterday sent him a letter asking him to adopt you. He has some children. Wilbert is just 3 years ahed you.
I will write just as it comes to me. I cant remember it all at once. I want you to remember your mother and father Not like your Emilene. Her mother and dad Riggs that's ther name taken so sudden she remember nothing. Maybe she don't want to. I wont sadden you with how it happen because your mother was specil and I want you to think on that. Emilene come to us when we lived in Belmont Conty. 8 years old. And William only 4 yr. Now I had daughter. She learnt to cook and sew and make butter and soap and all those women chores. Help me take care of Will. then faster than a horse flik a fly away she is 16.
In love she says with Broodhall McKinon his family come from Barnesville Broodhall work with the blacksmith. We lived in Cambridge then. I told her the law say she have to be 18. but she cant wait. One evenin Broodhall and she come and they didnt go to work says they got married in Washington conty Justice of peace. She showed me the paper and all. I hope you dont ever go aganst your parents that way.
I am not done telling you about Emilene but I can write only when you are sleep. 4 year old and so busy all the time If I dont watch youll wory the checkens or get cat scratched or kickd by the cow.

Too tired tonite to write more.

Love,
Gama

These letters are inventions.

A lonesome batchelor

Here is what I have in my story from Grandma Mort; this is what she told me:

"Sarah Elizabeth Cotton, born in Eddyville, Iowa, December 20, 1868, met and married "a lonesome bachelor" by the name of Owen Fowler Ide, born May 7, 1864, in Fairview, Ohio.  His father, a Baptist minister, the Reverend Ebenezer Ide, 70, died when Owen was seven months old.  His mother, Emiline R. S. Ide, died at age 35 on January 28, 1868.  Both died at the residence of Owen Fowler in Fairview, Guernsey County, Ohio.  Left an orphan by age three, Owen was brought by his grandmother to Exira, Iowa, to some Fowler relatives who evidently did not wish to keep him.  A childless couple, Oliver and Emily Jane (Beers) Smith, took him in.  Emily Jane, born 1832, was a teacher from New York, and it was her desire that Owen should be educated.  He went to high school in Exira from the Smith farm near Brayton.  He also attended Ames (Iowa State University) for part of a year."

The farm where the Smith's lived was the farm that the Owen and Sarah Ide, after their marriage, rented and later purchased from the Smiths and where Grandma Mort grew up.  Grandma referred to them as "Grandpa and Grandma Smith."  Owen lived on that farm for 65 years.  The Smith grandparents moved later to California but would come back every year and spend time at the farm.  Grandma said her parents always had to move out of their bedroom so the Smiths could have it.

Love, Aunt Mary

email 20070207

Owen Fowler Ide short flattering Biography 1889

OWEN F. IDE, Postmaster at Brayton, Iowa, was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, May 7, 1864. He is the son of Ebenezer and Emeline (McKenna) Ide. His father was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, in 1794, and during the war of 1812 he was the Captain of a Massachusetts company. He emigrated to Ohio and settled in Cam bridge, in which place he was a Baptist minister for many years. He died at Fairview, Ohio, in 1864. His wife survived him four years.

After her death Owen F. made his home with his aunt, Mrs. Harriet Fowler. In October, 1874, he removed with his aunt to Audubon County, Iowa, and then went to live with Oliver Smith, with whom he made his home for fourteen years.

During this time he took a course at the Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa, being a member of the class of 1885. On leaving college he re turned to Mr. Smith's, and engaged in farm ing for three years.

In July, 1886, he formed a partnership with J. M. Reynolds in the general dry goods business, under the firm name of Reynolds & Ide. In October of the same year Mr. Ide was appointed postmaster at Brayton under Grover Cleveland's administration.

He is an efficient and faithful officer, and in connection with the office is doing a profitable business. Mr.Ide was married December 24, 1885, to Miss Eliza beth Cotton, the oldest daughter of George and Mary Cotton, of Brayton, Iowa. They have one daughter Bessie.

A nephew of Mr. Ide's was educated at Heidelberg, Ger many, and is now Professor of Languages at Cornell University, New York.

Mr. Ide taught two terms of school after coming to the county. He began his career without means, but a well disciplined mind has done him good service, and today he is one of the reliable and highly respected citizens of the county.


1889 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
SHELBY AND AUDUBON COUNTIES, IOWA
W. S. DUNBAR & CO., PUBLISHERS
113 ADAMS STREET, CHICAGO

page 739

Commentary on two letters Mar and Apr 1902

Mary,

Thank you for the extra effort in scanning the two letters. One thing that got lost in the previous translation effort was that we had one long letter. Although the long letter has four distinct parts knowing that it was one letter helped the translators understand who was speaking and what was being said. The primary translator works with the Emigration Center in Vora, Vasa, Finland, which also collects genealogical information about residents. That is why they are able to suggest the identity of the letter's scribe. 

Context for the letters

The people

The Rasmus Farm

Matt Rasmus Family

Betsy Rasmus Lund (Beatta Mattsdotter Rasmus married Wilfred Lund in Denver in 1889)

Lisa Mattsdotter Rasmus (married Finnish neighbor Charles Bartell in Denver )

Anders Mattson Rasmus (married Anna Lisa Johansdotter Enges before emigrating to Colorado)

Mickel Rasmus Family

Lisa Mickelsdotter Rasmus This 18 year old unschooled scribe of the long letter used no punctuation and few capitals.

The Enges Farm

Johan Enges Family

Anna Lisa Johansdotter Enges (After marrying Anders Rasmus she moved to the Rasmus Farm before emigrating to America.)

The Bertills Farm

Jakob Jakobsson Bertills

Karl Johan Jakobsson Bertills(As Charles Bartell he married neighbor Lisa Rasmus in Denver in 1894)

Lisa Rasmus Bartell's husband, Charles, died in an accident (probably mining) March 3, 1901. Betsy Rasmus Lund's brother, Anders Rasmus, died in an accident at Arkins Quarry, September 19, 1901. Anders's death was mentioned in Denver, Fort Collins and Loveland newspapers. Wilfred Lund, who had been waiting in Denver for Anders' wife to arrive from Finland, rushed back to Arkins and Jonas Hard went to Denver to meet the new widow Anna Lisa Johansdotter (nee Enges) Rasmus and her one year old son, Johan. The following year, 1902, Anna Lisa and Jonas were married just in time for the birth of their first child. 

First Lisa Bartell's parents are speaking through the scribe. Next the writer, Lisa Mickelsdtr, makes some pointed comments and then expresses her excitement about Lisa Bartell's possible visit. Some last greetings are squeezed into little remaining space.

In the second letter Lisa Bartell refers to herself and her son as Le and Janie (pronounced yawnie). She may have just received the long letter from Finland and included it with her own note. 

Letter from Lisa Bartel to Betsy Rasmus Lund, April 22, 1902

Goldfield April 22 1902

Dear sister Betsy [Lund, nee Rasmus], we wish you well, I and Janni (1),. I may now answer your letter which I received. Good to hear that you are alive and the same I may send you back that we are alive and doing pretty well. We like it here as long as we may stay healthy, but so many people are sick around here, in almost every house. Mary(2) is here at the moment, but she works sometimes when she is here, she …?

Last week I had a letter from Finland. They don´t have a lot of news, but everything is as before. They want me to come home. Have you been to the Arkins this winter? In lack of news, I am shortening my lines with many greetings to all of you from all of us. We are a lot of Finns here(3), mostly from Vörå.

Sincerely Le Bartell [Lisa Rasmus Bartell]

Reply wanted, same address

(1)   6 year old son of Lisa and Charles Bartell

(2)   Mary has not been identified

(3)   Goldfield, Colorado near Cripple Creek seems the most sensible choice.There is a Goldfield, Wisconsin, not far from  Florence, Wisconsin, where the 1888 envelope addressed to Betsy Rasmys was postmarked.  But Charles Bartell was killed in a mine accident in Colorado.

Translated by the Emigration Center in Vörå., Vasa, Finland and Kristin Rhodes.

Letter to Lisa Rasmus Bartell March 28 1902

Notes by Kristin Rhodes and Emigration Center in Vora, Vasa, Finland

The letter does not contain one single comma or period. I have added them to enhance the translation. Neither did the writer use capital letters, except a few. It is not a direct translation. The writer had not gone to school, so it is sometimes difficult to know what she means.

This letter was written in Finland by Lisa Rasmus and sent to Lisa Bartell, birth name Rasmus, in America.  In the first part, the writer, Lisa Rasmus in Finland is writing something dictated by Lisa Bartell’s parents, who were probably illiterate.  Then she goes on to write her own comments to Lisa Bartell.

It is our guess that Lisa Rasmus, the letter writer, was Lisa Mickelsdotter Rasmus, a daughter of another farmer on Rasmus farm.  Not related.  This Lisa later also went to America in 1907.

It is interesting that the family of Lisa Bartell’s sister, Beata, would have this letter written to Lisa, but that is what it is.

[Finland] March 28 1902

Our beloved daughter Lisa [Lisa Rasmus Bartell],

We may now answer your letter, which we received yesterday, and where we find you being alive, although it has seemed a long time for us, waiting for your letter. We may now say that we toil here as before. One day is better and the other worse. That is how every day of life is, but remember, when you get old like us, it gets worse every day. But what else can we expect.

I hear you are not sure about coming home.(1) You say that if Anna Lisa comes, she will come here, but you don´t need to think that. She has taken all of her belongings from here so she doesn’t need to be here any more. She [Anna Lisa Enges Rasmus] will go back home [to Enges]. They [Enges family] want her there, so we don´t have anyone else than you, Lisa [Rasmus Bartell] . Many greetings to [our grandson] Johan from your parents.

Then I want to tell you Lisa [Rasmus Bartell] , a couple of words, but don´t be offended. I feel pity for your father and mother. They are old now and would need help and now they have nobody here to help. We help them what we can, but that is only sometimes. They need help every day. You know inside yourself. You got help from them as long as you couldn’t take care of yourself, but now when they are in need, they don´t get any help. Signed Lisa [Mickelsdtr] Rasmus

Now I myself may greet you Lisa Bartel that I am alive and well and wish you and your fiancé the same, when you get these lines. I was so happy, when I heard that you are coming home with your fiancé and bringing a couple people with you. When I got your greetings in the evening, I could not sleep all night, when I heard what a friend [male] I may get. I am not without one, but there is no one I like. I can have the ones here once or twice, but then I´m glad to get rid of them. But I hope that you are bringing something better, when you bring them such a long way, so don´t you bring any water load men(2). You know I don´t like such ones. Be careful, not to bring any with crooked legs (3), because then you may keep them. Hurry as fast as possible because as you know the time is ripe.

So don’t dawdle when you get this letter. You know that we will be very grateful to you. Signed Lisa Rasmus.

This part is upside down:

Then aunt (mother´s sister) is sending greetings to her nephews and nieces. She thinks that poverty will get a kick in the nose(4) over there, now that there are so many of you. Don´t let the reply wait for three months on the road.

(1)From Kristin Rhodes: This is a confusing paragraph. We have made it make some sense. For Lisa’s parents what is important is that there will be no one to care for them whether it is Anna Lisa, Anders widow or another Anna Lisa. Our scribe, Lisa Mickelsdtr is probably wrong about Anna Lisa Rasmus returning. Within months of Anders’ death Anna Lisa and Jonas Hard were on the path to marriage and parenthood. She may have been reluctant to share this information.

(2) literal translation. Whether it is a term for alcoholics is not known In contrast earlier translators suggested “I hope that you will not bring an oaf (lout, idler, loafer, fool).”

(3) Lisa’s father, Matts Rasmus, “limps” according to a note in church records

(4) Literal translation; other translators: “teach poverty a lesson”

(5) This was written one year after Lisa Bartell's husband , Charles died, perhaps in a mining accident.

1814 George Silver and Martha Moore

One of George , Jr., and Nancy Silver’s 10 children was George Silver III, born on 18 Jul 1787 in Georgetown, Frederick, Maryland. On December 4, 1808 he married Martha Moore, born on 15 Oct 1787 in North Carolina. They had 11 children, three of whom died before 1822.

In George III’s household in the 1810 Census there is an older couple. Because his father George Jr is living nearby this older couple may be Martha’s parents. There were also two slaves in their household. When the War of 1812 came about, George enlisted in the North Carolina Militia at Hickory, North Carolina. He remained on active duty until the end of the war and was Honorably Discharged. This information comes from Martha’s application for a U.S. Government veteran’s pension in October of 1880.According to the application; they had lived in Indiana for about 20 years, in Illinois for about 7 years and about 10 years in Missouri. (Information gathered by Karyl Hubbard and posted at the Silver Genealogy Website)

After the war George, Martha, moved to Lawrence County in Indiana with

his in-laws, the Moores

“ Many Quakers from North Carolina were Orange County [Indiana] Pioneers. In 1809 Jonathan Lindley visited Indiana Territory with a land-seeking party, and purchased land in what is now Vigo Co. In 1811, under his leadership, a party of thirty or more left North Carolina, and arrived in Indiana Territory, where they stopped at the stockade at Half Moon Spring, near Lick Creek, in what is now Orange Co. It seemed inadvisable, due to unsettled conditions [marauding Indians], to push on to the Wabash Country, as had been planned, so they remained at the Lick Creek settlement.

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/in/county/orange/quaker.htm

George was not a Quaker. His grandfather was a Lutheran and his father had been christened in the Lutheran church in Trappe, Pennsylvania. As a young man, George III was not interested in church. The Moores had arrived in America as “dissenters.” The term refers to anyone who disagreed with the Church of England or the government of the British Isles. Later many of the dissenters became Quakers. Martha may have been a Quaker—until she married George. Her meeting would then have declared her “Out of Unity” for marrying a non-Quaker.

There were several groups of Quakers that moved to Indiana during this time One of the wagon trains had 30-40 wagons. According the US Census George and Martha have moved by 1820 and the Moores by 1830. About 10 Moore households are there in 1830.

Following is a digest of a diary regarding travel from North Carolina to Indiana. The Silvers experience would have been very similar.

“ With all of their possessions loaded into their tarpaulin-covered farm wagons pulled by oxen or horses, the trip took the Coxes and their large group about a month. The travelers covered between 10 and 20 miles each day, stopping near settlements or with acquaintances for the night. The route through the Blue Ridge Mountains and over the Cumberland Gap was the most frequented trail to Louisville, where travelers crossed the Ohio River into southern Indiana or boarded rafts or flatboats bound for Illinois and the west. Although the trip was rigorous travelers paused for sight-seeing at well-known features such as caves or iron furnaces. Time also was spent in small settlements having horses shod and wagon wheels fixed. Each traveler had to have cash available, for tolls were charged for some roads, turnpikes, bridges and ferries. A typical charge on the Cumberland Turnpike was $2.87. At Louisville the cost was $2 for each wagon to cross the Ohio River and it took one group two hours. Total cost for one trip from North Carolina to southern Indiana was $81 including ferriage, bridge tolls, turnpike fees, etc.

A Cox Family History__, c1989, p61; In the __Illiana Genealogist,__ vol.12, no. 4, (Fall 1976) p. 121- 124 in an article from a diary entitled "Journey from N. Carolina to Indiana in 34 days in the Year 1815." Judy W

Eleven families of freed slaves traveled under the Quakers’ protection in the first wagon train to this new territory where slavery was forbidden. More former slaves joined them later. Were the two slaves in George III’s household in 1810 in North Carolina were among the 96 freed slaves counted in 1820 in Indiana? It is not unreasonable to believe they were.

“These free men were deeded 200 acres of land in the heart of a dense forest [near the first building the Quakers built—their Meeting House]. Word of mouth soon spread the news, and this land became part of the "underground railroad" for runaway slaves.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/hoosier/docs/history/lick_creek.htm

Amy [Thompson] Moore [wife of Joshua Moore] mentioned in the account below may have been a relative of Martha Moore, George’s wife.

“A number of widely known women preachers among the Quakers of early days came from this congregation. Among them was Amy Moore, who was known throughout southern Indiana for her missionary zeal. Another woman, praised for her evangelistic work in early times, was Eleanor Chambers, who grew up in this church and began her work here.“

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY CHAPTER 3

http://www.us-data.org/in/orange/history/his1884chapter3.txt

George was 35 years old when he had this letter   written. He mentions the price of hogs. This indicates that he has discovered that feeding corn to hogs and then shipping them to Cincinnati is more profitable than shipping the corn. Others have discovered that making corn liquor is also more profitable. Since we want to think the best of our ancestors we assume that George did not contribute to the 7 gallon per person annual consumption of alcohol. (Today’s annual consumption is 2 gallons.) Reaction to this excessive drunkenness and the associated spousal abuse led to the development of the Temperance movement and Prohibition.

A Homestead Act deed recording the joint purchase by Andrew Wakefield and George Silver of one of three parcels purchased jointly in Illinois.

George’s and Martha’s travels began in an area near Abingdon in the lover right of the map above. Following the Wildernness Road and then took the left fork to the current site of Louisville then crossed the Ohio River into Indiana where they lived about 20 years.

They moved to Shelby County, Illinois, in the 1830s, perhaps as early as 1830 when George purchased three different parcels of land with Andrew Wakefield, a descendant of the original settler in the area, Charles Wakefield. George may have farmed the land for a few years and then sold his share back to Andrew.

Among the events that may have pushed the Silvers on to Missouri: . Panic of 1837 during which many banks closed: Either Andrew or George Silver needed to cash out their half of the property

Poor harvests: The Silvers moved each time in less than seven years. If a farmer leaves within 7 to 10 years it may mean that the enterprise failed.