NICHOLAS STEPHENS LETTER 1853 - Transcript & notes by Joe Stevens of Blair Co., PA

Hollidaysburg B. Co. PA Jan 3rd 1853

Dear friends I take the preasant opirtunity of informing you that we ae all well at preasant hoping these Lines may find you all the Same I received your Letter Dated Dec, 20 on the 1st Day of the preseant month Jan. and was glad to hear that you are all Living & well you Say that you have wrote So Many Letters and never got any answer if you did they never Came to hand nor to this (Holbg.) Postoffice for the Last Letter I received from you was in June Last and I wrote an Answer immediately afterwards but never recd any more till the Preasant I am Sorry you have met with Such Difecultys in your money matters. I went to Mr. Calvin(1) this Day as you request and Stated the Case Concerning Oslers (6) note and he says he noes nothing about it don't know of any Such note or obligation Ever Coming into his hands So there is a Mystery Somewhar about it

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We are Still Living in Hollidaysburg also Samuerl(2) still lives here they are all well James(2) and his family is all well he still Lives at the Lock Sarah(2) lives in town here she is well Elizabeth(2) lives in Tuckeho(3) (GOD BLESS YE) I hant herd of her for two or three months but I Believe She is well William was here to See us last winter but I hant heard from him for about three months now Aunt Sally Pottsgrove (4) is Still Living and well It has Been verry healthy through this Country for time past Even the verry old people cant hardly get anything to die with old Alx. Knox (5) Old McElvane (5), old Robt McNamera (5) old J.L. Ingram (5) and principly all the old folks are Still living and well. As you have heard of the Dreadful Tragedy of James Shirley (7) I Shant State nothing here about it more than it is a fact he is in geaal but wont get his tiral till the march term. And if he be condemmed I will let you know immediately by letter if I be living

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if you wish to move back here in the Spring I think there is no fear but you can get chances enough of making a good Living times never ware brisker and buisnes more Lively than at preasant they are now making a new portage railroad (8) from Holbg to Johnstown thewing of all the planes the work is now in operation and the central road (8) is Likewise going on from Altona to Johnstown through the Sugarrun gap houses Mills Shops Macheinry & all are going up almost Like Magic which affords an abundance of work for almost all clases of hands for which there is good wages & ready cash Nevertheless (though I would be glad to se you return) don't let these few inducements thrown out here alone entice you weigh your own matters. Provision & marketing is high here at preasant owing to the great consumption along the public works flour $5.50.cts pork 61/2 to 7 Beef 5 & 6 corn 62 ½ to 75 pr bush but grocerys dry goods & News papers Cheap as usual.
You say your Children is going to school & learing fast that is verry good but I hope you will Teach them in your own house the truths of Salvation till we all meet in the unity of the one faith and one church out of which there is no salvation (epesians 4 chap.) James and Mary & Adelaide (9) send their best respects to all the children Don't be so long about writing hereafter Nothing more at Preasant I still remain yours affectionately
Forever

(To) Nicholas Steven
Ruth Steven
&
All the smaller stevens

(From) David Curry
Maria Curry

Notes: Nicholas & Ruth (Curry) Stephens had moved from Blair Co., PA to Iowa about 1850. They are on the census of Linn Co., Iowa in 1850, and Benton Co., Iowa in 1852. Apparently they did not prosper in Iowa, and this letter from Ruth's brother David & wife Maria catches them up with the news from Blair Co,. PA and encourages them to come home again, which they did. Nicholas & Ruth are back in Blair Co., PA by the 1860 census, and this letter indicates that they probably returned there in Spring 1853.

(1)CALVIN, Samuel, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Washingtonville, Pa., July 30, 1811; attended the common schools and Milton Academy; taught in Huntingdon Academy; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1836 and commenced practice in Hollidaysburg, Pa.; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first Congress (March 4, 1849-March 3, 1851); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1850; resumed the practice of law; director of the Hollidaysburg School Board for thirty years; member of the State revenue board; member of the State constitutional convention in 1873; died in Hollidaysburg, Blair County, Pa., on March 12, 1890; interment in Presbyterian Cemetery.
(2) Names refer to:
Samuel Curry -born September 25, 1823
James Curry- born 9-26-1803
Sarah Curry- born 6-13-1820
Elizabeth Curry-born 4-3-1810
All are siblings of Ruth Curry (all documented on letter dated July 5, 1870)
(3) Tuckahoe is a name given to the northern end of Logan Valley at an early time. In Antis Township
(4) Sally Pottsgrove must be the sister of Ruth Curry though I have not found any documentation. (Note from Kari - Aunt Sally Pottsgrove would be sister of Ruth's father William, which would make her Ruth's Aunt. Ruth did have a sister named Sarah, but she was only age 33 in 1853. She is living with Nicholas & Ruth Stephens in 1860 at age 40, and still listed as being Sarah Curry.) She (Aunt Sarah Curry Pottsgrove) is found on the following census records:

1850 census Antis, Blair Co., PA
#252/259
Sarah Pottsgrove, age 77, $4000 Real estate, b. PA
George, age 32, b. PA
Sarah Carman, age 38, b. PA
Ellen, age 8, b. PA

1860 census Logan, Blair Co., PA
#1034/1007
George Pottsgrove, age 42, miller, b. PA
Sarah, age 86, b. Maryland
Ellen Carman, age 17, b. PA
Margaret Sipe, age 16, b. PA

(5) From Blair County 1850 Census: McElvane, John age 80 Tailor, wife Catherine age 75 from Ireland, Blair Township-McNamera, Robert, age 70, Merchant, Blair Township-Ingram, John S., age 70, merchant, Blair Township-Knox, Alex age 76, merchant, from Ireland, Blair Township
(6) In the 1850 Census, there is only one family with a name close to Osler. There is a Stephen Oursler, age 33, wife Martha. There is only one Oursler family, so this may be of whom the letter referrs.

(7) From "A History of Blair County" Charles Clark 1896: "Since the organization of this county there have been found by the grand jury forty-one indictments for murder. Of these four were found guilty of murder in the first degree. The others were acquitted or convicted of manslaughter or murder in the second degree. The four who were convicted of murder in the first degree were: Hutchinson, killing a negro; James Shirley, killing his wife; McKim, his young traveling companion, Samuel Norcross, and Dr. LewisBeach, killing his wife."
"Shirley was hanged in 1853, and his was the first capital execution. George A. Coffey was the prosecuting attorney, having been deputized by Joseph Kemp who was the district attorney."
(8) In 1839-1840 the State of Pennsylvania had engineers study new routes for getting a great railroad over Allegheny Mountain without the use of planes, and in the early 1850's the state spent vast sums on the erection of a New Portage which would eliminate them. But the New Portage was not finished before the incorporated Pennsylvania Railroad Company completed its route across the mountain in 1854. The era of modern railroad building had come everywhere in the United States, and new facilities were superseding earlier ones. The Commonwealth found itself unable to compete successfully with these chartered companies. In 1857 it sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad the Main Line of its Public Works from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, including the Old and the New Portage; and service on both of these was finally abandoned.

The Old Portage Railroad cost the Commonwealth $1,828,461.38; the New Portage cost it $2,143,355.49. Together by the end of 1853 they had produced for it a revenue of $3,502,407.84 not quite seven-eighths of the total investment. They have never been regarded as enriching the state's coffers. But it is neither pleasant nor wise to count only material cost or gain to an official treasury. The Allegheny Portage Railroad connected East and West for twenty years of prosperity, bringing great wealth in trade and manufacture to the people and contributing its full share to the economic development of the Commonwealth.

(9) James, Mary & Adelaide are the children of David and Maria Curry:

1850 census Hollidaysburg, Blair Co., PA
#392/421
David Curry, age 40, carpenter, b. Maryland
Mary, age 31, b. PA
James, age 6, b. PA
Mary, age 4, b. PA
Ada, age 2, b. PA

1860 census Altoona, Blair Co., PA
#498/485
David Curry, age 50, laborer, b. Maryland
Maria, age 41, b. PA
James, age 16, b. PA
Mary, age 14, b. PA
Rosa, age 9, b. PA
John, age 5, b. PA
Emma, age 1, b. PA
Adalaide, age 11, b. PA

Additional Notes:
From "Blair County's First 100 years"
EAST FREEDOM AND FREEDOM TOWNSHIP
Elmer Leighty
Comprised of hilly terrain, broken by narrow, fertile valleys drained by many streams, Freedom Township presents some of the most beautiful scenery in Blair County. Detached from Juniata Township in 1857, it is bounded by Blair and Juniata Townships on the north, Taylor on the east, Greenfield on the south and Juniata on the west. The Frankstown branch of the Juniata River and its tributaries, Poplar, McDonald's, Dodson's, South Dry and Paw-Paw Runs, wind their tortuous courses between the wooded ridges. Its area is 17Y2 square miles; population, 1,623. The choice of the name "Freedom" for the township may have been dictated by the sentiment of the contemporary inhabitants on the slavery issue. The first settlers took up land grants about 1787. The names of many of these frontiersmen have descended through the intervening generations to present residents. On the roster of citizens appear such familiar names as Stephen Delaney(a), George Myers(b), William Early, John Shade, John and Christopher Gost, Edward McGraw, George McKee, William Leamer (c), Peter Miller, Samuel Donner, Jacob Glass, John Dodson, Nicholas McGuire, John, Peter and Michael Stiffler (d), Michael Nips, Henry Helsel, Jacob Smith, William Shaw, William Dickey, Samuel West, Joachim Storm, John Tickerhoof, Charles Malone, Nicholas Burke, Peter Hetrick, Jeremiah Rinehart, Matthew Ivry, John McConnell, William Crawford, Harman Ferber (e), William and John Riddle, Alexander Knox (f), Dr. Wallace, Henry Colclesser, Philip Beight and Frederick Singer. Elmer Leighty-farmer and school teacher, a resident of Freedom Township, was

This is interesting to the extent that: Rachel Stephens b1808, daughter of Nicholas and Mary Stephens married a Delaney, .Mary Elizabeth Steffy b. 5/25/1780 and Susanna Steffy b. 2/28/1783 both daughters of Peter and Maria Steffy were both married to Myers or Moyers, Rebecca Leamer b.4/19/1812, daughter of Nicholas and Mary Stephens married Jacob Leamer, 1830 census of Frankstown lists Nicholas Stiffler, Maria Catherine Steffy b. 10/01/1784, daughter of Peter and Maria Steffy was married to Harman Farber,and "old Alx Knox" referred to in letter, his last will and testament is found in Blair County book: PA-7-A-444.