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Mr.
George Peters, Summerfield, Mich.
Placerville Sept. 26th 1853Dear Brother:
I received your
letter dated Aug 8th [on] September 24th and was
pleased to hear that you was well and also all
the balance of our friends[.] as for my self my
health has been verry good the past summer. I
have not lost but one week by sickness since the
first of April[.] the weather has been verry hot
this summer. the thermomiter has stood at a
hundred and twelve all through June July and Aug
and it now stands at one hundred. After the sun
goes down a man wants his coat on. We have had
several frosts this month. You said the man you
have on the farm is of no acount and wanted to
know wat you should do with it[.] I hardly know
what to say to you. I cannot give any answer[.]
as to when I will return, I cannot tel[.] this
county has a great many ups and downs to it[.] I
have thought of coming home in the Spring but now
think it very doubt ful. If I can do as well the
next six months as I have the past six I think it
is mutch better than I can do thare and I intend
to say a year or so if my health keeps good[.] as
for the farm I want you to do the best you can
with it[.] let as you think best[.] get as mutch
of it seeded as you can and put on sutch stock as
you think will be best. If you think it advisable
to sell of the horses that are on the place and
get larger ones do it. I would like to have it
kept in as good order as possible and if thare is
any thing over and above expences pay dad[.] as
for other speculations I cannot say[.] but if I
have any kind of luck this fall and winter and
you can see a good (shows for a California
File)[.] I will try to see if I can raise a
little - mind the wheel of Fortune turns as often
backwards as forwards here[.] a man may have a
claim that he can sell for a thousand dollars and
he is shure of a fortune and works it out and
will not make a hundred out of it. When a man is
sick or out of imploy it costs him about three
dollars a day to live and if he calls on a Docter
and he gives him a dose of pills he will charge
an ounce - that is sixteen dollars. If a man has
five or six hundred dollars and get sick it will
not last him more than a month, then he must live
on charity. Poor living.
I have been buying
some claims for this winter, and if they turn out
as well as they prospect, I think I can clear six
or eight hundred dollars this fall and winter[.]
as you know nothing about the manner of
prospecting I will not try to tell you[.] all I
will say a bout it is it is what I call verry
hard work[.] it is a good deal like working on
the railroad between Tromley's and the sand hill
in the fall of the year when the mud is knee
deep.
As for the smart
young man you would like to have take hold of the
farm and do sutch saavy buisness, I think he is
ready[.] all but the Gold give him[.] a little
more time and I think he will have that if he
dard – he will try to have it.
Do the best you
can with the farm and I will com back as soon as
I can and fetch all the Gold I can get[.] Write
soon and oblige yours.
Dear Mary
Your few lines
were verry exceptible. also the thriving
condition of the Rising Generation of
Petersburgh[.] you did not give any names - you
did not say whether Elizabeth Rose and Tuty
Bartlett belonged to that fraternity or not. I
feel a little intrest in the young people of
Petersburgh[.] you must tel me next time you
write[.] tel me how the cousin Jerushe are.
Imagine get along Dick and James and Aunt Dick
and dad. Your wanted to know how I spent the
fourth of July. You say you think I spent it in
singing sweet home - I did not[.] the fourth I
came out of my claim and washed the mud off from
my self and set down on a bench for thare is no
chairs in this country and dryed my self in the
sun and then I tel you I felt like a larke the
rest of the day. That is abot all the news of the
that I can remember. I am not certan but I now
and then give home a passing thought. You wanted
me to send you a Herald. I woud have sent one
long before this time but they put in such big
hopes that I was a frade to send them[.] I will
send you one this week dont let the story excite
you and bring you to Calafornia. Tel Frank that I
am well and kicking and will make my appearance
one of thes day and if she want to keep good
friend with me to write a line or two. I would
like to know how her pots beats since she has
become a merchants wife[.] now I will tel you
what kind of a writing desk I have got[.] I have
a thing that was once a trunk when it was new -
with my Gold pan turned on top of it forms the
desk but I cannot read[.] Excuse the bad writing
- if I could do it any better I would write it
over again[.]
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Letter generously contributed &
transcribed by Pat Belanger
Original letter located at Archives Room, Monroe
County Historical Museum
126 South Monroe Street Monroe, Michigan 48161 Note: Bracketed [ ] items indicate a
change added for clarity. Please note also that
some portions of the transciption which were
confusing or were seemingly missing portions of
the text, are accurate to the original letters
and brackets have not been used as the correct
interpretation was either obvious, or converse.
In places where the original text was too
ambiguous, no changes were made.
 Letter Index
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- EXPLANATORY NOTES -
Compiled by P.
Davidson-Peters (2005)
(Any errors are therefore the result of my own
deficiencies and interpretations).
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| JOHN
PETERS - author of the letter, John was
born in Harpersfield, Delaware Co., New York on
16 Dec 1823, the son of Richard & Polly
(Wilcox). He caught the gold fever and went to
California in 1852 but returned to Petersburg in
1862. He married Ellen Burnham in 1864, and after
her death in 1876, he and his daughters Mary and
Ellen moved to Toledo where the girls attended
Oberlin College. John died in Toledo, Ohio on 02
Oct 1920 but was buried in the Old Petersburg
Cemetery. |
| GEORGE
PETERS - oldest child of Richard &
Polly (Wilcox) and brother of John, George was
born 21 Sep 1822 in Hapersfield, Delaware Co.,
New York. In 1845 he married to Mary Jane
(Holmes) who is also mentioned in these letters.
George died 11 Jan 1912 in Petersburg, Monroe
Co., Michigan. |
| PLACERVILLE
- Located in west-central El Dorado County, gold
was discovered in the Placerville area in July of
1848. First known as Dry Diggings (and nicknamed
Old Hangtown because three robbers were hanged
there in 1849), Placerville district estimated to
have yeilded at least $25 million in gold. |
| TROMBLEY'S
- This family came to Monroe County, Michigan in
1833 from Chazy, Clinton Co., New York. They had
come on the first steamer, Walk-in-the-Water, to
land at Toledo, then into the territory of
Michigan in the area that would become known as
Summerfield Township. Frances Amelia Trombley,
granddaughter of Lewis and Sophia (Gregory)
Trombley married Richard G. Peters (1865-1934) in
Petersburg in 1885. |
| MARY
- Sister-in-law, and wife of George, she was born
in Genesee Co., New York in 1827 and was the
daughter of Benjamin and Minerva (Howe). At the
time this letter was written, George and Mary had
had three children, the first two dying in
infancy, and baby Helen Frances who was born 14
Nov 1851. |
| ELIZABETH
ROSE - Nothing known of her. The only
known Elizabeth Rose associated with the Peters
family and/or Summerfield Township, was the
daughter of Oliver T. (1799-1873) and Eliza
(Mumford) Rose. This Elizabeth having been born
in Rhode Island in about 1829. |
| TUTY
BARTLETT - Nothing is known of her. The
only Bartlett family assoicated with the Peters
was John P. Bartlett born in Ohio in 1841,
married to Adelia McLean (1846-1884). This family
resided in Penfield, Lorain Co., Ohio and Adelia
was the daughter of Archibald McLean and Cornelia
Peters. Cornelia, the daughter of Daniel and
Elizabeth (Jerome) of Harpersfield, Delaware Co.,
New York. |
| JERUSHA
- as suspected the name to be, could be John's
Aunt Jerusha (Peters), wife of Moses Tallman whom
she married in Tully, Onondaga Co., New York in
1835. The name Jerusha is common in the Peters
family, dating back to Jerusha Sutton, wife of
Richard Peters. |
| DICK AND
JAMES AND AUNT DICK AND DAD - Many of
the Peters men were named Richard and James; but
it is possible dick and James is in reference to
his sister Frances' children. John's dad was
Richard Peters, born in Stamford, Delaware Co.,
NY in 1797 and died in Petersburg, Monroe Co.,
Michigan in 1862. He was the son of Richard
Peters of Halfmoon (Clifton Park), Saratoga Co.,
New York and Susannah (Halstead) who were married
in 1791 and the parents of nine children. |
| FRANK
- Appears to be his older sister, Frances who
married William Russell in 1844. By 1852 Frances
was the mother of George Isom, Ellen, Richard
& James. |
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- OUTSIDE LINKS -
Historical
accounts & places relative to John's journey
to Placerville, California
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| Stories in El
Dorado County History Sacramento History
Online
Monroe
County Historical Museum
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HOME
Updated 23 Jun 2008
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