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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).
|
| 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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Updated 27 Jan 2010
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