OHIO
OHIO
This letter was originally sent to Dr. John Halstead Sackett by Almira Sackett,
daughter
of Monroe founder, Nathaniel Sackett. Dr Sackett died suddenly 2 yrs later.
Monroe, 26 March 1820.
Dear Cousin:
After a long absence from you and the rest of our relatives and friends I am glad to inform you that we are all at present in the enjoyment of good health. Father has purchased a very handsome farm; it is as elevated a situation as any in the State. He has 100 acres of it cleared, and a comfortable house and barn on it, besides other out buildings. Father has laid out a town on a portion of his farm, which improves very fast and has several handsome buildings on it. He has named it Monroe, and I think you or some other eminent doctor would do well here, as at present we have no doctors, only quacks, who are not fit to draw a tooth. We raise between two and three thousand bushels of grain a year, and this season father has fatted between seven and eight thousand pounds of pork, besides several beeves. Father has a large stock of cattle, sheep, and hogs, a yoke of oxen, and four elegant horses, as handsome and fat as old sorrel, and he, you know, is a great favorite of mother's. Riding on horseback is very fashionable here. I have a beautiful milk-white horse, and a splendid saddle and bridle. The land here produces in great abundance. Corn yields from 60 to 70 bushels pre acre, wheat from 25 to 30 bushels, oats 35 to 40 bushels, and rye 35 to 45 bushels, with everything else in proportion. Our market prices are nearly as good as they are in New York. Cincinnati is situated on the bank of the Ohio River and is now growing very rapidly. It contains 3 market houses, 8 or 9 churches, 1 glass house, 2 brass and bell foundries, 2 oil mills, 2 ox saw mills, one steam saw mill, 4 nail factories, 1 casting furnace, 1 steam grist mill, which is nine stories high from the river side, 1 college, 5 banks, besides blacksmiths, silversmiths, clock and watch makers, cabinet makers, and all other kind of mechanics that you have in New York. There is one horse-boat that runs from Cincinnati to Newport in Kentucky, besides other ferry boats. There are now between 40 and 50 steamboats on the river, and some of them are as large as ships, besides several keel boats which trade from Cincinnati to New Orleans, a distance of 1,500 miles, and 5 days. One steamboat, the Perseverance, caught fire and burned this spring. It was a great loss to some of the merchants, as it was loaded with dry goods and groceries. There are between 3 and 4 thousand houses in Cincinnati now. We live in the center of 4 large towns, viz., Cincinnati, Dayton, Hamilton and Lebanon.
Mr. Chase, your old school teacher, is bishop of this state. He lost his wife and is married again, and his son is at college. He lives at Columbus, where he has a very fine farm, with elegant buildings on it. We have had a great many weddings here since the new year began and I expect there will be a great many more before it ends. I suppose there have been a great many in your state too, but I haven't heard anything about yours, and I begin to think you are going to live a bachelor life. I suppose by this time you are looking for the end of my letter, but I can not conclude without reminding you of the debt you owe me, which is a new frock for the name of Almira, but I will forgive you the debt if you will send me a handsome pair of ear rings. I shall expect them in your answer to this or else by James and Matthew Dubois, who talk of moving here this summer. Should they fail to come you must not fail to send the ear rings as I have nothing now to keep you in remembrance. You must also send me a handsome red merino shawl, as they are very fashionable here, and you can afford it for you have no one to get for but yourself. As you have no wife or children I expect I will be your principal heir. Pa and Ma send love and say they expect you will soon come to this delightful country. We shall be most happy to have you spend the summer with us.
From your affectionate cousin,
Almira Sackett.