“I suppose you all think we are so poor that we cant pay for a letter
but Sarah you send me one and
we will try to scratch up five cents to pay it”
1847 Benjamin
Franklin
5 Cents Postage Stamp
Katherine
(Kimber) Welda scolded her sister a bit for not writing her. She was living in
Ross Township, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania when Katherine’s letter was addressed
to William Mackney at the Unionville Post Office in Orange County, New York.
William was Katherine’s brother-in-law, the husband of her sister Sarah Bethia.
On
the back of Katherine’s letter, another Kimber sister, Mary Congleton, wrote to
Sarah B. (Kimber) Mackney. Katherine, Sarah Bethia and Mary were the daughters
of Benjamin Kimber and Keziah Bennett and sisters to my 3rd Great
Grandmother Charity (Kimber) Clark.
LETTER
1
Ross
Township, May 23, 1847.
Dear
Brother and Sister,
it
is through the mercy of an old and all wise
providence
that our lives have been spared and
we
have another opportunity to writing you to
let
you know how we air John's health is very
poor
this spring and my health has not ben very
good
this spring I have had the jaunders but
am
getting over it now We moved this
spring on
the
Henderson place about half mile from Marks
I
was to see Mary yesterday and they were as
well
as common Sarah I want to know wether
you
all
have forgot that I was in the land of the
living
or what is the reason that none of you
dont,
write to me I wrote a letter to our
folks
last
December and I never got an answer I
suppose
you all think we are so poor that we
cant
pay for a letter but Sarah you send me one
and
we will try to scratch up five cents to pay
it
we have but one cow this summer but we
have
nineteen
sheep and I shall have twelve fleeces
of
wool to spin this sumrner and I want to get it
off
to the mesheen as soon as I can get it
picked I am going to pick this week we
have
made garden about two weeks ago but it has
been
so dry nothing could grow but it rains
today
and it appears that I can see the things
grow in the
garden allmost it makes things look
so
green Sarah I dont know as I have much
more
to
tell this time for I have to run after the
hens
to keep thim out of the garden and corn
for
they scratch everything up Mary Lane is
married
to Magen Mayer Allen Sarah tell Father
and
Mother and sisters and brothers that I want
to
see them all very soon and all of you must
com
and se us for I dont know when we can come
without
hiring a way to com and that costs so
much
and John not able to work nearly all the
time
so you need not look for us to come out
very
soon but you must tell all to come and
see
us Sarah if I cant se you I have many
things
to tell you that I cant write when you
get
this write as soon as you can dont let
no
one
see this letter so no more at present
but
I remain your sister until death
John and Catherine Welda to William and Sarah B.
Mackney
Comments by Winifred
Drake Ridall:
[Ross Township was in
Luzerne Co., Pa]
[Mark was Mark
Congelton-husband of Mary, sister
of Catherine]
[Sarah was Sarah
Kimber Mackney, sister of Mary
and Catherine]
[Mary Lane was
probably a cousin]
LETTER
ON BACK SIDE OF Letter 1.
Katherine
gives us the privilage of filling her
letter
and we will tell you alittle how we are
getting
along in this world of trouble you
wanted
to know how our church was thriving and
what
is the state of religion religion is
in a
very
low state at present Mr. Scofield left
Lehman
some time ago as you have heard Mr.
Clark
preached there part of the time and now he
has
left and I dont know as there is any other
Baptist
preaching there al all I have heard
that
ole Mr. Hall preach once in two weeks in
our
neighborhood and that is about all the
metting
we have Mr. Frink was at Mr. Millards
one
or two weeks ago and preached at Mr. Allen’s
funeral
sermon and some say he is a smart man
The
Methodists are going to have two days
meeting
at the Ruggles and Mott place Mary has
got
her wool picked and at the machine she
has
tnirty-five
pounds she has done her work alone
this
summer but expects a girl in a few days to
spin
wool we milk four cows and expect to
milk
another
in about one month she is raising four
nice
calves we had a very dry spring
which
lasted
until about the 2Oth of May and now it is
quite
wet we have a few peaches if nothing
befalls
them and a few cherries and apples and
plums
and quince bushes were full of blossoms
and
we have a plenty of them our garden is
just
a coming on grain is very scarce and
quite
high wheat is worth one dollar and
fifty
rye
and corn is worth from 75 cents to one
dollar
per bushel we received a letter from
you
and was glad to hear and learn you are all
well we got it some time in March we are as
well
as comrnon our baby Benjamin K. grows
very
fast
and is quite fleshy and begins to talk
James
grows too Keziah grows tall but quite
slender
she says she would like to see her
Aunt
Sarah she can read quite good and
would
soon
be a scholar if she had a chance we would
like
you to come and see us and the rest of you
we
may come out there late next fall there is
quite
a good deal of whooping cough and measles
out
here we sent you all our best respects
and
invite
you all to come and see us and remain
your
affectionate brother and sister
Ross
June 4th. 1847
Mary and Mark
Congleton
to William and Sarah
Mackney
Comments by Winifred
Drake Ridall:
[This was mailed
from Sweet Valley, Pa. and
addressed to William
Mackney, Unionville Post
Office, Orange
County, N.Y.]
[The Congletons
located in Illinois a few years
later. Benjamin, James and Keziah were their
children. They had others: Mary, Arminda, Hulda
and Charles.
NOTE:
Edna Raymond, a past Town of Minisink historian, gave me typed transcripts of the
letters exchanged between the Kimber sisters and their parents. This letter is
1 of 31.
Let
me tell you what I can recall about the provenance of the Kimber letters. It
was many years ago when I visited Edna and learned of the letters. Edna has
since passed away. I believe Edna told me a couple form Illinois visited the
Minisink Town Hall and brought the original Kimber letters. The Kimber
descendant allowed Edna to photocopy the letters in his/her presence. Edna
worked quickly. In those days copy machines were slow and the quality left much
to be desired. Edna spent many hours studying and transcribing the letters as
the ‘old time’ handwriting was especially difficult to read.
I
can’t say how the Illinois couple came by the letters. The Mackney’s and
Congleton’s moved to Illinois so it’s possible the Illinois couple were from either
branch of the family tree. Winfred Drake Riddall added comments to the letters.
She was a Moses Seely and Jane Kimber descendant from Buffalo, New York.
