Manuscripts
Autograph letter by James Trott from Galena, Illinois to his sister C.S. Trott, on January 11, 1843. Trott starts the letter with a joke concerning a sketch of a wagon in the letter. He begins, "This is a wagon used by the western people & is called a prairie schooner...sometimes horses are used. I saw one at Chicago...which had a stove on it & must therefore I think have been a prairie steamer" (p. 1). Next, Trott briefly touches upon family matters concerning letters received and sent. The bulk of the letter is in regards to religion. He discusses a very fine preacher named Mr. Holbrook from Dubuque, Iowa, but had one critical observation. "The only improvemn't w'd have been for him to have clearly understood the consequences flowing from this doctrine - the phrase 'Christian duties' seems to be an unfortunate one for it implies that some duties, as being a s.s. teacher, are Christian, while others are not Christian duties..." (p. 1). In another event, while attending a Methodist church one evening, Trott mentions a preacher that once "...knock a man down - a Methodist preacher had to do so once it was the only way in which he c'd maul the grace of God into the man." (p. 2). He also writes about a threatening blacksmith turned preacher and his thoughts on Sunday school. In the second half of the letter, Trott introduces his friend William Tell Wynkoop and the abundance of mining in the region. He writes about descending approximately 55 feet into a lead with only a rope on his left foot. Once at the bottom he writes, "The ore appeared to be quite plenty although the mine had been worked a year we ascended again & got some fine specimens from one of the windlass hands. We then went to another digging found one man who said he had worked a year and had not raised mineral enough to pay for his tobacco" (p. 2-3). Trott also briefly discusses the life of a miner and provides a description of the country. "The country about here is more beautiful than that around Bos. [Boston] such beautiful succession of hills. You w'd be delighted with the views..." (p. 3). He concludes the letter with a story about an American or Canadian smuggling goods that were seized by a customs officer.
mssHM 80952
