Manuscripts
George R. Taylor letter to John S. Phelps
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Francis Phelps letter to Almon Phelps
Manuscripts
Letter from Francis Phelps in Waterford, Erie County, Pennsylvania, to his cousin Almon Phelps in East Granby, Hartford County, Connecticut. In the letter, Phelps writes that although "money is somewhat scarce," it is "a general time of health here." He responds to Almon's intimations that he might soon travel to the "Great West," noting that "people here have the same notion" but that he does not know whether "the country is good." Phelps predicts that Chicago is "to be the great theatre of the far West" and observes that "steam boats are daily conveying hundreds and thousands to the Promised Land." He notes that not many residents of Waterford have decided to emigrate, but that there has been a rush on purchasing local property by "emigrants" from Erie County, New York. Phelps writes of the effects emigration has had on the prices of local goods, and also notes that agriculture in the area is particularly promising.
mssHM 78057
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George W. Hoffman letters to Dr. Guy Phelps
Manuscripts
In these letters, written to Dr. Guy Rowland Phelps, founder of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, Hoffman sends insurance applications "of young adventurers to California, young men of good habits, good constitution and after their fortunes. The insurance is for the benefit of relatives and Brothers who have assisted or in whole furnished the outfit." (1849, December 21 - HM 82384). He later sends deposits for policies of Benjamin C. Griswold and William W. Ware, en route to California, "via Cincinnati to New Orleans, thence to Chagres and Panama. In returning probably by the same route..." (1850, January 18 - HM 82385).
mssHM 82384-82385
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John B. Fay and H. B. Tuttle letters to Dr. Guy Phelps
Manuscripts
These two letters, both dated 1850, February 20, are addressed to Dr. Guy Phelps, the founder of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company.
mssHM 82386-82387
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Jacob W. Waldsmith letter to John Waldsmith
Manuscripts
A handwritten letter (ink on paper) by Jacob Waldsmith to his father John Waldsmith, conveying news from Waldsmith's travels through the Midwest and Great Plains in the autumn of 1857, visiting Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska territories. In the letter, he comments upon the agricultural and economic potential of the region and the turbulent political condition following the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. While in Missouri, he describes "The land is rich and productive...This I verily believe would soon be one of the foremost states in our union for agriculture if it was not for the damnable curse called slavery, the agitation of which has been rageing in this part of the country..."
mssHM 75847
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George S. Boutwell letter to Ebenezer R. Hoar
Manuscripts
In his letter addressed abolitionist Ebenezer Hoar, Boutwell writes that he is leaving for Maryland "to advocate emancipation ... I fear that slavery would survive if its fate depended upon the Executive and even upon Congress."
mssHM 81607
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William H. Anderson letter to Frances Anderson
Manuscripts
Letter from William H. Anderson to his daughter Frances, written from the "southern part" of New Mexico near Rincon. In the letter Anderson describes his travels from Boston to New Mexico by railroad. The letter was intended as a geography lesson for his daughter and Anderson carefully traces his progress through Buffalo, Detroit, down the Mississippi River to St. Louis, through Missouri and Kansas, and finally through Colorado to New Mexico. Anderson includes a slightly more detailed description of Kansas City, Missouri, where he rode in a cable street car. In addition to tracking his geographical progress Anderson writes of difficulties encountered with cattle on the railroad tracks.
mssHM 74757