Letter 34
MORE ENTREATIES TO eLLEN
M. L. Look to Miss Ellen Lincoln,
Christiansburg, Sun. Evening, Jan. 13, 1854
Dear Sister Ellen,
Charles has been writing home for some money. Now we both and all of us wish you would take it and come to Virginia, paying your expenses out of it, and stay with us a year or two, and as much longer as you will. We shall have the greatest plenty of house and room to spare. There is a good road to Christiansburg, as handsome a Presbyterian Church as you will find in Mass. and preaching in it every Sabbath day and evening.
Charles has ordered a buggy of Mr. Rice. If you will come, go to Mr. Rice before he commences it and ask him to make it a little larger and put in two seats, so we can all ride in it. By the time you will care to go back some of us will be ready to go with you. The most direct way to come is to Richmond and Lynchburg, where you take the cars to this place. Perhaps Lucius and his lady will come with you, or Mr. and Mrs. Holmes. Try and persuade them all to come. If they don’t now I am afraid we shall never see them here. Give my love to Mother and my kind regards to all the rest of the family, and believe I remain,
Your affectionate brother,
N. Loomis Look.
Christiansburg Presbyterian Church Erected 1853
Letter 35
travel instructions for ellen
Sarah A. B. Look to Miss Ellen Lincoln.
Christiansburg, Va., March 5, 1854.
My dear Sister Ellen,
Olivia’s letter was received a week ago last night, and I have thought every day since I would write just a few lines, but each day has found so many cares and duties to be attended to that I have not done it. But I must not delay longer, for if you are ready to come here I am too impatient to see you to keep you waiting to hear from us again. We received a letter from Mr. Rice written the same day that Mother and Lucius called on him, in which he says they ordered our buggy made with two seats, so we judge from that you had concluded to come. You need not be afraid but we can find some place to put you until we move up to the other house, when we shall have plenty of room. It may not be as pleasant sleeping in the kitchen as one could wish, and I would give you the parlor if we did not have to keep a fire nights to warm milk for the baby. But I hope we will not have to stay here many weeks longer. We were a good deal disappointed about the buggies. I suppose of course they will not now be made, if they were not commenced before Mr. Rice’s death. I believe Loomis and Charles have concluded to send to New York for one.
I am sorry, Ellen, that we can not find someone to accompany you from New York, but I don’t know but you will be just as well off to come alone, and if I were in your place I believe I should rather, I would get a ticket in N.Y. for Richmond and a check for my baggage and have nothing more to do with that until you get there. Be sure you get into the Express train or mail train, whatever they call it, which leaves there about 7 o’clock in the morning I believe, and not be bothered in the accomodation train as I was. At Richmond take a packet boat for Lynchburg and get a ticket in the cars to Christiansburg, though you will have to come a few miles by stage, the road not being quite finished to C. yet. If you are not too tired you can ‘foot it’ the rest of the way, unless you can find a stray darkie to let us know you are in C. when we will send for you. I don’t know as I can give you any more directions or advice that will be of service to you. Just keep you eyes and ears wide open and use all the judgment and discretion you are mistress of and you will get along well enough. I would, however, get the conductors on board the cars to assist you when changes are to be made for other cars or steamboats and to get hacks for you. About the money, Loomis and Charles think had better get a draft in Worcester on some N.Y. or Philadelphia bank and bring here and they can get it cashed in Christiansburg, there being a branch of the Va. bank located there. Charles says tell Mother to get all that money of Mr. Kendall if she possibly can as they will need it all, and it is difficult borrowing it among strangers. He wants Lucius to send on that box as soon as possible, if has not already done it, but don’t send it by express it costs so much. If the box is not sent, Ellen, I would get some No. 2 leaf and put into it as I don’t think I shall have as much as we both can braid next winter if nothing happens. But I would not have any extra baggage for the sake of bringing any. Have as little of that as you possibly can get along with.
I have not been to church but once since I have been here. I got all ready to go today but the baby waked just before it was time to start and cried and fretted so that I did not like to leave her. She has been almost sick for two or three days. But she went to sleep and slept nearly all the time while the others were gone. It was communion day and Charles said there were eight admitted to the church. Olivia, I am glad to hear you are not yet discouraged about getting justice done and perhaps it may all come right at last. I hope you will get Mr. Parmenter and Mrs. Merry in hot water anyhow. I have thought a good many times since I wrote you that if I owned as pleasant a house and home as you do that I would put up with a good deal before I would part with it. “There’s no place like home.”
Loomis and Charles are uncertain whether they gave you the directions for that box and I think I had better tell you again, which is Look and Lincoln, care of A.S. Lee, Richmond, Christiansburg, Ellen, Charles wants you should bring his Greenberg Arithmetic, or one of our old Adams Arithmetics, Loomis had one but we can not find it anywhere. And I wish you would bring the Carmina Sacra, as I suppose you do not use it now, and if you have room bring some pretty bedquilt pieces and we will piece a bedquilt next summer. We want you should write when you think you will start so that we may know when to expect you. But you must try and start the Monday after you get this. You can’t get here too soon, now I tell you. I don’t think of anything more just now, but I suppose when this is gone I may think of twenty things that I wish I had written about. My best love to you all. I am sorry Mother’s visit to Janette was shortened on account of that money, but she must go back and stay with her a long time. Kiss the children for me. Little Sarah Isabel is growing finely and is a right pretty baby. Laura is well and as bad as ever. Tell Sister Ellen C. we have not received that letter from her and Lucius we have been expecting. When I have time I will write to her. Olivia, write often.
Goodbye, your affectionate sister,
Sarah.
Packet boat to Lynchburg
Letter 36
buggies and cousin george
Christiansburg, March 27, 1854
My dear sister Ellen,
Loomis has just returned from town, bringing your letter, and as we forgot to send for some strainer cloth they wish me to write for you to get some. They did not tell me the amount, and as they are gone out to work I will leave it until night when I can ascertain. Loomis says if you can find a little room, and it will not be too much trouble, he wishes you would cut the seed end off some potatoes and wrap them in a paper and bring with you. Those we get here are very poor and we have to pay a half dollar a bushel no matter what the quality is.
We have not ordered a buggy yet, though Loomis has written to N.Y. to enquire what one can be obtained for. He received in reply that one with two seats and covered could be had for from $200 to $230. Of course we are very glad those buggies are coming, though we concluded from what we saw in the Barre Gazette that they would not be sent.
I hope you will find Cousin George in N.Y. and go to see the Crystal Palace, and be sure to remember all you see and tell us about it. If I were you I would take a hack and go right to Bowen and McName’s establishment and inquire for Cousin George and if you find him get him to tell you to what hotel you had better go. If you don’t find him I would go to the Astor House, or come right along in the first train of cars that leaves after you get there, for I suppose you won’t want to go to the Crystal Palace without company. But, O dear, as I said before I don’t know as any special directions will be of any service to you. Your safest way will be to confide in the conductors of the cars or captains of steamboats, and they will assist you to keep on the right track when changes are to be made. I shall be very anxious about you until you get here, and I am not sure but Loomis and Charles will be nearly as glad to see you as the money. For myself nothing could give me greater pleasure unless it were to go home and see you all.
I am truly sorry to hear of Cousin Emily’s ill health. Surely what would her mother do if she should die? But I trust many years are in store for her yet.
We have had some of the most beautiful weather, until a few days, that I ever saw in March. The meadows looked as green as in April, many of the trees had budded and some of the peach trees had bloomed. But Friday the weather changed and Saturday was nearly as cold as any day we have had this winter. It is rather milder today and I hope we shall soon have warm weather again. I don’t know about your being much warmer here than there for I believe I feel the cold weather as much as I ever did in Mass. If houses were built as tight it would make a difference in their warmth. We commenced making cheese today with 13 cow’s milk.
I don’t think of anything more to write, so I may as well stop now. If you see Aunt Foster give my love to her, and to all my friends.
Charles says get 12 yards of that strainer linen. I suppose you know what it is, if you don’t Mother does. Bring a handful of caraway seed too if Mother has any, and anything else you can think of.
I am glad to hear the Dr.’s business is not injured by that contemptible suit. Give my love to Janette and tell her if I live I shall certainly write to her sometime and hope she will return the favor. We shall expect to see you in three weeks from Saturday or today. The cars may be through to Christiansburg, we heard a few days ago they would be along in two or three weeks. Now don’t miss of getting into and keeping in the mail train, for I am sure you will have much less trouble. Much love to you all from your affectionate sister, Sarah.
george burt lincoln
First cousin George was an early campaign adviser to Abraham Lincoln (claimed the rail-splitter idea), the Brooklyn Postmaster, New York merchant, and correspondent with luminaries near & far. Born in Hardwick, Massachusetts, next to Petersham. His firm, Bowen & McNamee took an early anti-slavery stand while other New York merchants feared losing part of the lucrative cotton trade.