Among the family treasures preserved
by my Grandmother McLean were three old letters from one family member to another.
The oldest of the three is dated “June the Sixth” and postmarked “Clark Ill
June 7th 1828”. It’s a chatty letter written by Rebecca (Scholfield)
Dolson to her sister Lydia (Scholfield) McDonald, telling about her new home in
Clark County, Illinois (she and her husband Benjamin had moved there about
1822), and asking after family members still in Newton Township, Muskingum
County, Ohio.
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| Page one of Rebecca's letter |
The actual letter is oversized, and
was folded into a small square for mailing. No envelope was used; the address
was written on the folded letter. Although a rudimentary mail system existed, there
was no home pickup or delivery, and certainly no mailbox down the road. A letter
writer in a remote rural area waited until a trip to town was warranted to “post”
a letter. If someone stopped by the homestead on the way to town, the writer
might entrust the letter to him. Once a letter got to town, it would go to the
postmaster who saw it was put on the right stage coach. Railroads would later
carry the mail from one town to the next, but in 1828, horsepower was the only
way to go. On the receiving end, the letter would be kept at the post office
waiting for someone to stop by and inquire whether or not there was any mail.
The letter Lydia (or someone in her family) was handed had no stamp, but there
was a fee involved. In order to get the letter, the recipient had to pay the
postmaster for the mailing cost.
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| Page two of Rebecca's letter. The mailing address is on the right |
When Lydia got home with the letter,
she would have certainly read it to her family and then probably passed it
around to be read by individuals. A modern reader, fixated on the rules of written
text, would struggle a bit with the letter. Rebecca’s letter is filled with phonetic,
non-standard spelling, a glancing blow at capitalization, and not a single
punctuation mark. It took me many readings before I came up with a complete
transcription. The letter, for me, turned out to be more than just a valuable
genealogical resource. It is for me, a literacy teacher, a wonderful example of
the importance of reading to get the writer’s message, no matter how
non-standard the presentation. When I read this letter, I “hear” Rebecca
Scholfield Dolson: she loved her family, and missed them (as she would have
written it “mitely”), even though her new life was good; she was impatient to
hear from them and chided Lydia gently (“this is the Second lettrer I rote
Since I got enny”); she had a sense of humor, ending the letter “if you cant
read this letter fetch it to me and I will reade it for you.”
Over
the years, I found out more about Rebecca’s life than one might expect to find
about a woman who lived 150 years ago. For this information, I am indebted to
another Scholfield letter-writer, Rebecca’s brother Thomas who wrote a letter
to their brother, my great-great-great grandfather, Lemuel C. Scholfield, in
1868. However, I’ll wait for another time to continue Rebecca’s story. (The
details of Thomas’ letter can be found in my article, “Unintended Family
History: Thomas Scholfield’s Letter to His Brother”, which was published in the
Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly in 2016.)
Below is my transcription of Rebecca’s
letter. Listen for her voice.
Ilinoys
Clark County
Dear Sister with pleasure
I embrace this opportunity to inform you that wee ar both well at present hopen
these few lins will find you all in the same helth wee hav nad no Sickness
Sence wee have bin here It is a very helthy place I am vary well [illegible] when
I thin About you all Sum tims I think I never well See enney of you a gain But
Benjamin tells me that he well fetch me to See you all in two or three year I
have no hope of Seein enny of you come to See me I think if you all knode what
a fine place this is you wood leve where you live wee had no neighbours when
wee first come here bout now wee have a plenty wee are dooin vary well in the
way of property wee have a fine stock round us and nice young orchard Set out
Bout Sume times I set and think About you all and the wattre runs Mity free tha
puts in mind of what unkil William used to Say a bout me tell Thomas I am Much
a blige to him for comin to See me as he promised bout won thing I now if he
don’t see fet to come he must Stay this is the Second lettrer I rote Since I
got enny if you git this I want you to write as Soon as you Can for I want to
here from you all [illegible] more if I cant git to see you I wish to be
remembered to Sister ann And family and to broher Lemuel and Thomas and to aunt
Elizabeth and aunt Rebecca and to poor old Mother in perticler tell ann to
write me the next letter if it was posabel for you to move I think you would
Dough better than you can whre you leve ther cant be no better palce for
[illegible] Stock than this nothing more at present but remainin your loven
Sister until Death if you cant read this letter fetch it to me and I will reade
it for you
June
the Sixth
Rebecca Dolson Lydia
McDonald
[Addressed]
Mrs
Lydia McDonald
Ohio Muskingum County
union town post office Uniontown Ohio
[Postmarked]
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