Williamson Letter (continued /5. Feb 17 1851, page 2)
16.
would like to return to Manchester, & I know I can
get as good a Salary in a Situation as here
Perhaps you will say I am as wild and unsettled
as ever going from place to place & perhaps you will
be right to think so, but I tell you Benj you never seen
a man more anxious to Settle down for Life than I am
& has been Since I was married, but still grasping
at a Straw I have been tosse'd about First by Harry
till left with my last Pound & not one cent recompense
then by my Supposed friend in Albany but I tell
you now it shall not all go for nothing, I have come
to a certain conclusion go well or ill, I will put it
through If I can in the first place I will ask
you to Stand by me with a little Cash, if you
can spare me the use of Ten or Fiften Pounds
for a few months I will go back to Manchester & get
Something to do & Stay there it grieves me to ask you for
assistance but misfortunes cannot be parried. had it
not been for them I would not be compelled to ask you
I am at present brot to my last Five & I know I
drug?
have been a (drag?) to many of my Friends unwillingly
If you can do me this favor I will take the earliest
moment to repay you, but get out of the infernal scrape
I must do by hook or crook, & If I am doomed to
live in poverty it shall not be said that I brot my
re
wife to it I will go back when I have friends at
risks
all
If tis possible for you to help me
I wish you would write me on receipt or by next
mail, the Banker will instruct you how to send
so that I can get their check or dft. cashed in
Albany - or .York
(page 3)
I wrote home a few days ago but I did
not tell them how I was Situated I would not
let them know anything about it. I told them
that I had some intention of going back
James is Still in Gilmores I have not heard
from him since I came to the east nor
have I heard from William directly since
he went to the gold digging I hope your
wife & Boy are in good health & that you
are also.
I am glad to say we are all
John Williamson, Cohoes, Albany Co., New York, to his brother, Benjamin Williamson, Leeds, England, 17 February 1851
Description
Unhappy letter from an unemployed artisan; sorry he and his family left "the West" (California? or Illinois?). John has left "the West" and reached Albany at least as early as December 1850. He worked in a village near Albany for 5-6 weeks, but is now unemployed again. Laments that in "the West" he had a good home, but since he left there he has met with "reverses," and has a wife and young child dependent on him. Fears that he may have to go to work in a local factory. His friends in Manchester have urged him to "return" there, and he begs his brother, Ben, for a loan of £10-£15 to take him and his wife there. He is sure that he can get a good situation there, which will enable him to support his wife (she may be from Manchester) and child; he states that the Eastern States are a "miserable place." States that's desperate to "settle down" and promises to cease roving. Reports that their brother James is " still in Gilmore's" and that brother William has gone to "the gold digging" in California.
Date
17/02/1851
Date Issued
27/03/2023
Cineál Acmhainne
Text
Archival Record Id
p155/4/1/1
Publisher
University of Galway
Extent
7pp
Topic
Williamson Letters
Geographic
Cohoes (city),Albany (county),New York (state),United States,Leeds,England,United Kingdom
Temporal
Nineteenth century,Eighteen fifties
Genre
Letter,Transcription,Reproduction
Note
Title and description by Professor Kerby Miller. Transcript text by PRONI.
