John Williamson, Manchester, England, to his brother, James Williamson, probably in
California, 8 June 1866
York Chambers
55 King Street
Manchester, June 8th 1866
My dear Jim
Your long looked for very welcome letter
from New Almaden of March 11th last arrived here on
the 19th of april I would have replied before this but
intended being in Ahorey first so that I could give
you some of the news from that place which I Know
would be interesting I went over there with Sara
for a few days & found that Robert had written y[ou]
on receipt of your letter to ne which I sent him b[ ]
as this does not interfere with our Correspondence
therefore write you independently --
I may say that I was greatly gratified to hear
from you & thank you for your very interesting
letter. I Know that whether employed or not you
do not bother yourself with much letter writing.
I therefore excuse you for not writg so often Stu[ ? ]
no all feel anxious to hear of your welfare & gla[d]
to go alive from you lifever so brief.-- You seem
still to be leading a roving & unsettled life & it
would be a great satisfaction to us all to Know
you could do better & run less risk like myse[If]
you have had your ups & downs & as most men
who travel I have found it unprofitable in the
end. Well now I must give you alittle news
John Williamson, Manchester, England, to his brother, James Williamson, California, 8 June 1866
Description
Comments that brother James, the recipient, is still "leading a roving & unsettled life," and urges him to settle down and avoid risks (presumably the risks associated with gold mining]. Reports that their mother in Ahory has had a stroke and is mentally impaired, but she still can read her Bible without glasses and sing her favorite hymns and psalms. Gives detailed family news: John Tuft was killed in a railroad accident at Scarva, and his wife Harriett (John and James's sister) and her two children have gone to live with Hugh and Sally at Rocknacreena, although she's mostly at Ahory helping care for their mother. Mary Cox and family live in Connaught. Hugh and Sally are still unmarried at "the Rock." Fanny, another sister, is dead. Catherine and John Asten are doing well, but Richard (another brother?), a gunsmith, is very badly crippled with rheumatism. Brother Benjamin is still in Leeds; he's been unfortunate in business and is not unemployed. Mr. Bain, the writer's father-in-law, died at his (John's) house in Manchester. Robert Bain is in Shasta City, California . John is glad to hear that his brother William ("Bill") is doing well; sorry that he hasn't had a letter from Bill since 1856. The Williamsons are still in touch with the Taylors of Bonus Prairie, Illinois. Closes letter with very fond reminiscences of William, James, other siblings, and parents. [John mentions that James's previous letter of 19 April was written from New Almaden).
Date
08/06/1866
Date Issued
27/03/2023
Resource Type
Text
Archival Record Id
p155/4/1/1
Publisher
University of Galway
Extent
10pp
Topic
Williamson Letters
Geographic
Manchester,England,United Kingdom,New Almaden,Santa Clara (county),California,United States
Temporal
Nineteenth century,Eighteen sixties
Genre
Letter,Transcription,Reproduction
Note
Title, description and transcript text by Professor Kerby Miller.
