Lehigh,
Marion Co., Kas.
March 24
1890[1]
Today's post is a break from the wartime correspondace that has been posted and is a sample of one of the oldest English letters in the collection. Most, from this time period, are written in cursive Old German and will take a specialist to translate. It is a very nice treat to have a readable letter over 125 years old.
Dear brother[2]!
An
hour before we recieved[3] a
letter from you. Many thanks for it. Pa will go tomorrow to Newton. I’ll write
a few lines to you quickly. What for you left the portrait of me in Hamburg?
Did you forget it there? I don’t care any for the portrait, I just like to know
if you left it there willfully or if somebody stolen some of your packages.
I
hardly can wait till 1892 to visit you and my friends in Russia[4]. I
guess I’ll come the autumn of 1891. But don’t write to the friends in Russia
that I intend to visit Europe[5].
Your friend J G. Pankatz has become a student in Marion. Last Thursday, March
20th I was on a wedding by Rev. H. Goertz.
J.J.
Voth sold his Threshing Machine to Jacob & Martin Thimm for $675⁰⁰[6].
P.J.
Krause is Trustee. Jacob H. Richert is a Oaklahoma settler, Jacob H. Warentin
also.
When
you was home you wondered if P.R. Voth would venture to go to Rev. J. Buller,
he did. But Sunday before last he gave to his daughter the basket
H.R.
Voth has visit his parents few weeks ago. He is now in New York.
W.
Tielenhaus was preaching in our church the 12 of March at evening
How
many Dollars you think I need to visit Europe?
The
Exhibition will be at Chicago.
Heartily
greeting, you brother
Jacob
[1]
Envelope currently missing (19 April 2016).
[2]
The letter writer is Jakob L. Richert writing to his brother Cornelius Richert,
his older brother.
[3]
The letter is transcribed with grammar and spelling errors intact. The writer
is a native German speaker.
[4]
The Richerts had immigrated from Alexanderwohl, S Russia.
[5]
We often think of nineteenth century immigration in terms of one way travel,
but this demonstrates that immigrants did travel back to the Old World while
continuing their residency in their new country.
[6]
Using a formula from the Federal Reserve this would equal $17,778 in 2015 dollars.
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