The William Hunt Letter, 1868 submitted by Leslie Granat A copy of a letter written by William Hunt March 25, 1868 in Hanover, IL, William Hunt was the son of Peter Hunt and Hannah Benson Hunt, Kortright, N. Y. He was born Dec. 24, 1798, in Kortright, Delaware Co., NY, and died Dec. 19, 1876 in Hanover, Jo Daviess Co. The letter came into the possession of Mildred Truscott Clark from her Grandmother Julia Hunt Stein. It must have been given to her by her father, Hiram Peter Hunt, who would be a nephew of William but not the nephew to whom the letter was written. I will copy it exactly as written except the S in the middle of a word was written like an F. (by Mildred T. Clark, now deceased, as written to Leslie Granat, Nov. 1993) Hanover March 19, 1868 Dear Friend and Nepew I recieved your kind and welcome letter yesterday. the letter you sent me last fall I was sick with the tipoid fever at the time if I recollect right and I realy have forgot all about it and now I cant find the letter you spoke of but I will try to make amends, by writing you a long yarn this time. I realy do esteam it a grate kindness to have enny of my wives friends wright to poor afflicted me. It was verry sickly in this countory last fall with typoid fever nearly every case thair is some cases about hear now of lung fevor Hiram B Hunt has a boy that is verry sick now thair was a yong man buried yesterday that was teaching school in the district above us he had the lung fevor that is all that I know of on this prairie -- I was sick 5 weaks but not as hard a fevor as Orsons wife and two of hur children thair was and a Girl that was living with us five of us was all sick at once But we air all well now excepting bad colds. you say you have 2 1/2 feet of snow now and more a coming the second of March we have none at presunt commenced plowing yesterday braking up that medow in frunt of the house We have had the least storms this winter that I have ever knew if it looked ever somutch like a storm it would not snow more than one inch deap before it would stop and some times not more than ˝ a inch we have not had much sleighing this winter if we could only had 5 or 5 inches of your snow we should have bin werry glad of it and I think you could have spaired us as much as that without pinching yourselves enny I think you must be tired of sleighing and will be glad when you can git your foot on terafurmy once more. As I use to when I was thair in such winters things air not as high hear as with you flower is from $8 to $10 a barrell corn 80 cents a bushell oats 50 rye $1 Butter 25 to 30 cents a pound pork has ris of tub it is now $8 a hundred we got 7 for ours as for hay I dont hear enny price hear at Galina from 7 to 8 dollars per tun --- Well now I will tell you of the Misfortune of our town last week it rained for one day and two knites it raised all the streemes in our county to the highest ever known Apple river was four or five feet higher than I ever see before it took off all the Bridges a round hear and all of our mill dams it has damaged the town of Hanover a lone over six thousand Dollars If you recollect as we was coming from Savanna we past a saw mill on the uper side of the rode it was on a stream caled Ruch Crick that mill and bridge was all carred off together in to the Missippi no body knows whare. You wished me to give you a history of the Smith Famaly I have not got the old Bible you spoke of your Grandfather give it to Abigail but I think I can give you all the information that can be got from that as I have bin somewhat poticular at taken dats from all acounts I ever lernt from enny one Births and Deaths Abigail Smith February 21, 1758 August 21, 1820 Peter Smith December 25, 1743 Jan. 16, 1843 the next is your Aunts Lewsey Butts August 8, 1794 Nov, 14, 1829 Jane Butts July 21, 1796 Jan. 22, 1848 Allice White Sept, 29, 1789 August 23, 1848 Anna Hunt Oct. 6, 1798 December 28, 1865 Tomas B. Smith May 17, 1791 May 3, 1856 Elijah C. Smith May 20, 1788 Peter Smith Junior March 1, 1776 James H. Smith April 15, 1801 (m. Susannah Harris 1801- 1830) your Aunt had me right all this down in our Bible so I have given the dates as I have them the wether to day is fine and warm March 14 I think the grass will start to grow a little to day now I think I have over paid you So you air indebt to me so you cant right me a nother dunning letter verry sun I think you will acknowledg you air in det to me on the recipt of this poor Scrible I have thought of writing som verses on the other page if I git rested before 1 send this Well I will tell you that I can work a little yet I still work at shoemaking this winter Sins the first of January 1868 I have dun $89 and 80 cents worth of shoemaking, worked up $29 worth of stock lines written on the death of Orpha Hunt Fair well dear sister thou art gone Thy face we’ll see no more For al1 thy works on earth air done Thy labor air all ore What hast Tho. done O Monster Death Thou hast torn hur from our fond imbraces Forever stopped hur mortal breath And hid hur presants from our faces Again we morn departed worth worth Another stare is set No more to gladen hur friends on earth Hur loss we all regret We trust hur tungue immortal now Is tuned to notes divine Whare purest pleasures ever flow And brightest glory shines But Oh our loss how hard to bear Now left to griave and mourn A wide community doth share The sorrows which we own But may we meekly kiss the sod And humbly acquiess Bow to the will supreme of God His sovereign wisdom bless Spring and summer fall and winter Each in swift succesion roll So my friends in death do enter Bringing sadness to my sole Death has laid them down to slumber Sollom thought to think that I Soon must be of that number Soon Ah Soon with them to lie Wm. Hunt Comments from Mildred T. Clark: Anna Hunt b. Oct. 6, 1798 d. Dec. 28, 1865, was Anna Smith and wife of William Hunt, writer of the letter. William Hunt was born Dec. 24, 1798 in Kortright, Delaware Co., NY, and died December 19, 1876 in Hanover, Jo Daviess Co., IL. Elijah C. Smith married Electa Seward, sister of Orpha Seward Hunt and Orpha S. Hunt was the wife of Jacob Hunt, brother of William Hunt.