John Benjamin was born in England in 1823. In 1849, at the age of 26, he immigrated to America with the goal of seeking opportunities in the new world and improving the life of his family. During his immigration and eventual settlement in Hutchinson, Minnesota, John saved many personal letters that were written by and to him. These letters, the subject of this web site, bring to life his immigration and the life of others during this courageous adventure. The most recent letters posted on this sight are on this front page. To see all the earlier letters, keep pressing the “Older Posts” button on the bottom of this page. The earliest letter recorded here is June 20, 1849. The letters…………









May 26,1854 Robert Benjamin-1795 to John Benjamin-1823

Bagillt
May 26, 1854
Dear John & Elizabeth,
I take the pleasure once more in sending these few lines to you in hopes to find you all enjoying the blessings of good health as these leave me partly the same, thanks be to God, but your mother has been of late very ill with a severe cold, but she is getting better of it now, and I have to I inform you that she received the likeness all safe and sound and that on last Wednesday was a week, and I could not send to you no sooner than this week, and we were very glad to see them and everybody is, and indeed even to ourselves likewise is sadly surprised to see your brother Edwin gone so as he is, and everybody says that Elizabeth is very deserving of very great praise for feeding him so well to get, and the charge of duty in bringing them over was at Liverpool was 5/2, and Mr. Gleave sent with your brother James what the money was, for he received a letter from Liverpool on account of them and your mother sent the money with your brother and they came to the mill that day and Mr. Gleave sent back one ___ on his share upon the account of the book, and the next day I wanted to go to Holywell for new iron to put on the cart wheels for I have been obliged to go to the expense of making one wheel of new altogether, and being of great expense for someone as is weak, and I have to tell you that when your mother saw the little child how it made her, for she thinks so much of the little thing, and I took them to Holywell that day and I turned to Mr. Jones the watchmaker for to see them and he admired the little child very much and sadly surprised to see your brother Edwin gone so fat and ___ in so short a time, and he says that all looked well but he admired the little child above all, for he says that he must of kept himself so sturdy and being so young, and Mr. Jones said as I was telling him that you all was praising the child how she was coming on so well that you should sent the child’s portrait as it was at the present, that it would not of been __ but a trifling expense to you along with the rest, and to tell you when we have the portraits returned from Holywell .  We shall send then to Flint to Mr. Daneson but we must keep them at home for a day or two for the house.  After I went to Holywell the next day was half full of people all days almost. Somebody had gave the word out that our family had all come home from America and by them going the next day away we have not had got very little time on them ourselves but howsomever we shall have them at home at last we hope,  and I assure you that there will be great joy taken .
PS -  I have another thing to inform of and I hope that you will not take it unkind of both your mother and myself of what I am going to tell you, for I shall tell you the truth and nothing else .  Mr. Faulks has been ___ of us altogether about this house and now it has gone to the furthest point.  He has kept saying altogether from the first beginning that he wished for us to take before anybody else, and now there has a person as lives in the traveler’s rest being with him wanting it, and that he would bring his license along with him, and Mr. Faulks came here yesterday and we were obliged to do something that was not going to keep the other part of the house empty no longer, and we have settled to take it, and I hope you will not be offended to us for so doing for he kept saying altogether if it would do anybody else any good  that he could see it would do for us the same.   I shall let you have more in your brother’s letter.
So all your brothers and sisters sends their kind respects to you and none of them has seen the likeness yet until they come from Holywell, and this from your dutyful father and mother,
Robert & Sarah Benjamin
…..in a little haste.  Little Mary Ellen Jones sends her kind respects to her cousin Mary Ann Ellen and sends kisses ooooooooo
PS – According to your request that is about your Uncle John’s money, there is your uncle Thomas & Edward is before your mother, and they have made a great deal of work about everything but of no use, for the parson of Caerwys had make a will for him, and he was there that evening after the funeral was over and read it to all, and your mother and James was there and I was not, and both your uncles played the old neck there before the parson and all, and kept saying to the parson and your aunt that it was her will altogether and nobody else’s, and according to what the will said was that all the money at the bank was for your aunt Mary and never mentioned how much, and all the house furniture also, and your mother says altogether that she never heard a word in the will about the house in Holywell, but I am saying that it might be and her not bear it in mind, and all as was left to your two uncles and your mother was two pounds apiece, and as we have heard that she must sneak off in a few days to St. Asaph to have the will proved, and I will assure you that I thought after that that I should of lost your mother after that upon the account for she never thought but she should be left equal share with her sister.  At any rate therefore I can’t give you no information any further, but your mother asked your aunt what money had he in the bank and the answer she made was that she would not tell her, but that he had a deal and that’s all .
PS – As you can see in Edwin’s letter about your brother James, I will know you can put a spoke in the ___ ___ well for he was in the office last week asking for more wages and the old master smith told him that he better go to America to the rest and then he would get more then and indeed he barely says above ___ his meat in these days for everything is so dear.


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