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…………









Nov. 25,1853 Robert Benjamin-1795 to John Benjamin-1823

Bagillt,
November 25, 1853
Dear Children,
I take the pleasure of sending these few lines to you in answer to yours as we received yesterday, and was glad to hear of you been all well, and as I am glad to inform you that your mother is a great deal better and also your brother James has come to himself pretty well, and as for myself I am partly the same as usual, thanks be to God for it, and as for the house I hardly don’t know what to say to you about it, that is we cannot get a license into it without having it all in one house all through, and so we can have it and Mr. Faulks has gone to a power of expenses upon that subject, and there has a great many been with Mr. Faulks wanting it and saying to him that I was a man that was not working and how did he expect to have his rent from me, and he made an answer to two or three different partys that I had paid for it this fifteen years and that he meant to try us, and I beg of you to send me your advice about it and that as soon as you can with the next mail, and to see what Edwin will say about it for it is to be twenty pounds rent if not more, and to see what he will be so kind as to allow us yearly towards it, and we shall make a promise that we shall keep Harriet in school, and there is all neighbors is sadly afraid of us losing our hotel of it for everybody says that we should make business in it, for there is not near such a house in the place, if you was to see it you would not know it.   And another thing, I believe we run the best risk of anybody for having the club from the Wen House if they do shift, and there has a great talk of it been so  ___, and I beg of you to take it to consideration and send back as brief as you can, for we partly can tell if house be of some good to us, and as for the little business as we do it does not keep us as it is, and indeed I can tell you it would of been rather hard upon us lately only for your sister Charlotte being very good to us, and we hope and trust that you will get Edwin to prepare for us against Christmas for he knows what all is before he started, and  if he can get everything right against then, nobody shall have room to put their finger in our pie, and Mr. Faulks has been telling me that he expects to have all right then.
Your mother desires for me to send and tell Elizabeth that she is very thankful to her for her kindness towards Edwin and to keep him from the Yankee women as much as she can.  I meant to write a small ___ to Edwin or else he will be bent.
So all of your brothers and sisters sends their kind respects to you all and except the same from your dutyful father and mother,
Robert and Sarah Benjamin
PS – We are very glad to hear your good news of M. A. Ellen.  We wish you and her all good success


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