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. 4, 1861 Thomas Price to John Benjamin-1823

South Dedham
Nov. 4th, 1861
Dear John,
I received your answer to my letter and I sent it enclosed in my letter to Mr. Gleave that they may see that you were in the land of the living , and read your own statement in your own handwriting , for he stated that they were very uneasy about you.   And now I receive a letter from Mr. Gleave with a letter enclosed for you from your parents.  They state they have wrote to you several times but received no answer and, fearing this should share the same fate, it was sent to me to forward to you.  Mr. Gleave says your letter caused great joy there, like the father in the parable, he was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. 
Now I do hope this letter will reach you because of your father’s letter, and I shall anxiously be expecting to hear from you again.   I should like to hear from you before I answer Mr. Gleave’s letter.  I should be glad to tell him that your father’s letter has reached its destination. 
I am very sorry I have been so long without writing to you but I assure you we have spent a miserable summer here.  The Everett’s liabilities were three hundred and eighty thousand dollars.   They have settled by paying fifteen percent.   We have had very little to do all the summer.  The mill has been stopped nearly all the time, the commencement running about three weeks ago and shall shut down again in about 2 weeks, more if George Everett does not get orders in Cuba to which place he is now on his way. 
We have had plenty of military excitement.  They have raised one military in Dedham.  John Andrews that worked at Russele & Bakers is gone, Garrison, a Dutchman from Dorchester,  that fellow that worked upstairs in the same room with that old wood scratcher, Sawyer.   I don’t know of anyone else that you know.  South Dedham is remarkably clean of loafers now.  There is a military camp near Readville, two regiments there now; one of them are cavalry.
Are you able to keep cool in the far west?  Working days are like Sundays here now.  William French that you enquired about last time, I saw him, it was about the middle of the summer.  He told me he had been to Canada and had bought himself a farm.  I think he said 60 acres of land and he was going to take his family with him back.   I have tried all I could to get his address but there is no one in South Dedham that knows his address.  I saw a letter in the  post office addressed to him and has been there some time.  It had the Hutchinson post mark on it.  I thought it was from his father but I did not know what to do with it, but one day about three weeks ago I saw Nat Wishington from Dorchester.  I enquired if he could tell me where Mr. French was, he could not but said his father in law, Mr. McGee, lived about a mile from him.  I told him about the letter and he called at the post office and got the letter to give to his father in law to forward it to Mr. French.
We are all in good health and unite in kind regards to you and your family and hope you are all well, and expect to hear again from you soon. 
From yours as ever,
Thomas G. Price






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