Holywell
August 27, 1851
My Dear John,
It is with much pleasure that I scribble you a letter in a
more official manner than usual. Your newspapers
I take it for granted come all to hand, as I frequently receive the pictorial newspaper. It is a very good paper, but the cuts are not
quite equal to the Illustrated London News.
I hope you receive my papers in due time. I am sending a ___ Herald this
time and a Liverpool Mercury.
Well, about the photographic materials, at one time I
thought I might require some of those nice get up boxes and frames & since
then I find that I do but little business in the line altogether. Therefore I do not at present feel warranted
in ordering any, but if at any time I should want any, I shall with pleasure avail
myself of your kind assistance , and please receive of my kind thanks for what
you have already done for me .
Well, about the Journal, I was very glad to receive it &
found it very interesting. The price is
certainly high for America. Still, I
will have it. There is one 6 months out;
I should like very much to have it also, if you could get them to send it to
me, and you can either send me the monthly numbers as they come out for the
running months, or leave it until the end of the year & send me then the 6
months note. Now how shall I continue to
pay you or send you the cash? Will it
do for me to pay someone here, if you have any money transactions with
anyone? You will please let me
know. Well, I think I can say no more
now on this head.
Well, I am sorry we cannot avail ourselves of the kind
invitation your cards suggest to us, and all congratulate you on your new life
and hope you will have all the pleasures this troublesome world can give. Well, well, when will it be my turn?
Your family area all well when I heard from them last. There
has been a grand ___ at Flint. Poor Copeland the policeman has terminated his
existence by shooting himself in the head.
I was on jury. He bothered his
brains (?) about building until he foolishly spent all his money and ran in
debt very much.
Elisa and I have been to the Exhibition & enjoyed
ourselves very much indeed. London is a
pleasant place.
I will conclude with my kind respect to you & Mrs.
Benjamin, & mother and sister kindly sends their love to you both. Mr. Gardener I often see. They say he will not be long before he has a
better half.
To conclude, your ever truly and affectionately,
Edward Jones
Here is a letter from Edward Jones, who is a good friend, and I think a cousin, of John's. Some of the goings on sound like it could have been written today. He also refers to going to the "Exhibition" in London, which has been mentioned in other letters. This was the first of the World Exhibitions, and a description of it is below:
ReplyDeleteThe Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or The Great Exhibition, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 11 October 1851. It was the first in a series of World's Fair exhibitions of culture and industry that were to become a popular 19th-century feature. The Great Exhibition was organised by Henry Cole and Prince Albert, husband of the reigning monarch, Queen Victoria. It was attended by numerous notable figures of the time, including Charles Darwin, Samuel Colt, members of the Orléanist Royal Family and the writers Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, George Eliot and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.