Bangor, ME
Oct. 23rd, 1871
Dear Dr. Benjamin,
Your most welcome letter of the 9th inst was
received last Saturday 21st and was very gratifying to us all. We were so afraid our fences or our buildings
were burned up and perhaps the entire village and its inhabitants [1],
and your letter only tells of here and there a disaster and no lives lost. We were sorry to hear your fence was burnt to
such an extent but Brother Benjamin, I was afraid you and your family might be
burnt to death. There was such awful
news from everywhere west. 1,800 houses
burnt in Chicago, 500 persons killed, half of Michigan & Wisconsin burnt over
and nearly one thousand persons destroyed, and we heard by the papers that the
fires were raging in Minnesota fearfully, and that it was all around
Hutchinson, and I was nerved up to hear the worst from our little settlement when
your letter came & brought relief.
Oh let us give thanks unto our God for the deliverance he has given us
that our lives are spared and that of our children and acquaintances. To those that have lost their all our
sympathy must go out. I want you to give James Record $5 worth of
our farm products and $5 worth of groceries from A. U. Schnell’s storehouse. Have Mr. Schnell charge to my account and
write by next mail who is suffering most and I will give something to them all
in our county. We are not doing much in
our business just now, but never mind, let me know the actual sufferers’ names in our vicinity. I tell you, dear Dr., you and I have escaped
an awful conflagration.
I do hope you have not got sick by fighting the fires. Organize a fire relief association in
Hutchinson and count me as one of the contributors. I’m so thankful our buildings are saved. I want to hear all the particulars how you
are getting along.
Glad to hear from you and Frank that Hassan Farm is being
turned bottom side up. Glad you took the
precaution about fires in putting a protection belt around the premises. Did the fire get into our grove at all to
destroy any more trees? Do impress on
Frank the faithful to add one more grace to his virtues and that is to be very
careful about fires. I hope to hear of
still more copious rains. Look after
them all and advise them. Hope to hear
of a good fair yield of grain. The bells
are ringing for fire and everybody in the street is crying. Everybody excited about fires since the
terrible news from Chicago & the northwest.
I sent you a Bangor paper today. How are
you getting along for funds? Have you collected
any more from David Adams & the Ross note yet? I sent a $50 draft to you not long since, you
did not mention the receipt of the same.
Have you paid Mr. Case yet? He wrote a real good letter to me from
Plainview but did not say whether you had settled with him or not. Please pay
him at earliest moment if you have not.
Did not you have a hard time thrashing & fighting fire? I’m so glad you are safe. Frank writes a good encouraging letter that the
hogs are fattening etc.
Is pork worth much this autumn…and where ___ ___ butter
market? Manage as carefully as possible and bring that expensive part of our
farming to a successful end If possible.
We can’t come home till December, perhaps the middle, unless
great urgency requires us. But you can
gather up the matters close and have pose bushes, grape fines, and apple trees,
etc. prepared for the coming winter.
Have Frank keep a set of all his doings.
Discharge one of the boys after plowing, bank up the cellar and house.
Guard us against further fires & write us every week to care of Dr. John Sherman,
Lynn Mass, till further word.
Love to all your family saved from the fire. I will write again soon. Give full particulars.
Truly yours,
Asa B. Hutchinson
[1]The Peshtigo
Fire was a forest fire that took place on October 8, 1871 in and around Peshtigo, Wisconsin.
It was a firestorm that caused the most deaths by
fire in United States
history, with estimated deaths of around 1,500 people,[1] possibly as many as 2,500.[2] Occurring on the same day as the
more famous Great Chicago Fire,
the Peshtigo Fire has been largely forgotten.[3][4] On the same day as the Peshtigo
and Chicago fires, the cities of Holland and Manistee, Michigan,
across Lake Michigan,
also burned and the same fate befell Port Huron
at the southern end of Lake Huron as
well.
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