1844 Letter re travel from New Hampshire to Alabama to retrieve personal effects

Description: 1844 Letter re travel from New Hampshire to Alabama to retrieve personal effects Click images to enlarge Description 1844 – Letter home from a man who traveled from New Hampshire to Alabama to retrieve the personal effects of his brother-in-law This three-page stampless folded letter measures approximately 15” x 10” unfolded. Two pages were written by Horace Brooks in Gainesville, Alabama to his brother, Ira, at Franconia, New Hampshire and one page was written to his sister, Dolly Whitney. It is dated December 8. It bears a circular Gainesville postmark dated December 11 and a “25” rate mark. In nice shape. In this letter, Horace reports that he had located the boarding house where Dolly’s husband had stayed and found his trunk, paperwork related to cash and bank accounts, and some clothes “them negroes wore out.” More interestingly, he describes his voyage to Mobile and steamboat trip up the Tombigbee River. “After experiencing all the vicissitudes of a land & sea voyage I have at last got to my journey’s end in good health. It was midnight when the signal gun was fired to break the slumber of the inhabitants of Gainesville. It is refreshing after having been on the water ever since the 9th of Nov. to lay down on something like a bed. I have no wish to be a child of nepture, I have got to be too old to be rocked to sleep like a child. . .. To me there was not veriety enough [on the trip, although] we had the promis of something grand when we first sailed. . .. We run affawl of a schooner & [it] carried away our jib boom, it created some excitement but our voyage up the river was sick with veriety at every turn we found something to amuse us and . . . our boat seemed to be unmanageable at times and we several times came near having broaken to pieces she would be running into the woods at a angry plenty of ducks, crains, & other water fowle but little of the country is to be seen [as] the banks are mostly covered with timber. . .. I wish Luke had come out with me. The sea voyage & our Chinese cook would have cured him. . ..” Horace also reported that he had obtained a job at a mill, so perhaps he was planning to wait for nicer weather before returning to New Hampshire. (For more information, see Doster and Weaver’s Historic Settlement in the Upper Tombigbee Valley and “Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway” at Steamboats.org.) #10266 View My Other Items For Sale Payment PayPal is preferred for both US and international payments. Other methods of payment may be possible. Shipping Domestic Shipping. Most orders are shipped to locations in the US at no additional cost. If not, shipping costs are set at a flat rate on an item-by-item basis. Media mail shipping--when available and appropriate--is inexpensive but may take between two and four weeks, especially if delivery is to the west coast. If a quick delivery is important to you, please request USPS Priority Mail or some other expedited delivery service before paying. International Shipping. International shipping is usually done through the eBay Global Shipping Program. I know that this can be expensive, but I've switched to this method because I've had too many claims of non-receipt by international buyers. If you contact me in advance of purchase it may be possible for me to ship directly to you. If I ship directly, I will only ship overseas using a trackable method; this can be expensive, and it is non-negotiable. Also, I will only enter true information on customs forms; if you have a problem paying your nation's customs fees, that is beteen you and your government, I have nothing to do with it. If you pay by PayPal, I will only ship to the shipping address specified by PayPal. All shipments are covered by my business insurance at my expense, however if you would like to purchase additional USPS insurance at your expense, let me know, and I'll adjust your invoice accordingly. Terms of Sale Please don't assume anything that is not specifically stated or shown on this listing page. Ask any questions before you bid or make an offer. If you win this item, you are legally bound to complete the purchase. Unless specifically indicated otherwise in the page, returns will be accepted for full refund less shipping for any reason if the item is returned to me within 30 days in the same condition as it was sent. Buyers are responsible for paying all return postage costs. About Us This is a Read'Em Again Books & Paper sale. In addition to a nice selection of Americana, diaries, journals, photograph albums, other unique personal narratives, and postal history, we often have a small stock of children's books, illustrated books, and unusual non-fiction as well as ephemera, prints, sheet music, maps, postcards, and antique toys & games. Read'Em Again Books & Paper is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), the American Stamp Dealers Association (ASDA), the National Stamp Dealers Association (NSDA), the Ephemera Society, the Manuscript Society, the American Philatelic Society (APS), the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, and the Military Postal History Society. We hope that you'll take some time to visit both our eBay store and our larger Read'Em Again Books & Paper online store. We think that you'll find our prices to be very competitive with other internet book and paper sellers. View My Other Items For Sale Get images that make Supersized seem small.Showcase your items with Auctiva's Listing Templates! THE simple solution for eBay sellers.

Price: 150 USD

Location: Dumfries, Virginia

End Time: 2024-10-12T12:05:47.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD