posted by Brett M. on Jan 23
Cousin Jerry Shore passed along some family treasures before he died; I will be forever grateful to him. One of them was an 1888 family letter written to J W Hays in Springfield, Missouri, from one of his brothers in Tipton, Missouri. As I’m currently sorting through the facts given here and conducting research based on it, I’m not certain which brother this is. Nevertheless, there are enough clues that I’m sure he will reveal himself soon enough. A couple of real finds are the birth dates of both of their parents, James Hays and Elizabeth Overton, as well as the brother’s baby girl.
The penmanship has a beautiful flowing style, even if some of the grammar, spelling and punctuation look a bit rough around the edges. Nevertheless, it truly is a treasure, and I’m transcribing it in the same basic layout as it was written. I hope another family member enjoys its contents as much as I have.
Tipton Mo
May the 12 1888
Dear brother I seat myself
to drop you a few lines
to answer your kind &
welcome letter I received
to day and was glad to
hear from you
This leaves us all well
except Annie She has got
the measles
well Jim you wanted to
know Paps age I will send
you Paps and Mothers both
Paps was Borned October the
20. 1826 Mother was Borned
January the 2. 1830
this is according to the
family record
[next page]
I would like to come out
there very well but I dont
like to leave our garden
we have a good garden
and Deel dont want to
come I will let you know
in next letter if I can
come or not if I can got
things shaped up by
the 16 of June I will try
and come
how is house rent there now
& what does wood cost
a cord
talk about your gun I have
one I guess it is not as good
as yours it is very small
now what size is yours
is the woolen mill runing
this spring or not
you want to know what I
know about John Heston
if he is dead or not
[next page]
I suppose not I see him once
and a while the reason I asked
about his wife was because
him & her parted before I
left there and I did not know
he braught her with him
back here
I will send you a funnie
piece to read
tell Bettie Deel has no
pieces to send her but
is much oblige for them
she sent her.
To day is the day
that settles the new
railroad whether it will
come here or not they
think it is certain
to come here
[next page]
our Baby can walk
every where she was
1 year old the 27 of last
month but she has no
teeth yet
Ill at Present
write soon
S P Hays
To J W Hays
1406 Euclide Ave
Springfield
Mo