May 16, 1841 Letter From West Salem Township, Mercer County, PA
(The
original letter was written in German and is owned by Raymond E.
Hollenbach, and printed in "Pennsylvish Deitsch Eck" in Allentown
Morning Call in 1940.
To all dear Friends:
I will let you
know that we received our letter of April 17 but it was not convenient
to write before today, until my urgent work was done.
Now I will
let all my friends and acquaintances know that we are all still well by
the grace of God, and I will let you know that Horace has been hired
out to Casper Meyer for $35 for 8 months, but today he received Holy
Communion and is lively and well.
Second, Jeremias is 17 miles
away from us with English-speaking people and talks better English than
German, In about 15 months his term of indenture will expire and he is
well as long as God grants him health. Carl is with Peter Beaver at the
"Henne" creek (Neshannock Creek), how long I do not know, and Ephraim
we can hire out, if we so desire, and I think we will. What will
happen to William, I do not know, but I think he is not quite well
mentally, and he has very poor hearing and this affects his
comprehension and reasoning.
I want to inform you of the market
prices - wheat is 50 cents a bushel, rye and corn 25 cents, for
buckwheat there is no price and you cannot give it a way. But work
there is much as I can do all the time with shoe making and carpenter
work - but no money - that is the evil of all evils.
We had a
very cold spring and had frost more than half the mornings all during
May up to now, and nothing can grow - it is so cold and raw. It seems
like it just can't get warm.
And now we would like to know how
things are with my mother-in-law; where she lives and how she has
arranged things for herself, and how she gets along. And we would like
to know where Sauerwine lives and whose William Scheurer bought his lot.
And another thing, butter is 6 cents a pound and eggs are 4 cents a dozen and ham is 5 cents a pound.
We
would also like to know where Carl Scheurer was when he fell and what
he was working. And my wife would also like to know what kind of human
being Paul Scheuer is that he is in the prison.
And you told us that a Mrs. Schneck died, but we don't quite understand if you mean my sister, or someone else.
I
mentioned previously that we were all well, but that is not entirely
correct. My wife, Catharine, has had a cough since New Year - but that
is no real sickness.
I wish that out of our many friends some
one would come to see us. It makes no difference who it is. I have been
thinking that by brother Abraham could come to see us as easily as
anyone , if he wants to. Oh, we wish that someone will get on the way
before fall and how happy we will be to see one of our friends again.
We will welcome them with joy and entertain them as best as we are able
to.
I have in mind to buy a piece of land by spring, if we
remain well and are still living, and build a house on it, even if it
is only 6 or 10 acres. I don't know if I can raise enough money to buy
the land and build a house, but, if I can't, I will just forget it.
Land is not as dear as it has been - it is from 5 to 8 to 10 and 15
dollars an acre. But if we are unable to do it now, we hope we can buy
a farm by another year.
Another thing I would like to know is where Joseph Kohler and John Kohler live.
And
now I must tell you a little about how we fared 2 and 3 and 4 years ago
when we had to pay $1.50 for wheat and $1.00 for rye to sow and also
for corn and buckwheat. Yes, you can see that things were pretty bad
for us, and many an evening I didn't know where the bread for the next
day would come from, but now things are better and we work every day.
We have to buy everything we need for clothes, and most of our food.
This is all I know for this time - so much from your friends.
Catharina Kohler
and
Isaac Kohler
and write us as soon as you can.
Notes on above
Isaac
Kohler was the 12th child in a family of 13 children, son of Jacob
Kohler and his wife Maria Elizabeth Frey. Isaac was born in Whitehall
Township Northampton County (now Lehigh) on Jan. 24, 1796. On March 18,
1821, he married Catharina Scheurer, a dau of Adam Scheurer and his
wife Catharina Elizabeth Hertzog, who lived at what is now Ironton,
Lehigh County.
Besides the 4 boys mentioned in the letter, Isaac and Catharina had another son, James (according to Lehigh County History)
There
is nothing in the letter to indicate to whom it was addressed, but
apparently it was sent to John Jacob Scheurer, brother of Catharina,
who lived near Ironton. John Jacob Scheurer was married to Catharina
Kohler, sister of Isaac. The letter was found among the attic contents
of cousin Margerite Scheurer about 30 years ago. John Jacob Scheurer
was great great grandfather of cousin Marguerite.
(Source: Written by Frank L Booth)
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