Letter from Preston Roberts, 1854, to sister in Ohio

ROBERTS, MOORE, FARNSWORTH, WALKER

Posted By: Vanette Hobbs Hamilton (email)
Date: 12/12/2005 at 12:48:23

Back of letter is addressed:
Martha Lukins
Georgesville Post off
Franking Co
Ohio
There is also a date of January 9 1855 on it.

From Preston Roberts to sister Martha upon death of her husband, James Lukens.
Elizajane is a daughter of Jesse Fenton. No relationship proven between the Fentons and Roberts but they migrated together from PA to OH. Margaret Farnsworth is Preston's sister. Samuel is his brother; Samuel's daughter Margaret married Isaac Walker. John Moore married Preston's sister Nancy.

August 13th 1854 Pee Dee Cedar Co Iowa

Dear sister

with a brothers Love and sympathy for your loss I now set down to address you in a few lines that we are all enjoying good health at present & I hope these msg find you enjoing the same blessing, we received Elizajanes letter stated that you had lost your nearest friend Martha it is hard to loose friends but we must all die some time his death was very sudden and shocking much harder then tho he had laid sick some time before
I hope he has gone to a better world I would like to see you all very much you must excuse me for not writing sooner I have no excuse to make just neglected not that I have for gotten you or respected you enough by no means I have thought of you all thousands of times we heard from you frequently that you where getting along very well Eliza writes that her father is coming to see Iowa in the fall I hope he will come it is the best move ever I could of made we have a good farm a peace wich we could not of owned in Ohio, if Jesse comes I think he will see as good a farming country heare as ever he seen we have raised three crops heare as good as any body would wish to see I wouldent go back to Ohio, to live under any conditions all though we havent much fruit yet nor good buildings but our land is rich and nice to work more like a garden then any thing else
there is nothing I would like to see more than to see you all heare a doing well where we could see each other every week land has raised since we come heare tremangeously farms that we could of bought when we first come heare for six Doll acre, is selling from twenty to twenty five Doll timber is worth from 20 to 30 Dollars per acre parie noncultivated is worth from 4 to 10 Doll owing to where it lais Samuel lives with me he has 16 acres of corn in for me it is first rate it would do you good to see it clean as a garden he had 26 acres of wheat on his sononlaws place wich is first rate he is well satisfied he oftens talkes about you he has often wished James ang Jesse would come out heare he sais he nows they would like it he thinks it would keep Jesse Fenton buisy if he kept the parie chickings out of the wheat fields there is lots of game heare Samuel is not at home now he went up to rockiland a few Days ago took his team is going to stay a while to hall Margret Farnsworth and all her children live there they are doing first rate John King her son inlaw died with the clera about three weeks ago Samuels daughter Margret Walker has got a young son she has got afirst rate man is a carpenter he gets one Doll an half a day he has 165 acres of land has 40 (110?) acres broke and fenced has a good frame house on it he will be well fixed after while John Moores family are all well they have young men and woman they are farming strong
we will have a railroad with in seven miles of us it will be finished this winter or in the srping it runs from rockiland to Iowa city and on to the Council Bluffs it is quite healthy heare no sickness worth mention we received a letter from Maria the same day we got yours it was wrote about the same time She stated they where all well and doing well no more at present write soon as you receve this tell Jesse Fenton to write and tell us he is comming to Iowa give my respects to Jesse and family

our best respects to you and family

PART OF PAPER MISSING (your affectionate?) Brother Preston Roberts

Original transcribed by and in possession of Vanette Hamilton.