John Wesley Fegtly 1822-1861

FEGTLY, TATE, VOEGTLY

Posted By: Fred Rucker (email)
Date: 5/11/2006 at 16:35:38

Letter from Martha Kuhn Fegtly, wife of the deceased, to her sister-in-law, Margaret, sister of the deceased, shortly after John Wesley Fegtly's death.

Utica Vanburen Co Iowa Dec 7th 1861

Dear sister Margaret

By this time I expect you have seen the letter that I wrote to my sister Catherine last Sunday after the death of our dear John W. These are trying times for me and I can hardly seem to write, the tears blind me but I will do as well as I can.. The children are as well as usual and all go to school except Matthias Newton. I will have a lonesome time. Samuel is here and will stay till some time next week when he will go back to Mt. Pleasant. He is well, my health is not as good as it used to be. I have a severe pain in my head all the time, we have hard times here, the War has stopped the market here and we cannot sell anything but hogs, and the price of them is so low that we do not know what to do. There is only two dollars and a quarter, a hundred offered now for fat pork. If it does not rise I do not know how we will get along and pay for our little debts.

Now I expect you would like to know the particulars about your brother. Well it has been nearly one year that he was quite unwell. He commenced with a bad cough and it got worse and worse and about the last of February there was a severe diareah set in that made him very weak. When I think how he was reduced by the diareah I wonder how he stood it so long, but still I was not ready to let him go. Oh how it is hard to part with our children, but to part with a companion is much harder. There is nothing to comfort me but the hope of meeting him in a better world than this. I have wondered from my description of his sickness and will try to go back. He kept getting weaker gradually some times better and worse until the first of July. He had a bad spell worse than he had before, but some times would be a little better but not much. He never thought that he would get well and for a long time would say in the evening that he did not think that he would live till morning. But still he lingered getting weaker and weaker until he could no longer sit up, Then his appetite failed altogether, and there was nothing that we could get or fix that he could eat. He failed so fast then in a few days he could not move himself anymore than a quite young child (he was the poorest person I ever saw). There has been more than two months that I was up every hour with him, and we sat up with him two weeks, for a long time he was anxious to go to a better world where the inhabitants never say they are sick, and when the messenger came he was as ready Sunday the first of Dec, at twelve o'clock we saw a change in him. He had a very bad spell but recovered a little for an hour. Then he wanted us to turn him over on his side, as soon as was turned he got worse again and ten minutes before four o'clock he left us to join with those that had gone before. Almost the last word he spoke was happy happy happy. He called all the children, one at a time, shook hands and bid them good by, pray for us that we may have grace for our day and trial. It is late and I must quit so good by write soon your truly

Martha Fegtly

Margaret Tate

NB Mr. Mathias Voegtly of Alligheny offers to take little Mathias Jr back with him but do not know how I can let him go. Tell me what you would do & ask mother what she would do if she was in my place. His pa told me that I had better let him go but I do not know how I can give him up.