Mother's advice: get Ellen to hunt you up a factory girl
Author
Recipient
Date Written
Dec. 18, 1864
Member of Series
Eliza Davis Penly was 45 years old when this was written.
The recipient, Joseph Albert Penly, was 23 when it was received.
Eliza Davis Penly died 42 years, 5 months, 18 days after writing this.
It was written 158 years, 11 months, 20 days ago.
It was a Sunday.
Milton
Dec the 18th 1864
Well Alfred we got a letter from you last Friday, I will now answer it. We are all well in the woods but Jim and he is getting better. There don’t seem to be eny news. There is just snow enough here for good sleighing.
Chut is to the front, he has been there for three weeks. He wrote home that he had not seen eny of the boys that he knew. You don’t seem to say eny thing about comeing home this winter. Well I suppose as you can’t get away, but your father says he don’t want you to enlist again for he wants you to come home to see to things. When your time is out he says when there is another draft and he can get a thousand dollars bounty he is ageing to leave. He is all the time a fusing about it . There is no men now a days thot you can put eny confidence in. If he leaves there will be no one to take care of things so you can write to him what you think about it. You write how long you expect to stop at Petersburgh. John drinks so bad that he ain’t nobody. He had 250 paid to him one week before he came home. He spent fifty in one day for drinks in Boston and the rest was stolen from him and most all of his clothes he ain’t of much account eny how.
I think it is scat mean that the poor soldiers have got to fight all winter.
Milton Me.
Dear brother,
So Mother has been writing to you and will just say how to do. I came home yesterday and found them all well & left them all well. In L. I cannot write you any news today for I have not been out of the house as yet. Charles Moody is here, he doesn’t say much. He feels bad about his brother and I have been coaxing him to give me a sleigh ride. I will go over to see Clara this week. Frank, Fred, and Herb is a whole team. I tell you they have some high times. I will go back in two weeks so good by far this time.
I guess Jefferson will keep up the brest works up in the future. Write soon,
Amanda
[Another not from his mother]
There is no girls about here that is fit to feed the hogs, you will have to get Ellen to hunt you up a factory girl. Wm. Greenleaf was here last week and he says he should like to see you very much, so when you get time you write to him and take care of yourself. From your Mother
Scans of Letter
