Autograph Letter Signed Describing Oregon, Illinois, and the farm life there
- SIGNED
- Oregon, IL , 1846
Oregon, IL, 1846. Very Good-. Oregon, IL: May 16th, 1846. Autograph letter signed by M.B. Light and dated Oregon City [Illinois], May 16, 1846, addressed to Alonzo Waterman of Smithboro, Tioga County, New York. Bifolium (26x20cm) filled to completion on three panels, the rear panel with postal information and rubber-stamp as well as a short postscript. Brief splitting to previous mail folds, moderate soil from handling, else a Very Good example.
Chatty missive from a twenty-something M.B. Light, written two years after he left Smithboro to work on a farm in Oregon, Illinois. The meat of the letter describes the wildlife of the surrounding area and the difficulties that come with farming. A lengthy paragraph lists the fish of Rock River-- sturgeon, catfish, pike, sheepshead, eels; as well as the game--rabbits, prairie hens, pheasants, and quails "without number."
On farming Light writes, "Our wheat is much injured being winter killed The farmers raise forty bushels to the acre frequently corn is easily raised but brings no price only eighteen cents per bushel Oats the same Wheat is fifty cents per bushel Beef two cents per pound Pork in the fall three or four sometimes only two so you see although it is easy to raise grain here it is harder to get a price for it." Light concludes his letter describing his homesickness for Smithboro, hoping to return there soon for good.
Chatty missive from a twenty-something M.B. Light, written two years after he left Smithboro to work on a farm in Oregon, Illinois. The meat of the letter describes the wildlife of the surrounding area and the difficulties that come with farming. A lengthy paragraph lists the fish of Rock River-- sturgeon, catfish, pike, sheepshead, eels; as well as the game--rabbits, prairie hens, pheasants, and quails "without number."
On farming Light writes, "Our wheat is much injured being winter killed The farmers raise forty bushels to the acre frequently corn is easily raised but brings no price only eighteen cents per bushel Oats the same Wheat is fifty cents per bushel Beef two cents per pound Pork in the fall three or four sometimes only two so you see although it is easy to raise grain here it is harder to get a price for it." Light concludes his letter describing his homesickness for Smithboro, hoping to return there soon for good.