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May 5, 1862 letter from John Miller

of Petersburg, Menard County, Illinois,

to James⁸ Low III

of Newburg Township, Pike County, Illinois.

The letter was found in the trunk of James⁸ Low III and transcribed Dec 1997 by his great-great grandson, Bingham James Forrest¹² Lowe of Phoenix, Arizona.

John Miller had worked for James⁸ in the late 1850's and early 1860's. He left Pittsfield in late 1860 or 1861, but returned to Pittsfield in the 1880's when he became one of James8' tenants and employees. He wrote the following letter to James⁸:

Genealogical position of James⁸ Low III:

10th generation: Frank, Forrest, Lenna, Arthur, Edward, Paul, Leland, Charles Doss, Pearl, Henry, James, George

Bingham James⁹ Low(e)   Aug 27, 1853 - Feb 10, 1923           (wife: Mary D. Culver)                    of Pittsfield, IL

James⁸ Low III                  Apr 27-1816 - Sep 2, 1889               (wife: Margaret Huston Montgomery) of Clinton & Brighton, ME / Pittsfield, IL

James⁷ Low Jr                   1796 - Mar 20, 1824                        (wife: Mary Wyman)                       of Clinton, ME (fought in War of 1812)

James⁶ Low Sr                   Jul 17, 1770 - bef 1830                    (wife: Elizabeth "Betsy" Chase)      of Boxford, MA / Clinton, ME

Nathan⁵ Low                     Oct 1, 1742 - Jul 24, 1804                (wife: Lucy Lord)                            of Ipswich, MA / Boxford, MA

Caleb⁴ Low                        1707 - Jul 17, 1777                          (wife: Abigail Varney)                     of Ipswich, MA

David³ Low                       Aug 14, 1667 - Jun 2, 1746              (wife: Mary Lamb)                          of Ipswich, MA

Thomas² Low                    May 8, 1631 - Apr 12, 1712             (wife: Martha Boreman)    of Groton & Boxford, Suffolk, England / Ipswich, MA

Thomas¹ Low                    1605 - Sep 8, 1677                           (wife: Margaret Todd)       of Groton & Boxford, Suffolk, England / Ipswich, MA

Giles⁰ Low                        unknown (Wife: Syseley Wall, marr 3/5/1601/02)     of Brancepeth, Durham, England; Groton & Boxford, Suffolk, England

Petersburg Menard County, Illinois

May the 5^th 1862

Dear friend I will let you know that I received all the letters you sent me and the money too I was glad to hear from you and the meeting you had I was surprised to hear that so many had joint the Church We have not much pretching a going on here we have not bin to meeting cince we left Pittsfield We had a cold wet spring here I will let you know that Francis Montgomery was wounded at the Pittsburg battle Thay took him to St. Louis in the Huspittle his brother Jacob went down to St. Louis and broat him home he was shot butween the ancle and knee and another wund on his side The doctor thinks he will be discharge He is now in Elkard William and John and Maryan had went to get him Bill has lost his mare She died on the road a coming home so he had bad luck You can tell ? (Fiecer?) that I don’t owe him much if enything I will tell you what we got Maryan has got 3 dollars and 30 cents out of the store and she charchis him 3 dollars for making that guild and then we got 10 pound of butter of him for 8 cents a pound and I helpt him 2 days a gethering corn the year before last and I plowed in wheet for him last fall a ½ day so I don’t think I am a owing him much

-2^nd page -

He never has paid me enything els for that work the whet looks pretty well here I am a grubing at 4 dollars a acer and for to get 2 crops of it the men does fence it and brake it for me and find me a teem to tend it with After that he will rent it to me and let me have a teem to ceep by me all the time I can stay on his place as long as I want to and let me have 2 acer of ground for a gardin without paing eny rent The boys has helpt me to build a hous on this place where I am a grubing He pais me a dollar a hundred for evry rail I make to go a round my garden I can have all the wood I grub out I don’t know much more to rite Bill and John is a putting in 40 acers of corn They are all well Catherin would like to go back to Pike again She don’t like it here We are all well We send our love and best respecs to you all We have not forgat that visit you promised us Write as soon as you can so no more at this time

From John Miller to James Low

© 1999 by Bingham James Forrest Lowe [g.g.grandson of James Low(e)]

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November 17^th, 2010 marks the 374th anniversary of the Low(e) Family in America.