back to the Low(e) main page

February 11, 1889 letter from Martha A. (Kelley) Hall

of Mayfield, Somerset County, Maine,

to James⁸ Low III

of Newburg, Pike County, Illinois.

 Letter from Martha A. (Kelley) Hall to James⁸ Low III of Pittsfield, IL. The letterhead is embossed with the word “WINONA”. The letter was found in the trunk of James Low⁸ III and transcribed Dec 1997 by his great-great-grandson, Bingham James Forrest Lowe of Phoenix, Arizona. Despite the salutation ‘My Dear Cousin,’ I do not believe that Martha was related to the family in any way. I believe that her brother, Hiram, and perhaps her parents were friends of the Low’s and/or Jellersons and that ‘Cousin’ is being used in an honorary manner. Martha’s maiden name was ‘Kelley’, she was born Feb 8, 1839 and died March 26, 1900. Her husband was Virgil Paris Hall (July 7, 1838 - Dec 29, 1915). Martha’s brother, Hiram was about the same age as our James⁸. Hiram was born March 25, 1817 in Fairfield, Somerset County, Maine and died Oct 6, 1897 in Brighton, Maine - James^8' s hometown. The towns of Mayfield, Brighton, Clinton (James⁸'s birthplace), Fairfield, Bingham and Winslow are all very near each other. The only other individual mentioned by name in the letter, Peter Walker, was married to Martha’s sister, Nancy. Peter Walker was born Nov 24, 1816 and died in Brighton on July 15, 1877. Her children, whom she did not name, were Henry P. Hall (died April 25, 1883), Nancy Ellen Hall, Rodney D. Hall, Virginia M. Hall, Maria Chamberlain Hall, and Edward K. Hall.

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

Mayfield Feb the 11, 1889

My Dear Cousin

It has been a long time since I have heard from you and I do want so very much to here from you all that I thought I would write a few lines to you My health has been rather poor for the past year My children and I are alone this winter My Husband has gone into the woods to scale lumber he is not far from Moos head lake I have five children living

-page 2-

I have lost my oldest son He died five years ago last spring with the diabetes was sick about eight month It was a great loss to me He was ten years and five months old when he died He was a very good boy but I trust he is far better off then eny one in this life my oldest girl will be 15 years old next June She is as tall as I am the next is a boy he is 13 next July they are good children do all of the work at the barn then I have one more boy and two girls one 10 and the other 8 and the little boy five.

-page 3-

We are having a quite a pleasent winter not so much snow as common We had a very wet sumer and then we had a very early frost that killed about evry thing We lost all of our corn and beans my Husband has raised hops (?) for a number for a number of years but this year they were hurt by the frost a good deal We have not sold them yet it has been hard times for us for the past few years stock has been low but still harder for us this year having the crops cut off so But ther is always some

-page 4-

way provided for us if we only trust in him who givith liberly to all Well cousin how are you geting along I often think of you I want to here from you all Peter Walker died last May My brother Hiram is living his health is good My youngest brother live at Shirley has four children living lost three His oldest son is at home this winter They are hualing white birch for a co. My brother has 45 per month and his son 40 a month well I must close Hoping to here from you soon Give my love to all Write soon and tell me about you folks I would like to see you very much rember me in your prayers So good by from your cousin Martha A. Hall

   back to the Low(e) main page

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

Email: Bingham J F Lowe @ Lowe Family Descendants.com

        (copy address and remove the spaces to send an email)

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