Thomas Blanchard February 20, 1888 letter to James Low III

February 20, 1888 letter from Thomas Blanchard

of Oshkosh, Wisconsin 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.

In addition to his other financial interests, James⁸ also bought and sold land. Like James⁸, there were many, many people in New England who had received or inherited land grants in Pike County. Many of these individuals were not interested in relocating their families to the Midwest and chose to stay in the East. James⁸ and a business partner, Thomas Blanchard, would offer to purchase the rights to such unclaimed land grants and would then immediately sell the land at a profit. James⁸ and Thomas Blanchard were constantly shifting funds back and forth to each other to take advantage of such opportunities.

Thomas Blanchard, who was born in England, would also loan money to Pike County residents to purchase land. James⁸ would often act as the agent for Mr. Blanchard, who lived in Wisconsin. The two of them corresponded for many years. A few of Thomas Blanchard’s letters were found among James⁸' papers:

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

Postmarked Feb 20 2:30 pm 1888 Oshkosh, WI 2 cent George Washington stamp

Feb 20^th 1888

Oshkosh, Wis

Frend Low

i will try and answer your letter i have kept puting it of i was glad to heare frojm you and that you are well as i am at present but there is lots of sicknes and deaths hear this last year we have had a prety cold winter here it has been 40 deg below zero some times this winter but it rained yesterday but it is snowing to day we have more snow this winter than we have had for a long time there as ben lots of people froz to death in decota and in the north this winter i sopose you have had a cold winter in regards the times these is not much to sel on a farm this year here occept stock some of the farmers depends on their cows and chicken and seling som of their stock, pork is

-PAGE 2-

$6.25 per hundred lbs beef $4.50 per hundred lbs all drest butter 20¢ per lb eggs 24¢ per doz potatos 75¢ pr bu wheat 75¢ per bu oats 32¢ per bu corn 50¢ per bu hay $14.00 per ton tame wild $10.00 per ton i think manufacturing busness is prety good there is a good mainy factures in this part of the country Last spring we had a boom in the iron mining busness but it is dul now Som b maid lots of mony and som lost by it Wel Mr Low i got the mony all right i did not send the notes untill abought the last of December i think i sentthem just befor i got your second letter. i have got a few hundred dolars to gether in the bank now that i could spare if i got a good chance to put it in real estate, i sopose you don’t know of any good chances do you

-PAGE 3-

well mr Low i think i shall try and get to see you all next sumer if i can i thought of coming in the spring but one of my neices talks of coming from england to me in the spring and if she does i will not get in the spring but i shall try and come some time this next sumer. well mr Low i hope these few lines will find you all well hoping to hear from you soon

from your friend