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October 21, 1885 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

October 21^st, 1885

Oshkosh, Wis

James Low

Dear Sir

i now seat my self to rite you i arived home all right. i found them all well and we are all well at present, and i hope these few lines will find you all well my brother brother had come from oregon to wisconsen he had been here ever since the 23^rd of July and i did not know untill the first week in September they expected me home every day or they would of sent me word sooner i started home the 8 of September

well mr Low they are busy husking corn now, thrashing about don, wheat was not very heavy crop heare this year, wheat went from 8, to 17, bushels to the acre, oats prity fair crop hay prity good, corn not very good

the first planting did not come up very good, and they had to plant it over again, and it did not mak a very good crop a good deal of soft corn, potatos are roting prity bad heare this year we have had nice weather here since i have been home Not more than two or three rainy days untill last Monday, last Monday it commenced to rain in the morning and rained all day, and Tuesday morning it snowed but cleared of about noon it is quite a front this morning but fine and the sun shining

well mr Low in regard to the mony i was to let you have i will let you have twelve hundred dolars, 1200, at seven percent per anum, one half for five years, and the other half for six years, for the first mortgag on the forty, that is wat we talked of doin wen i was there

and the intrest to bee paid at the first national bank of pittsfield i will have the mony ready for you by the first of December i think that is wat we a gred to wen i saw you i think that is wright well mr Low i will rite to you a gain when i send the mony betwen the 20 and the 30 of November so you will look out for it

i will send it to mr James manton and he will let you know when he gets it, so that you can have it by the first of December

well mr Low i think that is all i can think of this time rite as soon as you get my letter and let me know if you are satisfied with wat i have promised to do in this letter

i will look for a letter by return of mail.

i will close my letter with my kind regards to all

from thomas Blanchard to James Low, Sr

this is my adres

thomas Blanchard

Oshkosh, Wis

81 fredrick st