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James G. Crow letter

 Collection — Folder: S0325
Identifier: S0325

Scope and Contents

The four page letter is a copy of the original which was in the possession of Paul Edward Armstrong, grandson of Mrs. Isabelle Fields Murray. Isabelle’s daughter, Mrs. Mary Murray Armstrong of Lynn, Indiana, donated the copy in 1969. The penmanship is legible. It is addressed to “Dear Mother,” except for the last page which has advice to little Daniel Catt, his seven-year-old nephew.

James wrote to his mother that her other son Robert, whom he saw last week, hurt his eye “when he was picking in a tail race to draw his mining claim.” James thinks it will get better soon, but it “will cost him some forty or fifty dollars to have it cured.” Robert is mining on the Little Humbug, 16 miles from Eureka, California.

James did not mine, but herded cattle and had horses. He gave a description of his daily routine and listed the rising cost of food. James wrote: “think there will [be] some 20,000 head of cattle leave Oregon for California this season.”

“Mary Ann was married last March or April to Dr. Bristow. They live in Lane County some 10 or 12 miles from Eugene City.”

James was a Democrat and wrote: “it is the only party of any stability. The other party is changing all the time.” Regarding slavery, James wrote: “We are going to have an election in October to see whether we will be a state or remain a territory and see whether we will have a slave or free state of it. I shall vote for a slave state sure as I live to get to the poles to vote and we have the slaves in the United States and what is the difference whether they are scattered all over the states or cooped up in a few states. I think we had better scatter them. If I don’t like slaves and my neighbor does, let him have them.”

James wrote a paragraph at the end of page four addressed to Mr. Daniel Webster Catt: “Hope you may make a fine scholar and conduct yourself like [a] gentleman and not fall in one of those bad habits such as playing cards and drinking whiskey. Every dram you go to take, stop before you take it and say this one dram makes my life one day shorter. Liquor sends more men to the poor house and gallows than everything else, and the best way is to touch it not. When your uncle Vince [Vincent] is writing you put in a few words for me or if he don’t write to your Mother or one your aunts, all of you write often and in copious effusions. Yours sincerely, James G. Crow.”

Dates

  • 1857

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Biographical Note

James G. Crow wrote this four page letter to his mother Elizabeth Crow, who was listed in the federal census as a farmer in 1850 at age 53 and again in 1860 at age 64. Elizabeth Crow was born in Kentucky, but the other family members were all born in Indiana. By using information from those two census records, for Petersburg, Pike County, Indiana, the children of Elizabeth were: (1) Mary, born about 1822; (2) Elizabeth, born about 1824, married Ross Catt, had a son named Daniel Webster Catt in 1850; (3) James G., born about 1826, single in 1857; (4) Nancy, born about 1830; (5) Robert, born about 1831; (6) Almira, born about 1833; (7) Vincent M., born about 1835; and (8) Martha J., born about 1840.

James G. Crow went by wagon train with a group from Knox County, Indiana, to Oregon. The letter has “Rogue River, May 29, 57” across the top. Rogue River is in Oregon. James tells his family to write to him at Jacksonville, Oregon Territory. He said that he saw Robert, his brother, last week, and to write to Robert in Eureka, California.

James Crow is listed in the California Voter Registers for 1867 in Sutter, California, and in 1872 and 1874 in Sacramento. He says in his letter that he lives alone. Part of page four is devoted to giving advice to his nephew, Daniel Webster Catt.

Source:

Information Found within Collection and Ancestry.com accessed on 9/5/2013.

Extent

0.01 Cubic Feet (1 folder)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

This collection includes one item.

Custodial History

This collection was received by Rare Books and Manuscripts as a donation from Mary Murray Armstrong on 1969/12/02.

Accruals

No further additions are expected.

Processing Information

Collection processing and finding aid completed by Nikki Stoddard Schofield during September 2013. EAD finding aid completed by Bethany Fiechter on 2018/05/11.
Title
James G. Crow letter
Status
Completed
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Repository

Contact:
140 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 U.S.A.
317-232-3671