min Franklin,[1], born Jan. 3, 1851; died 1932. Charles Stevens died Jan. 2, 1900.[2]
There are seventy-four letters in the collection, nearly all written by Charles Stevens himself, but a few by Frances Warren. Almost every letter is of interest for his descriptions of the country and of the economic conditions, as well as for his comments on events.
Twelve miles east of Oskaloosa, Iowa. 2d. May,/52
Brother Levi
It is the sabbath, and we have camped for the day. The morning was verry windy, and rainy, and verry cold, but it has now cleared up, and is much warmer ... The day that we left Princeton,[3] there was a good many people at the house to see us start, and to help us start, and they felt so bad, that they could not help showing it, by putting small things into their pockets, to remember us by ...
We left Princeton about 3 o'clock P.M. as near as we can make out now and the worst road that we have had in all our journey, was within five miles of Princeton . . . After leaving Muscatine, we went to Fredonia, at the junction of the Iowa & Cedar rivers, then to Columbus City, thence to Washington, thence Lancaster, and our next place will be Oskaloosa, or (Oskaoosa) as it is on a guide-board here. We have passed through some beautiful country, and some that is verry poor, though as a general thing, it is better watered, and better timbered than Illinois. The prairia in this part of the State is very rolling and thinly settled. It is a most impossible to get any thing for our teams. Corn is worth 50 cts. Oats 25 or 30. Oats in the sheaf 15[?] cts pr doz. and hay is out of the question. We brot hay with us to this place, from about 12 miles back,
- ↑ Oregonian, July 14, 1932. There seem to be different dates given for his birth, but in the letter dated January 3, 1853, his father says: “Bub is two years old today.”
- ↑ Oregonian, January 3, 1900.
- ↑ A town in Bureau County, Illinois. The immigration of 1852 included a rather large party from this place, several of whom were identified with the beginnings and growth of Seattle. Among them were Daniel Bagley and his son, Clarence B. Bagley, Dexter Horton, Thomas Mercer, William H. Shoudy, John Pike and Aaron Mercer, and their families; Bagley, History of Seattle, II, 711.
