Reviews, Notes and Comments. 153
A PIONEER LETTER
The letter here presented was written
by Miss Rachel
R. Lockwood, great aunt of George R.
Lockwood, Edi-
tor of the National
Republic, published in Washington,
D. C. She emigrated from Sussex County,
Delaware,
to Preble County, Ohio. In 1845 she
moved with other
members of the family to Miami County,
Indiana, where
she became the wife of Jonathan
Potterfield. Dr.
Dingle, to whom the letter was
addressed, was a mem-
ber of the State Senate of Delaware.
The letter was
written "from New Paris, Ohio, on
the Cumberland
Road." The envelope indicates the
point from which
it was written and the cost of postage,
twenty-five cents.
The letter is a good description of
Pioneer Life in Ohio
and is worthy of reproduction here in
full.
FEBRUARY 24, 1834.
Respected Uncle:
I embrace the opportunity of writing to
let you know that I
am well, and also the rest of the
family, and I hope when
this intelligence shall reach you that
you will enjoy good health.
This is the first time that I have
availed myself of the privilege
of writing you, but the long silence
that has prevailed between
us I hope will be considered a
sufficient excuse. It is probable
that you wish to know where we are and
how we are doing. We
live in the same neighborhood in a house
of our own. The site
is a handsome one; it lies in sight of a
new town that is located
on the Cumberland Road within three
miles of Paris (New
Paris). Mother has bought two acres of
land for forty-five
dollars and the present prospect [is]
her situation in old age will
not be as uncomfortable as some
anticipated, for she now has
a home of her own that she can dispose
of at her own option
and no person, were they disposed to,
can turn her out of doors.
Mother is well satisfied now. I do wish
you could come and see
for yourself our circumstances and
things as they really are, for
unless you do it it is impossible to
believe the advantages which
this country does possess. The limit of
my paper is too con-
tracted and the power of my pen is too
weak to convey any