Creator
D[avid] G[ilrye] Muir
Recipient
John Muir
Transcription
00589
[4]
Annie is teaching in Caledonia - is con- -sidered a good teacher - I heard from Mary in Madison this week - she sticks to the University good she ought to be accomplished Jno Reid is doing a large business in cattle Hogs beef, Pork wool H[illegible] pelts Furs &c &c & making money he will be well off some day Portage is going to be a big place some time we are going to have seven RRs & a ship canal No doubt it will be a great RR center with shops &c Our Carrie 7 yrs old reads in the fourth reader studies arithmetic & Geogra- phy &c Annie is four yrs old reads in 2d reader & Willia 3 yrs is a bright boy & will be one of the big guns some day My family all send their love to Uncle John D G Muir
[1]
Portage City Wis April 25/72
Dear Brother John
I feel ashamed to think I have neglected writing you so long. I have intended to write for months but you know how we are apt to put off We are all well & happy. Business is improve -ing & becoming more profit -able. Father & mother are now living here in P working hard improving the place where Jno Reid used to live & own Painting, papering making an addition gardening &c &c Father looks as tired as though he was farming Father told me he had recd a letter from you & seemed very much pleased over it. Joanna promised to let me see
585
[2]
it but has not yet done it. All Father told me of it was that you said the Devil was not so rampant in the mts as in the Burr Oak Openings So I understand you experienced some earthquake. I have not learned the particulars yet I should think you would have been scared out of the valley I have not made out to get any of the N Y Tribune with your glacier articles in yet Neither has Sarah although we have been trying through our News dealer I am going to send direct to the office in N Y Dan is doing pretty well in Medicine in Racine according to his letters He seems to be wonderfully tick- -led over his wife. he brags a good deal about her & keeps her in
[3]
the office with him making pills &c he wont let her keep house so they board & have nothing to do but love each other. Why don't you embark - don't you envy Dan? Joanna has a beau - a Baptist minister Father is pleased with the man but the rest of the family don't seem to go into ecstasy over him worth a cent Joanna seems to think a good deal of him but cant decide although he presses for an answer he has a farm Near Oxford & preaches. is well spoken of & thought of. I guess he is a good fellow but not every good looking nor very smart except in scripture - & is very carless & shabby in dress - very poor I tell you it is hard for a girl at her age to refuse the first offer if it is any thing decent
Portage City, Wis.,
Apr. 25, '72.
Dear Brother John:
I feel ashamed to think I have neglected writing you so long. I have intended to write for months, but you know how we are apt to put off. We are all well and happy. Business is improving and becoming more profitable. Father and Mother are now living here in P[ortage], working hard improving the place where John Reid used to live and own - painting, papering, making an addition, gardening, etc., etc. Father looks as tired as though he were farming. Father told me he had received a letter from you and seemed very much pleased over it. Joanna promised to let me see it, but has not yet done it. All Father told me of it was that you said the Devil was not so rampant in the mountains as in the Burr Oak openings. So I understand you experienced some earthquake. I have not learned the particulars yet. I should think you would have been scared out of the Valley.
I have not made out to get any of the N. Y. Tribunes with your glacier articles in yet - neither has Sarah, although we have been trying through our newsdealer. I am going to send direct to the office in N.Y.
Dan is doing pretty well in medicine in Racine, according to his letters. He seems to be wonderfully tickled over his wife. He brags a good deal about her and keeps her in the office with him making pills, etc. He won’t let her keep house, so they board and have nothing to do but love each other. Why don't you embark -- don't you envy Dan?
Joanna has a beau - a Baptist minister. Father is pleased with the man, but the rest of the family don't go into ecstasy over him worth a cent. Joanna seems to think a good deal of him, but can't decide, although he presses for an answer. He has a farm near Oxford and preaches. Is well spoken of and thought of. I guess he is a good fellow, but not very good-looking nor very smart, except in Scripture, and is very careless and shabby in dress - very poor. I tell you it is hard for a girl at her age to refuse the first offer if it is anything decent. Annie is teaching in Caledonia - is considered a good teacher, I heard from Mary in Madison this week. She sticks to the University good. She ought to be accomplished. John Reid is doing a large business in cattle, hogs, beef, pork, wool, pelts, furs, etc., etc., and making money. He will be well off some day.
Portage is going to be a big place sometime. We are going to have seven R.R.s and a ship canal. No doubt it will be a great R.R. center with shops etc. Our Carrie, 7 years old, reads in the fourth reader, studies arithmetic, geography, etc. Annie is four years old, reads in second reader, and Willie 3 years, is a bright boy and will be one of the big guns some day.
My family all send their love to Uncle John.
D[avid] G. Muir.
Location
Portage City, Wis
Date Original
1872 Apr 25
Source
Original letter dimensions: 20.5 x 25.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Muir, David Gilrye, "Letter from D[avid] G[ilrye] Muir to John Muir, 1872 Apr 25." (1872). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1450.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1450
Resource Identifier
muir02_0799-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 02, Image 0799
Collection Identifier
Online finding aid for the microform version of the John Muir Correspondence http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0w1031nc
Copyright Status
Copyright status unknown
Copyright Statement
Some letters written to John Muir may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Owning Institution
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Pages
3 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
