Back in the Saddle

Hudson and Joy Letters from October 1856

I'm back to work on this book, although it feels more like play. It's something I absolutely need to be doing, not only because of my interests and other factors, but because of my Inherent temperament. I said that after the new year I would begin to split my time between my online animal store and my writing. So today I began. 

Somewhere in this pile of letters, a portion of the folder for October 1856, is a letter from Jerome Hudson in Vermont to his brother Nathaniel in Iowa. It's partially transcribed, since I "transcribed the meat" out of many of the letters a number of years ago. But beyond the meat is a lot of interesting information and much of the joy in reading letters. Jerome is studying survey in Townshend and wants to tell his brother about the new surveying instrument purchase by the school. His skills as a surveyor will guarantee him work when he goes west, where land sales and trades are blooming, and people from the East are coming in record numbers to stake their claims.

I feel as though I have a dozen books in me right now, and this one is of primary importance to me to finish this year.


1 comment:

Lowell said...

Can't believe you have so many old letters. At the end of here life, my mother (with a touch of Alzheimers, I think), went through her files and threw out all kinds of letters from us kids and from friends and editors along with much of her writing.

How's the writing going?