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The Letters of John M. Jackson- Letter 3, September 20, 1856

On one of his usual treasure hunts in Maine, our CEO, Will Seippel  stumbled upon a massive collection of letters from a soldier in the Civil War.  These letters will be published in chronological order in The Insider over the coming weeks, months and years, as we follow John Mower Jackson’s personal victories and struggles within the greater national struggle of the Civil War. Click here to read our introduction to this new column that sets the stage with our soldier’s background story.

Today we bring you the third letter in our collection, which was written by Joseph Jackson, John’s father. He and John’s older brother, Alonzo, appeared to write less frequently than the women in the family, possibly because they were so busy with field work.

Lewiston Sept. 20th 1856

Good evening John. It is some raining but I thought i would step in and talk with you a few minutes I suppose you would like to hear about the folks, we are all well as common but Delora and she is gaining fast but the last we heard from you, you was not very will we hope your health is restored I shall probably hear from you tomorrow by way of Hannah if the weather is suitable to go to meeting I am afraid you are out to much evenings for your health you must be very careful for it is very sickly all about

I suppose you would to know how the work gets along well we have pulled & stacked the beans and out the stalks and a job it was for the beans and stalks were all twisted together, well we have worked a part of three days in the stone bridge across the swamp and a muddy swamp it is to we talk some of getting some timber for the carriage house next week if we can get a bunch to home I don’t know if I shall say much more about home this time be steady & attend to your lessons

I will just say your aunt sully is smart & is going to greene tomorrow I suppose Alonzo will come after you next Friday if the weather should it prove favorable

We can tell you the rest when you get home

Yours with respect

From your father

Joseph Jackson

There is a two-month gap between this letter and the last; John probably did keep in touch with his family between then, yet we were unable to locate any other letters that he received within those two months. Yet regardless of the month, it seems that John’s family members are always worrying about his health and insist that illness spreads pretty quickly throughout the area. Even John’s father lectures him about his health and tells him that staying up late on multiple evenings throughout the week will only make him more susceptible to illness. (It appears that John may have been quite the night owl…)

As always, John is updated on his family’s life on the farm. Everyone seems to be pretty well except for Delora, who seems to be coming down with a light illness. Joseph and Alonzo continue to harvest bean stalks, and the job is described to be more difficult than one would expect. Joseph also talks about a stone bridge being built across an awful swamp; the project has been going on for three days. And just as any good parent would advise, he wishes for John to earnestly attend to his studies.

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