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Letter 1 Original Reverse
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Letter 1 Enhanced Reverse
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Letter Number 2--From the Billie P Collection--William O Fisk Letter--22 August 1864 (Date Provided in Letter)
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Letter Number 3--From the Billie P Collection--C. F. Cuther Letter--20 October 1864 (Date Provided in Letter)
Letter 3 Original Front
Letter 3 Original Reverse
Letter 3 Enhanced Front
Letter 3 Enhanced Reverse
Letter Number 4--From the Mary/Sue Collection--W. Mabeam Letter--About 1865 (Date Inferred form Context)
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LETTER TO ROBERT BOND JR. (1819-1894) FROM W
MABEAM
From the Mary/Sue Collection
Transcribed
by William B. Bond—November, 2013
PAGE 1:
North West Wms Co1 Ohio
Lyndon Station, Wes2
Frend3 Bond I am a
geting4 tired of wating5 fore6
an answer from that letter
that I roat7 at lousvill8
you old buger9 if that is
you old buger9 if that is
the way that you are a going
to serve me you shant10
sleep in my wagon any
more i11 will get a woman to
sleep with are12 a wench that
what the mater13 and you can
sleep on the ground as you
once had to dou14. Well joaks15
are free sense16 the ware17 is
over. darn the old wagon
i11 hope it is in some good
So that i11 shant10 never see
it again that what the mater13
PAGE 2:
Well Mr Bond I have injoyed18
my self19 very well sensen16 i11
got home fool20 as well as i11
did expect and that is doing
very well i11 think and i11 hope
that you have had the same
blessing prvale21 over youre22
one23 head, fare6 i11 no24
that you
have sean25 truble26 anough27
for the last three years
Well the last time that i11
saw Jo28 KellaboughA he was
Standing on camp gard29 and
I11 went up to him and sayed30
well Jo28 & A how dose31 it go and
he sayed30 daned32 hot and
i11 told him I11 thot33 i11
was to
start home the next day
and i11 told him that i11 hoped
that he would hafto34 stay in
the servis35 as long as ?? ????
he lived and he damed32 me
and sayed30 that he hoped that
i11 would dye36 be fore37
i11 got home
PAGE 3:
I have not ?????38 from
DacusB sense16 ye parted i11 don’t
no whare39 he is. I had a leter40
from LevakeC a fue41 dayes42 a go43
he was well and he sent me
his picture. when you rite44
i11 want you to tell me whare39
Charls BrigsD is and BakerE and
DilleyF and tell them to ??
write to me and give them
my best respects and a good
share of it to Bond
So i11 must close fore6 this
time pleas45 na answer this
as soon as posibal46 fore6 i11
want to here47 from you bad
youres48 respectfuly49
From your friend
W MabeamG
Two50 R.
Bond
Direct Spring Lake
Williams Co
Ohio
NOTES:
1. Williams County
2. Wisconsin
3. friend
4. getting
5. waiting
6. for
7. wrote
8. Louisville
9. bugger
10. shan’t
11. I
12. or
13. matter
14. do
15. jokes
16. since
17. war
18. enjoyed
19. myself
20. feel
21. prevail
22. your
23. own
24. know
25. seen
26. trouble
27. enough
28. Joe
29. guard
30. said
31. does
32. damned
33. thought
34. have to
35. service
36. die
37. before
38. heard?
39. where
40. letter
41. few
42. days
43. ago
44.
write
45. please
46. possible
47. hear
48. yours
49. respectfully
50. to
LIST OF FAMILY MEMBERS MENTIONED:
There
are no family members mentioned in this letter.
LIST OF OTHER INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED:
A. “Jo Kellabough” (probably Joe Kellabaugh).
Probably an Army buddy of Robert and W. Mabean when they were away from home fighting
the Civil War. I was not able to determine with certainty the identity of “Jo
Kellabough” when searching Civil War rosters.
B. “Dacus”. Probably
an Army buddy of Robert and W. Mabean when they were away from home fighting
the Civil War. I was not able to determine with certainty the identity of
“Dacus” when searching Civil War rosters.
Dacus may be a nickname.
C. “Levake” Probably John
M Levake--an Army buddy of Robert and W. Mabean when they were away from home
fighting the Civil War. There is a record of a “John M Levake” (from Wyoming) who
was part of the Wisconsin 12th Volunteer Infantry Company “C”
(Robert was in Company “E”) See page 712 of: http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/tp/id/35798
D. “Charls Brigs”
Probably Charles S. Briggs--an Army buddy of Robert and W. Mabean when they
were away from home fighting the Civil War. There is a record of a Charles S.
Briggs who was part of the Wisconsin 12th Volunteer Infantry Company
“E”—the same as Robert. See page 718 of the above website.
E. “Baker” Probably
an Army buddy of Robert and W. Mabean when they were away from home fighting
the Civil War. I was not able to determine with certainty the identity of
“Baker” when searching Civil War rosters.
F. “Dilley” Probably
an Army buddy of Robert and W. Mabean when they were away from home fighting
the Civil War. I was not able to determine with certainty the identity of
“Dilley” when searching Civil War rosters. “Dilley” was most likely a nickname.
G. “W. Mabeam” The
author of this letter. Probably an Army buddy of Robert when he was away from
home fighting the Civil War. I was not able to determine with certainty the
identity of “W. Mabeam” when searching Civil War rosters.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
NOTE
1: Reading this letter is a challenge due to the unusual spelling and
grammar. In some cases I had to take a “best guess” as to what was written.
If
anyone who examines a scan of the original letter can better make out what the
words are or can see anywhere that there is an error in the transcription, I
would welcome their input.
The
following is my attempt at a transcription of the entire letter with spelling
and grammar corrected:
PAGE
1:
North West
Williams County, Ohio
Lyndon Station,
Wisconsin
Friend Bond. I am
a
getting tired of
waiting for
an answer from
that letter
that I wrote at
Louisville.
You old bugger. If that is
You old bugger. If that is
the way that you
are a going
to serve me you
shan’t
sleep in my wagon
any
more. I will
get a woman to
sleep with or a
wench that
what the matter.
And you can
sleep on the
ground as you
once had to do.
Well jokes
are free since
the war is
over. Darn the
old wagon.
I hope it is in
some good,
so that I shan’t
never see
it again that
what the matter.
PAGE
2:
Well Mr. Bond, I
have enjoyed
myself very
well since I
got home. Feel as
well as I
did expect and
that is doing
very well. I
think and I hope
that you have had
the same
blessing prevail
over your
own head, for I
know that you
have seen trouble
enough
for the last
three years.
Well the last
time that I
saw Joe
Kellabough, he was
standing on camp
guard and
I went up to him
and said,
“Well Joe, how
does it go?” And
he said, “Damned
hot.” And
I told him I
thought I was to
start home the
next day.
And I told him
that I hoped
that he would
have to stay in
the service as
long as
he lived. And he
damned me
and said that he
hoped that
I
would die before
I got
home
PAGE
3:
I have not
(heard) from
Dacus since ye
parted. I don’t
know where he is.
I had a letter
from Levake a few
days ago.
He was well and
he sent me
his picture. When
you write
I want you to
tell me where
Charles Briggs is
and Baker and
Dilley and
tell them to
write to me and
give them
my best respects
and a good
share of it to
Bond.
So I must close
for this
time. Please
answer this
as soon as
possible, for I
want to hear from
you bad.
Yours
respectfully,
from your friend.
W Mabeam
To R. Bond
Direct
Spring Lake
Williams Co
Ohio
NOTE 2: Some parts of this letter don’t
seem to make sense. Twice on page 1, the author writes: “that what the mater”—and I’m not sure what it means. Also
on page 1, the author writes: “darn the old wagon i hope it is in some good So
that i shant never see it again”—I’m not sure what “same good” means—maybe I
have not transcribed the phrase correctly. And a few other things are
confusing—on page one the author refers to when Robert would “sleep in my
wagon” and I assume this was while traveling during the Civil War. But I cannot
be sure. On page 2, the author refers to Robert as “you have sean truble anough for the last three years”
Presumably this is referring to Roberts life during the Civil War, but again, I
cannot be sure. Lastly, there is the description of the exchange between the
author and “Jo Kellabough”—was this banter between the two friendly, or do they
dislike each other? Certainly the author begins this letter in a very
uncomplimentary way towards Robert. But he then finishes as if they are close
friends.
NOTE 3:
This letter seems to have been written shortly after the end of the
Civil War—perhaps as early as June 1865--to Robert from “W Mabeam.” (At least
the signature appears to be “W. Mabeam”--I cannot be sure.) From the
context, “W. Mabeam” and the other 6 individuals mentioned in the letter (Jo
Kellebough, Dacus, Levake, Charls Brigs, Baker, and Dilley) appear to be
“soldier buddies” of Robert who are trying to keep in touch with each other
after the Civil War. Upon searching, I could find no record of W Mabeam in
Civil War rosters. So I tried many variations of the spelling, but still no
luck. In fact, of the 6 individuals mentioned, I could find only two on Civil
War rosters: “Levake” (John M. Levake) and “Charls Brigs” (Charles S. Briggs) both
of whom—along with Robert--were in the 12th Wisconsin Volunteer
Infantry. (John M Levake was in Company “C”, and Charles S Briggs was in
Company “E” along with Robert.) Of course the names of the other 4—along with W
Mabeam—may have been misspelled, mistranscribed, or nicknames—in which case
they would not appear on Civil War rosters. But from the context of the letter,
I think there can be no doubt that the 6 men mentioned in the letter, along
with W Mabeam and Robert served together in the Civil War.
NOTE 4: This letter was written
on a single sheet of paper folded in half to make 4 pages. There is writing on
pages 1, 2, and 3 only. There is an
“embossed seal” indicating the paper manufacturer at the upper left of page 1 as
was common on many papers of the time. The embossed seal appears to be a coat
of arms with perhaps a helmet at the top. But it is not clear or distinct, so
it is difficult to make out. The letter was folded in thirds, and there is a
heavy stain (Iodine?) on one side. This produced a stain at the top and
slightly below the center on all pages—making the transcription difficult and
uncertain where the stains occurred.
NOTE 5: This letter was found loose and not in an
envelope.
NOTE 6:
This letter seems to be about “soldier buddies” attempting to keep in
touch with each other after the finish of the Civil War. It starts out with the
author—W. Mabeam—chastising Robert for not having written earlier. It goes on
to say that the author hopes never to see his old wagon again and that he has
enjoyed himself after returning home—hoping the same to be true for Robert. The
author describes his interaction between himself and fellow soldier “Jo
Kellabough”--who was on guard duty the last time he saw him. This interaction
may or may not have been good natured. The letter continues with the author
relating that he had heard from “Levake” and asking the whereabouts of other
“soldier buddies”--with the request that Robert give them his respects. The letter
finishes with a plea for Robert to write as soon as possible since the author wants
to hear from Robert “bad.”
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