Letter Number 4--From the Mary/Sue Collection--W. Mabeam Letter--About 1865 (Date Inferred form Context)

 

Letter 4 Original Page 1

 

 

Letter 4 Original Page 2

 

Letter 4 Original Page 3

 

Letter 4 Original Page 4

 

Letter 4 Enhanced Page 1

 

Letter 4 Enhanced Page 2

 

Letter 4 Enhanced Page 3

 

Letter 4 Enhanced Page 1

 

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

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 Kellabough^A he was

Standing on camp gard²⁹ and

I¹¹ went up to him and sayed³⁰

well Jo^{28 & 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

Dacus^B sense¹⁶ ye parted i¹¹ don’t

no whare³⁹ he is. I had a leter⁴⁰

from Levake^C 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 Brigs^D is and Baker^E and

Dilley^F 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 Mabeam^G

                   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 12^th 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 12^th 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

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 12^th 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.”