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1852 July 26 . Geo. W. Long ALS to S[tephen] H[arriman] Long; Upper Alton, [Illinois].

3 pages

Box 1
Letter to his brother, with the U.S. Topographical Engineers in Louisville, Kentucky. Comments on roads, land prices, lime production, and Springfield and Terra Haute railroads. Thoughts on the Presidential election. "I think the Polk game will not work this time." See also Geo. W. Long, ALS to S. H. Long, November 18, 1852.
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1852 August [11?] . B. Wilder ALS to "Brother and Sister" [Abraham and S. C. Wilder?]; Beautiful Grove, [Iowa].

4 pages

Box 1
Notes on weather, agriculture, values of crops and livestock. Afraid Iowa railroads will not progress, “as Congress has a president to make this session I wish that the constitution was altered as far as the election of pres and vice pres are concerned and instead of congress making them let them be elected directly by the people without the electors as a go between.” Believes Congress to be “little more than a parcel of demagogues assembled to plunder the public.” Asks for help obtaining a loan to purchase livestock, noting the profits to be made. Considerations on raising enough feed to successfully winter livestock.
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1852 November 18 . Geo. W. Long ALS to S[tephen] H[arriman] Long; Alton, Illinois.

3 pages

Box 1
Letter to his brother, with the U.S. Topographical Engineers in Louisville, Kentucky. Captain Russell is building snag boats; will affect Col. Long's responsibilities. Presidential election: Pierce is the best candidate for the Democratic Party despite his remarks on "the west as a heathenish land." Believes that Pierce will reconsider his position on the west when he studies the "New Geographies and find[s] out that it is located within the U. States" and that he will be a friend to the Army. Terre Haute railroad construction. Coal. Family news regarding bilious fever, rainy weather. See also: Geo. W. Long ALS to S. H. Long, July 26, 1852.
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[1852] . W. A. Barron ALS to L. F. Thurber; [Fond du Lac, Wisconsin].

3 pages

Box 1
Describes Fond du Lac, cost of produce, inhabitants, and their occupations. Comments on high rate of immigration, noting French, Irish, Dutch, Norwegian, English, and African American migrants, "... and now and then an American." While travelling, encountered few white settlers except a family of Irish and Native American descent. Heard wolves: "they began to make musick for us I think that for about a mile and a half that there was six or eight woolvs following us they was so neer to us that we could here them jumping in the brush and howling like the roleing thunder." Spent the night with a Native American man. For a man to succeed in the region, "it takes a man that is weel addapted to getting Drunk and gambling." Includes a note in a later hand about the relation of the letter's author to the Huntington family.
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1853 March 7 . Sam[ue]l Miller ALS to Jabez Brown; Washington, Iowa.

4 pages

Box 1
Working to establish a farm and build a home in the town. Notes emigrants heading west. "We have a fiew Californians or Oregonders mooving by a ready in a week or 2 the road will be mooving with the emigrants to those countries lying west of us." Mentions Iowa prairies, timber, land warrants, and his belief that lands further west in Iowa are better due to easier access to lumber. Despite the cold winter still believes the climate is better than Indiana's and argues that "Iowa ranks the second healthiest state in the union." Discusses quality of Iowa water and wells, hard winds on the open prairies, wildlife and hunting, and prices of goods compared to those in Indiana. Briefly mentions a child "singing multiplication so that I cannot write good But he will soon be in bed."