Philip Burlingham Letters

Philip Burlingham to his wife Charity, son Calvin, and son Justin, 25-28 December 1870

[This letter talks about the weather; describes how he spent Christmas day doing laundry; says Nate did not sell his mining stock after all, but has an offer, and may move to Baja California with his family; and tells his son Calvin he can't send him money to buy a "Clarionelle."]

Soapweed Dec 25 1870 2[?] oclock morning

Good morning Dear Wife¹

I wish you a merry christmas and cincerely hope you may enjoy your Christmas better than I can mine for I have got to wash and mend all day. I mean to keep my old clothes on til I have done work here for it is no use to put on good clothes at this kind of work for they would be spoiled in three days. The work here is the dirtiest work that I ever saw without any exception. Working at timber we get our clothes covered with pitch and our hands to. We commonly wash our hands twice evry meal. The first time in keroceen oil and next time in soap and water and then we don't get the pitch half off.

I am well and hope this will find you and all the rest in like good health. Ebert² went to Placerville last friday and has not got back yet. He will probably be back today and then I shall expect letters. I have not received any since yours of the 4 of Dec. This is the last scrap of paper I have and I will try and mak the most of it. I think I can get paper of Ebert or Root³ if I can't I will have to send to Placerville before I can write any more. I forgot to send friday.

We have had 3 weeks of beautifull weather but there is strong symptoms of a storm. The second third 4th and 5th of this month ware stormy but since then it has been clear all the time till yesterday afternoon when it clouded up and a few drops of rain fell but it is now clear again. I put on my drawers this morning for the first time and I expect to have to leave them off again. For altho the mornings are cold the middle of the day is warm as summer when ever the sun shines. And folks here unite in saying that the coldest weather is past. The sun looks as yellow as it does in the summer.

I will write in this occasionally till get a letter from you and then finish it and send it. Good morning.

Good Evening wife. Well how have you spent the day pleasantly I hope if not happily. I had an invitation to take a christmas dinner at a house about half a mile from here but I had so much to doo that I could not go. I washed 13 pieces to day six shirts and one pair of pants and the rest small such as socks towels and so forth. It has been a beautifull day verry warm. I washed out door with my warmers off and my shirt sleeves roled up and went that way til after sundown. All indications of storm have passed away and the weather is like early fall only the nights are colder.

Ebert has not come back yet. He will be back tomorrow and then I shall expect a lot of letters. I expect letters from you and the rest of the loved ones at home and thare is one due from Martha⁴ and one over due from Justa Allen.⁵

I did not patch any today. I have a deer skin dressing with the hair on for boss and at noon when I got done washing I found that needed tending to and I went at it and that kept me busy til night. Deer are quite plenty here. A man killed 2 one day last week and sold them here for 22 dollars. That was a good days work. But such a country to hunt in. A man is in danger of his life at almost evry step. He is in danger of falling down the mountains and breaking his neck.

Nate⁶ was over here last friday. He has not sold his mining stock as reported but says he can sell for $5,000. He said he should go down to the isthmus of California in about a month. He thinks of going there to live with his family. He can have a qurter section of land for setling on it. It is 4 days sail from San Francisco and will cost him $10 fare. He wants me to go and I should like to go but think I had better not. I have been talking with a steam boat captain that is here on a hunting excursion. He says he has been all over that country and it is the roughest country he ever saw and if that is the case I don't want to go thare for it is rough enough here. There are hills here that I can't walk up a half mile in an hour and others that I can't get up at all.

O how I wish that I could have been at home today. Little George⁷ has quite forgotten me and I think verry likely Laura⁸ and Cora⁹ have pretty near if not quite forgotten me too. I don't see what made Mrs Richmand¹⁰ tell such a story up town. I am sure you would let her have fruit or anything else you had to spare as cheap as I would. Mr Richmonds¹¹ folks have done me a great many favours and I feel different about letting them have things from what I doo some others.

It is getting late. Good night Dear wife.

Wednesday Dec 28th. Again I take my pen to write a few lines in answer to your kind and affectionate letter of the 11th of Dec which came to hand night before last. O how glad I am to hear from you and O how I thank you for the pains you take to write so often. I remain well and the weather continues clear and warm. There is no sign of storm and I think we will have at least 2 weeks more of good weather.

I have money enough to come home with, that is to pay my fare and some more and if any thing transpires that makes it necessary for me to come immediately home all that you have to doo is to write and if I have good luck I could be there in six days.

But I must close this for I must write some to Calvin¹² and Inez¹³ and William¹⁴ and if time serves to Henry¹⁵ and Justin.¹⁶ But I must finish this tonight for Ebert is going to Placerville tomorrow and I can send this to the office. So good bye Dear wife and pleasant dreams to you.

Philip to Charity

Soapweed Wednesday night Dec the 8th [sic; actually the 28th] 1870

Dear Calvin

I now commince to write to you in answer to your interesting leter of Dec 12th. which came to hand on the night of the 20th. inst. It is gratifying to think that my children think enough of me to take pains to write to me as often as they doo. I hope to have a chance to bring all your letters back home in a few days more than 3 months at the outside.

Now Calvin if I could help you to the money to buy a Clarionelle with I would be glad to doo so and I could if California was like any other country in the world. But it is not and there is as much difference in the folks and the maner of doing business here and in other countries as there in the climate and face of the country. Thare are thousands of men here that can't get a days work at any price. Now I esteem myself lucky at getting work at any price. I was here almost 6 months before I got work that paid much of anything but grub and even that was better than nothing. Now if a man can get work here at all he can get $2.50 to $3. per day and if he can't get work at those prices it is worse than folly for him to offer to work for less wages for they say if a man can't earn $2.50 per day they don't want him around. If I had a good cabin here I could get provisions and board myself and save $15 per month but I should have to doo my cooking in the night and eat a cold dinner evry day but that I would not care for. I could board myself for less than $2 per week and now I have to pay $5 per week and [__?__] all the stormy weather and pay Board at 71 cents a day. So you can see the reason why I can't send you anything to buy an instrument with.

Henry writes me that Staffords¹⁷ folks have not received any letters from me. That is singular for I wrote them sometime in Sept a long letter and again in Nov I sent a letter to the office on the 8 of Nov directed to Stafford Johnson at Allegan and I think they must have laid in the office til the ware sent to the dead letter office. I can account for their not having received any letters in no other way.

But I must close for I must close for this time so good bye dear Calvin.

Philip Burlingham To A. C. Burlingham

Same date of the above. Dear Justin I will try and write a few lines to you but I can't write much for time fails me and the material of which interesting letters are made is a failure to just this present time. Now Justin as long as Green¹⁸ keeps quiet let him entirely alone and take no notice of him that is the best thing you can doo. You improve in letter writing verry much and in spelling to tho thare are yet some words that are miss spelled but not near so many as there was in your first letters.

But I must stop for I have got to write some Billy and Inez. So Good Bye for this time.

P. B. to J. M. B.

 

Copyright Charles Towne. Usage of this work is licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0
Compiler: Charles Towne

Page created by John Cardinal's Second Site v8.03.