letters

Harrisburg Sept.[ember] 14th [18]63

Dear Callie,

I received your letter and was pleased to find that you had succeeded so well in obtaining comfortable quarters on the way, and at the school. Hampy (1) arrived on Wednesday night, and although I left my light burning, no one heard him but Nancy. (2) He is pale and thin and before he left Memphis (3), he had night sweats, which bring on consumption-but he says his health is good now. His pony arrived yesterday morning and is very pretty. He has been jamed [sic] in the car and is quite stiff but Hampy has him in the back yard and no doubt he will soon recover. The pony is black, and a little larger than a zebra and better formed. His mane is cut off but not close. Hampy and I thought he should take him to the State fair and sell him, but as he got him as a present I think we must keep him. He has a long black tail and Hampy says a Roman nose. He is obedient and playful. We are all well. Cousin Susy (4) is at your sister's.

I saw Mrs. Maggie Forster (5) and Mrs. Pearson (6) and they told me about the party at Troy. Do you know Albany is considerably farther north than Boston? I saw Johnny Miller's (7) nephew Peter Fox (8) a few days ago. He has been two years at School (8) in Troy and goes back this week. I think it is a sort of engineering and military school. He is a tall young man with mustache and his father lives about a mile above Gen.[eral] Forster's (9) farm on Paxton Creek. Peter says if any of the girls would be sent for to come home in haste, he would come along if the teachers would allow. In writing a letter you should not use the word "very" so often. You can say uncommonly cold, exceedingly hot, pleasantly warm- - or uncomfortably - - and quite pretty- - remarkably handsome. Miss Bryan (10) sent a bill in for about $10. Martie (11) is not sure that it is right. If she can find it I will send it to you to inspect before I pay it. How does the money hold out? Write once a week.

Yours truly,
Herman Alricks

1. Hamilton Alricks (Alricks Family Genealogy, p. 83)
2. Nancy, housekeeper of Herman Alricks. (Family letters from Manuscript #MG466)
3. Hamilton was attached to the Military Division of Mississippi Quartermaster's Office and
stationed in Memphis, Tennessee.
Family letters tell about his activities while stationed there and of Confederate attacks on

the Union troops. (Ibid)
4. Sue Seiler, sister of Mary Orth Seiler. (Kerr/Wilson Genealogy Chart)
5. Margaret L. Forster, widow of John Forster who lived at 34 S. Front Street. (Harrisburg
Business Directory 1863, p. 156)
6. Wife of John J. Pearson, District Judge, of S. Front and Chestnut Streets. (Ibid, p. 196)
7. Johnny Miller not identified.
8. Peter Fox not identified.
9. Rensselaer [sic] Technological School. It was several blocks from the Troy Female Seminary, and the students were known to escort each other to social functions.
(Interview, Stacy Draper)
10. Gen.[eral] Forster had a farm along the Paxton Creek and was the father of Benjamin Forster,
Lawyer, who lived at 4 S. Front Street. (Harrisburg Business Directory 1863, p.156)
11. Miss Bryan was an employee of the Troy Female Seminary. (Interview, Stacy Draper,
curator of Rensselaer County Historical Society, Troy, New York)

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