Letter from John H. Wolfe (1836)
In this letter, dated St. Stephen’s Day (December 26), 1836, John H. Wolfe writes home to his brother and other family members from Monticello, Missouri, where he and his brother Richard have traveled in search of their older brother, James H. Wolfe, whose letters home had ceased. Two previous transcriptions of the letter exist. One was done by J. D. Harnett and published in the Limerick Leader on May 13, 1939. The other is by Sr. Berchmans Murphy, of County Cork, both likely made from the original and not a photocopy, as was this one, and both invaluable guides for what follows.
Dear Brother Dec the 26 1836
Newyork October the 1 we went on Board the steamboat John Jay by the Lake of Erie canal boat towed by a pair of team horses to Buffalo 363 miles fare 12 cents per Mile to albany [1] 4 hundread woodden bridgez on it—very dangerous [2] Lake Erie River mississippa untill we Land in Tully [3] convenient to Canton Safe thank god on November the 7 We Stood great danger in lake Michigan the Captain cast anker Several nights Brother Patrick [4] we suffered a great deal more than you are aware during the long Voyage from Ireland to monticello [5] lake Erie river mississippa are the finest I saw in America Inquired for information in Several company’s offices where maps of the States were Kept but they could not give me any good information we were very Successful in making out our place of destination thank god the D [i.e., distance] from newyork to monticello are thousand five hundred miles our expenses amounted to 1001,0 Dollars Breakfast dinner Supper are provided on board at 25 cents per person with every delicacy the Season can afford you can please your Self [about?] taking them In [A]merica, a man may go on board the Steamboat at any hour for any D he may want [to] go Shore travelling is very expencive in America Brother Patt our Brother Jas Wolfe Lived in Virginia 12 years he kept establishments instructing all the nobility [6] untill he made a power of money he left it and came to Lewis County missoura D 12 hundred miles He bought this Estate in the land office in palmyra D 28 miles 3 years ago of the government of the united States at Dollar quarter per acre [7] its first rate land timber oak water Stream Lime Stone quarry on it two Eightys & 2 fortys Jambed up with the town I Expect to have the County Seat built on one of the 40 which would make it most valuable the County road passed through these 240 acres from town and by my house [three? one?] hundred miles long has Repaires I got a loyer Opinion on my Brother ass[ignment?] he gave it as his opinion that Jas Wolfe Brothers were Equally Intitled to his Estate provided he made no will or testament But the assinements he made holds it for us both [he advised] me to Settle on that at once so I did I contracted with a Joiner to build [one?] woodden house for me and that [I?] would pay him what two Respectable men of the neighbourhood would award for him for his work So he Complyed [but?] wearin [i.e., weren’t?] for the aggreement [i__d_?] he would Sheat [i.e. cheat?] me 20 Dollars I built on Section the 7 the Southern half of Section thirty Containing 340 acres it lies D two miles monticello 50 acres of clear from wood by my house fit for Cultivation 2 yoke oxen would plow it it is very writch there is no more timber on it than what is necessary I intend to till this much at once per acre would Produce 25 bushels of wheat 80 lb wt to the bushel Corn 40 bushels to the acre 70 lb wt [to the bushel, [would?] Produce one of potatoes, three hundred bushels, [15?] [w__?] [ab_lo_?] [Sqr?] acer corn, 6 feet high I can Stick it produces thousands of acres long for the people feed their Stock with it in [winter?] of the [l_st?] of the 3 [?] I bought suit of clothes in liverpool Cost [?]
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Our Brother Jas Board in Reece is house [8] for 3 months D 1 mile of this farm where [J? I?] built he intended to build on it four farm tennamints he chopt Some timber his hands blistered he looked for men on the hire but he could not find any man to Board them he had to give up his building after this Reese wife [?] [?] with him without much Reason Reese gave him great abbuse he left the house and went to Board at one Smith to monticello the Same day after he going to he discovered his trunck Broken and he robed of the Sum of 70 Dollars by a black Domestick in Reese’s house he threatened Reese by law but in a short time he got him his money my Brother meeting these disappointments which Caused him to Leave his Estate and go to natchees [9] where he was well known four years [a]go the County Seat was located monticello 40 houses at pr [i.e., present?] Court house 5 Rich Shops goods of every description 3 Publick houses Bottles full of all Sort liquors 2 law offices Post office 2 medical Dr 2 joinors [1?] Smith [1?] [J___?] there is Banck expected the Respectable people of monticello are Kind to me they ask me how do I like the County Seat Situation of the State [i tell?] them that I like it good considering the Short time it has been [Located?] it will be improved and the State the people are Settling every year it is a new State very productive Brother Patt I have made a vow not to Drink in monticello Except a little in my own House I would feel very glad that you would do the Same it is the Ruin of man to get drunk take Care of your health you know how much your Brothers and sisters need you that god may Spare you to them along [time?] use good [dite? i.e., diet?] wife We have Left you our father Property I would expect that you Could Live Respectably I count you happy as Living amongst your friends Tim Keep your Son young Maurice at School Regular his good [?] mother Child I would be glad to hear from my Brother Maurice we feel lonsome her[e] Ellen Harnett would be glad to hear from her mother Brothers Sisters Child [10] We Injoy good health at Present thank god Except what you Know but I am much better I wrote to you from Newyork Margaret Stopt in newyork thinking that her uncle Jas would Send for her I would wish to know whether you have built your new House and whether you are making good [Sail?] of the [Cattle? Call__e?] whether you [have kept?] the contracts you have the interest if you avail your Self of it and if you Live to any age [?]
Dear uncle Brother Patt R [i.e., Reverend] [O?] father Tim Harnett John forde I have a great grievance To Let you know [Log?] Our Brother James Wolfe Died In the State of mississippa the first year He went to natches [11] the fine Learned Man There is nothing [grieves] Richard I more than to Say that we Cant See hear or find our Brother alive on his Estate after the bold Stroke we made in going to him five thousand miles from home if god would Spare him to us we would live happy If you Should [I?] Live would not forget Jas Richardson Dear Uncle B [i.e., brother] Patt I never felt your advise So much wanting as at present I would wish [to Know?] from you whether I should Sell this Estate and go home for happy is the man that can live at home amongst his friends [As?] this Estate is considered [to be?] worth nine thousand Dollars at present When we [?] I Intend to Sell 40 acres to improve my farm to Buy Some cows yoke oxen pair of horses Some pigs they feed and fatten in the woods at the time of the [?]
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I don’t know but that I should go to [?] home to Ireland to get my Self qualified to [safegd?] this Estate Mr Richdson [12] told me that his opinion was that his opinion was that Richard [and Ellen’s?] [Guidance? Evidance?] would Do to ascertain that I was Jas Wolfe’s B and that he himself would prove his handwriting When we arrived at monticello we Board in the Town [3?] weeks our bill [?] amounted Twenty Dollars I inquired of the innkeeper Mr gregsby [13] who was James Wolfe adgient to his Estate In[?] monticello He told me [who?] Jas Richardson was I went to his house Immediately and asked him where was my Brother James Wolfe [was?] or how long ago Since he had heard from him He told me that did not hear from him Since he Send him the Power of Attorney from the weastern [county?] to take [care of the? Charge of his?] Estate 2 years ago it is surprizing to me Said he if youre Brother would be [alive?] But that he would have written to me in So long a time I advertised him In the papers The power of attorney was not sufficient [?] of we [thought?] the chief Magistrate [being? having?] signed to it the people of monticello chopt to the value of 100 Dolls of his timber they Came to me and owned to the trespass they had done I told them That They Broke the law and That I would bring them to [account? an amount?] the Reason They gave me was that it was Suspected that James Wolfe was Dead and That He had no [lg? i.e., legitimate?] air to his estate and that it would be Sold out Mr Richardson had told me that Dr Sloan who lives 28 miles below monticello Brang this account of his Death to monticello I went at once to Dr Sloans house I asked him did he know Any thing for me Concerning my Brother’s Death I do Said he to me I traveled through Different States in the western Country in last Spring in my travelling through the State of Mississippi I was told that James [H?] Wolfe Died that he had land [?] In his trunk of Estate that he bought near monticello I made no [doubt of this?] Said he This Gentleman was well acquainted with me Brother [?] I would go at once to the State of mississippa to make an Inquary after my Brother But the River mississippa freezes up in winter I wrote 3 letters at this Dr. house in Palmyra to different people in the State of mississippa Requesting of them to make an inquiary after my Brother to advertise him in the papers and that I would make them compensation for their trouble Dr Sloan told me that he would go to the western country in Spring and that he would give me every assistance in his power to make out my Brother or his effects or his money if we get it or if he made any property It was Supposed that he had from one thousand to two thousand Dollars Mr Richardson bought 7 hundread of Pork from us 6 Dollars per hundred [?] If Michael Neville John Harnett would Come to me I would give them [?] A living during their Life [and?] would very good here if I go home I will imploy Michael Sheehy and some young labouring men women and pay their fair to monticello if they will have the courage to come with me this good Place for Labouring men Dollar quarter Day Board hands are very czcarse [i.e. scarce] here the Amer[icans] are knowing and well Spoken people they Sit to a comfortable Breakfast dinner Supper bread tea meat vegetables regular they are all marksmen keeps arms regular they have as good houses and furniture as if [?]tier as ever i Seen women they are in numbers in monticello every day James Richardson wife are my chief friends here He is acting the same as adgient for me He has pledged him Self to do me Justice is considered Respectable and a man of good [experience?] he is Surprized that i did not change my Condition before I left Ireland he knows what D O’Connell [14] is doing in Ireland the Black people are very numerous in [here?] the most of them are Slaves [15] Cooks they are imployed in all vessels on Sea they are civilized [there?] are respectable men/women emigrating to America every year from Ireland England and Scotland
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Here there is no Priest nearer than St louis D 2 hundred miles to the weast [16] of monticello on the Brink of the river mississippa this hurts our feeling very much the people of monticello Buys their goods in Tully D 12 miles [17] American prairies 20 miles long 20 miles Broad no [human Beings?] no [wood?] price dollar quarter for acer monticello corn mill D is 2 miles this is considered [to be?] a good Climate but extremely Cold in winter frost Snow Continues untill the first of April no rain except the month of April may some days are vy fine the people subject to many Complaints here no man works [?] the Spade throughout America [oxen are worked; six in number tackled in] [18] Plowing the Prairies
[Break here with what may be a portion of the envelope or some kind of identifying cover, reading “Montic” and “Januar” and “V” and “N. Yor.” Text resumes at the bottom of the page.]
A man has great Difficulty to Set up here in the beginning no Less than four hundred Dollars would do but if a man gets Settled once he is a gentleman for Life I don’t know what trouble I may be Put to yet Let no man attempt to Come here untill you Receive another Letter from me I will administer on this Estate with James Richardson the law Requires it Direct your Letter to me Lewis County Missouri monticello the County Seat of Lewis County
John Wolfe
The following handwritten notes were appended to an earlier, typed transcription:
“[At the top of the transcription] From Doris Craigmile [19]
see ltr from Dollie Woulfe 1956 regarding Wolfe to USA [?] [20]
[At the bottom of the transcription] Mailed Jan. 1837 to his brother Pattr. Wolfe
Crataloe (sp?) [21]
Co. of Limerick, Ireland
1988 N. B. Sean Woulfe of Limerick brought me a copy of the original of this letter, written in elegant (but unreadable) Spencerian script. Sean’s sister-in-law, a Mercy nun, painstakingly deciphered it and typed this.” [22]
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[1] Wolfe has the length of the Erie Canal, which was completed in 1825, correct. However, it’s unclear what he meant by “to albany.” The canal connected the New York state capital of Albany, on the Hudson River, with Buffalo, on Lake Erie. Wolfe and his brother likely landed in the port of New York City, sailed up the Hudson River, and took the canal west from there.
[2] Thomas Woodcock traveled the Erie Canal in 1836 and he, too, experienced the bridges. They were low, he explained in his journal. Tourists lounged on top of the boats, some in their Sunday best, and had to duck when the helmsman called out his warning. “Serious accidents have happened for want of caution,” Woodcock wrote. “A young English woman met with her death a short time since, she[,] having fallen asleep with her head upon a box, had her head crushed to pieces.” See New York to Niagara, 1836: The Journal of Thomas S. Woodcock, Deoch Fulton, ed. (New York: New York Public Library, 1938), p. 9.
[3] The town of Tully, Missouri, no longer exists. Once lying immediately south of Canton, on the Mississippi River, it boasted “a fine steamboat landing” but was almost completely destroyed by flooding in 1851. See History of Lewis, Clark, Knox and Scotland Counties, Missouri (St. Louis and Chicago: Goodspeed, 1887), p. 224.
[4] This is Patrick Maurice Woulfe (d. 1849). The brothers James Harnett (b. c. 1800), Richard (c. 1802–1865), and John Harnett Woulfe (1807–1856) were the sons of Maurice James “Young Maurice” Woulfe (b. c. 1763) and Honora (Harnett) Woulfe (d. 1830), of Dromada, parish of Rathronan, Co. Limerick.
[5] Monticello, named for Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia mansion, was laid out in the fall of 1833 as the seat of Lewis County. The county was named for Meriwether Lewis (1774–1809), who with William Clark (1770–1838) led the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–6). Commissioned by President Jefferson, the men explored the Missouri and Columbia rivers. Clark County is located immediately north of Lewis. See History of Lewis, pp. 216–17.
[6] Public schools were not established in Virginia until 1870. Prior to the Civil War, wealthy planters hired tutors for their children. These teachers generally lived with their employers, rather than operating “establishments.” No record of James Wolfe’s time in Virginia has been found. See The Journal and Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian: A Plantation Tutor of the Old Dominion, 1773–1774, Hunter Dickinson Farish, ed. (Colonial Williamsburg, 1965).
[7] Records show James Wolfe made five purchases—for 80, 40.48, 40, 45.2, and 80 acres—in Palmyra. The date of these transactions was 14 October 1835, rather than “3 years ago,” but various strikethroughs and the letters “Exo” near the top of the document (meaning “Executor”) suggest that the date represents when the James Wolfe estate’s executor(s) received the land and not when James purchased it. See “US General Land Office Records, 1776–2015,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1246/ : viewed 25 August 2021) > Missouri > Lewis > images 529, 533, 534, 540, and 547.
[8] The 1840 census lists four males named Reese as heads of households in Lewis County: Addison, William, Charles, and Hosiah. Addison Reese owned an enslaved woman between the ages of 36 and 54, and William Reese an enslaved male between the ages of 10 and 23. See Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8057/ : viewed 26 August 2025) > Missouri > Lewis > [District or Township] Not Stated > images 21, 27, 33, and 67.
[9] Natchez, Mississippi, is about 730 miles south of Monticello, on the Mississippi River.
[10] No Ellen Harnett appears in Missouri in either the 1840 or 1850 census.
[11] It is unclear which year was “the first year He went to natches.” Dating his letter 1836, John writes that James bought land in Missouri “3 years ago” and boarded in Monticello for 3 months while he improved it. He may have traveled to Natchez sometime in 1833 or 1834.
[12] This is likely James A. Richardson, a farmer who also may have been the J. A. Richardson who presided over the county court’s first session in December 1834. The 1840 census lists just one James A. Richardson. The 1850 census identifies him as a 58-year-old farmer, born in Kentucky, with a wife, Rachel, and several children. He was living just a few dwellings away from John Wolfe, who by then was married to Louisa (Durban) Wolfe, of Kentucky. and had four children. For Judge Richardson, see History of Lewis, p. 217. For 1850 census, see Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8054/ : viewed 25 August 2021) > Missouri > Lewis > District 48 > image 131. For Wolfe’s marriage on 27 July 1838, see “Missouri Marriages, 1750–1920,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1680838 : viewed 28 August 2021) > Lewis > Marriage records 1833–1863 vol. 1–2 > image 46.
[13] The 1840 census identifies David Grigsby in Lewis County. See Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8057/ : viewed 25 August 2021) > Missouri > Lewis > [Township or District] Not Stated > image 59.
[14] Daniel O’Connell sat in Parliament and helped secure basic civil rights for Catholics. He also sought to repeal the Act of Union (1800), which dissolved the Irish parliament and brought Ireland into the UK. Apropos John Wolfe’s subsequent mention of “Black people,” O’Connell advocated for the abolition of slavery, although he struggled to win the support of Irish Americans in that cause. See Angela F. Murphy, American Slavery, Irish Freedom: Abolition, Immigrant Citizenship, and the Transatlantic Movement for Irish Repeal (Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 2010).
[15] In 1840, Missouri had a total population of 383,702, including 58,240 enslaved people and 1,574 “free colored persons,” a category that included indigenous people. In Lewis County, there were 1,065 enslaved people. See US Census Bureau, 1840 Census: Compendium of the Enumeration of the Inhabitants and Statistics of the United States (https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1841/dec/1840c.html : viewed 25 August 2021) > Enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States > Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, Florida Territory > pp. 88–91 and images 5–8.
[16] It’s unclear what Wolfe meant by “weast,” but St. Louis is southeast of Monticello.
[17] “The county records show that William Carter had a grocery here [Tully] in December, 1836, John Nelson another in May, 1837, and that Humert & Tate were merchants in December of the latter year.” See History of Lewis, p. 224.
[18] The bracketed words here represent the reading of Sr. Birchmans (see note 22), who worked from an original copy.
[19] Doris (Wolfe) Craigmile (1923–2018) was born in Streator, Illinois, the granddaughter of Richard J. Wolfe (1843–1927), who immigrated with his parents in 1848 from Co. Kerry to LaSalle County, Illinois.
[20] See “Letter from Dollie Woulfe to Sr. Mary Caelan (Helen Woulfe), August 1956” (thewolfes.family/sources : viewed 25 August 2021). The letter transcription is marked, in the same handwriting, as being “from Doris Craigmile 1993.”
[21] Cratloe is a townland located between the village of Athea to the north and the town of Abbeyfeale to the south in western Co. Limerick.
[22] Sean Woulfe is Seán de Bhulbh, or John M. Wolfe (1922–2009). His sister-in-law was Sr. Berchmans, born Bridget “Bridie” Murphy in 1916, in Abbeyfeale, and died in 2015 in Co. Cork. She attended the Mercy Convent Primary School but was not a Mercy nun; she entered the South Presentation Convent, Cork, in 1935, later studying English and Irish in Dublin. See “Transcription by Sr. Berchmans Murphy (1916–2015)” (thewolfes.family/sources : viewed 26 August 2021). For the document’s “unreadability,” see Anonymous, “The Woulfe Family: Known Facts and Tradition,” letter to the editor, Limerick Leader, 27 May 1939, p. 10. The writer, responding to a recently published transcription of the letter by J. D. Harnett, notes: “I often saw the original at Cratloe and would have liked to read it, but I considered it illegible and I thought the paper so old that it would scarcely stand the test of being handled by a reader. I must, therefore, pay high tribute to the aptitude for research shown by your contributor (J.D.H.) in reading practically the entire letter so correctly.”