Letter written by Henry N. Shepard from Brookfield to his friend Marsh on December 16, 1860
Primary tabs
BrookfieldDec 16 1860 Dear Friend Marsh (Marsh) .
I fear that if
I defer writing longer I shall
lose
all claim to the title of a punctual
correspondent if indeed I
have
not already done so. You and N.
Wheaton (Wheaton, N.)
seem to
have some difficulty
in hearing from one another,
I received a letter
from him a while
since in which he stated that he
was expecting a
letter from you,
stating that he had not heard
from you since he
wrote. So one
of your letters must have miscarried.
For the past week
the
weather has been cold with excellent
sleighing. Sleighs and
everything that will run on snow
have been brought into requitision.
I have been teaching for the
last four weeks and have a
very pleasant school. I have 43
scholars on the list, some of them
not very forward. At any rate
I do not have to bring my geometry
or Greek into play to get along.
I receive $20 per month ($1 per day)
and board around.
As yet the
boarding round has been very
agreeable. I have some large
girls
and boys larger than I am.
I intend to have an old
fashioned
spelling school. on Friday
night of the coming week.
Your
attendence is respectfully solicited
as some tall spelling is
expected.
After I had taken the
school where I now am I found
that I could have got a school
in town at $30 per month I
boarding
myself. about the same
as $22 net. I think you have
no reason to complain of the
smallness of your wages, especially
as we are on the eve of a dissolution
of the Union. People in this vicinity
have not yet decided to
secede, although there is considerable
excitement among people
generally. In fact I think I
may safely say that we of this
part will not secede thi sall.
Some excitement if not more
is caused by the failure of the
banks. Many people in this part
have not yet secured their corn
crop owing to the pressure of
other work. An office has been
opened for the relief of Kansas (Kansas)
and contributions of wheat and
corn are pouring in from the
farmers. I can readily believe that
the search of a stranger for a school
was something similar to the search
for subscribers to the "Camp Fires".
I have relatives in Arcade (Arcade) upon
whom I should have been pleased
to have you call. There is a Lyceum
in this school district
which holds weekly meetings and
is in a flourishing condition.
We have already held three meetings.
Last week I assisted to
discuss the momentous quesiton,
"Resolved that Intemperance has
caused more misery than war"
I being on the Aff. which of course
was the losing side. This week
we are to determine whether a State
has a right to secede from the
Union (The Union). Our determination will doubtless
have great weight with S.C. (South Carolina) (South Carolina)
and other States. Hoping to hear from
you soon I remain Your Friend Henry H Shepard (Shepard, Henry H.)
Part: of 4 
