David Fowler, letter, to Eleazar Wheelock, 1765 June 24

Author Fowler, David[pers0155.ocp]

24 June 1765[1765-06-24]

Call Number765374.2

[note (type: abstract): Fowler writes regarding the progress of his mission.][note (type: handwriting): Formal handwriting is clear and legible.][note (type: paper): Large sheet folded in half to make four pages is in good condition, with light-to-moderate staining and wear. The central vertical crease is sharp, however, and beginning to separate. The watermark is visible on two recto.][note (type: ink): Dark-brown.][note (type: noteworthy): An unknown editor, possibly Wheelock, has written above-line corrections throughout the document; these corrections appear to be contemporary, so they have been included in the transcription. The trailer, however, appears to be 19th-century and so has not been transcribed. When Fowler refers to the place Oneida, he is likely referring to the town of Kanawalohale. To set this designation in context, the placename "Onoyda" has been tagged as Oneida in the dateline, and the reference to "this Castle" has been tagged as Kanawalohale.]
Persistent Identifier
[Opener]

[Hon,d | Honoured]Hon,dHonoured [& | and]&and [Rev,d | Rev.]Rev,dRev. Sir
I now write you a few Lines [juſt | just]juſtjust
to inform you that I am well at [preſent | present]preſentpresent, and have [above] beenbeen [ſo ever | soever]ſo eversoever
[ſince | since]ſincesince I left your [Houſe | house]Houſehouse, [bleſsed | blessed]bleſsedblessed be God for ithis [Goodneſs | goodness]Goodneſsgoodness to me. —
— I am well contented here as long as I am in [ſuch | such]ſuchsuch great [Buſineſs | business]Buſineſsbusiness.
My Scoholars learn very well; I have put eleven into a, b, [illegible][guess (h-dawnd): absr:]absr:
I have three more that will go to that Place this week; and [ſome | some]ſomesome have
got to the [ſixth | sixth]ſixthsixth Page. — It is ten thousand Pities they [cante | can't]cantecan't
keep [togather | together]togathertogether, they are always [above] oftenoften going about to get their [Proviſion | provision]Proviſionprovision
My Father [above] one of the Chiefs atone of the Chiefs at in whose [Houſe | house]Houſehouse I keep told me, he [beleiv’d | believed]beleiv’dbelieved [ſome | some]ſomesome of the In­
dians would [ſta[above] rrve | starve]ſta[above] rrvestarve to Death thsis Summer; [ſome | some]ſomesome of them have [almoſt | almost]almoſtalmost
[conſum’d | consumed]conſum’dconsumed all their Corn already.
I came too [tale | late]talelate this Spring. I could not put [any thing | anything]any thinganything
in the Ground, I hope I [ſhall | shall]ſhallshall next Year —. I [beleive | believe]beleivebelieve I [ſhall | shall]ſhallshall
get [above] [perswade | persuade]perswadepersuade[perswade | persuade]perswadepersuade all these [above] thethe Men in this Castle[place0114.ocp] [above] atat least the[above] thethe [moſt | most]moſtmost of them to labour
next Year: They begin to [ſee | see]ſeesee now that they would live better
if they cultivate their Lands than they do now by Hunting [& | and]&and [fiſh | fish]fiſhfish­
ing: These men [above] theythey are the [lazieſt | laziest]lazieſtlaziest Crew I ever [ſaw | saw]ſawsaw in all my Days:
their Women would[above] willwill get up early in the morning and be pounding
corn for [Breakfaſt | breakfast]Breakfaſtbreakfast and they [above] the menthe men [illegible]lie [ſleeping | sleeping]ſleepingsleeping till the Victuals is [al­
moſt | al
most]
al­
moſt
al
most
ready and as [ſoon | soon]ſoonsoon as the Breakfast is over the Women take
up their Axes and Hoes and way to the Fields and leave their Chil­
dren with the Men to tend; you would [above] maymay [ſee | see]ſeesee half a Dozen walking
about [above] withwith Children upon their Backs: a lazy and [ſordid | sordid]ſordidsordid Wretches,
but they [above] areare to be pitied not [frown’d | frowned]frown’dfrowned
I have been [miſerably | miserably]miſerablymiserably of for an Interpreter
I cant [above] cancan [ſay | say]ſaysay but very little to them; I hope by next Spring I
[ſhall | shall]ſhallshall be my own Interpreter.
It is very hard to live here without the other [Boon | bone]Boonbone[pers0742.ocp]; I [above] now amnow am [ob­
lig’d | ob
liged]
ob­
lig’d
ob
liged
to [waſh | wash]waſhwash, mend, [above] my [Cloaths | cloths]Cloathsclothsmy [Cloaths | cloths]Cloathscloths cook all my Victuals and [above] [waſh | wash]waſhwash[waſh | wash]waſhwash all the things I
[uſe | use]uſeuse, which is exceeding hard; I can’t [above] employ myemploy my go into a [Feild | field]Feildfield as I [ſho[above] uuld | should]ſho[above] uuldshould
do if I had a Cook here.
I [ſhant | shant]ſhantshant be able to [illegible]employ my vacant Hours in improving up Lands as I [ſhould | should]ſhouldshould do
I [receivd | received]receivdreceived a Letter from [Mr | Mr.]MrMr. Kirtland[pers0315.ocp] [laſt | last]laſtlast
Sabbath [above] wherein he informs me thatwherein he informs me that but he did not inform me how he was, he only gave
an account how he was treated by Indians that accompanied
him up. The Indians left him with all his heavy Pack; he had
the [moſt | most]moſtmost [fatigueing | fatiguing]fatigueingfatiguing Journey this Time he ever had before: —
He [deſigns | designs]deſignsdesigns to come down to get [Proviſion | provision]Proviſionprovision and if he dont, he will
eat no Bread till Indian [Harveſt | harvest]Harveſtharvest: and his Meat; [mearly | nearly]mearlynearly rotten
having no Salt. — “He has [ſwap’d | swapped]ſwap’dswapped away the l[illegible]ittle [Poney | pony]Poneypony
which I did not know before.”
“I [beleive | believe]beleivebelieve, I [ſhall | shall]ſhallshall come down latter end of [Au
guſt | Au
gust]
Au
guſt
Au
gust
but I [ſhall | shall]ſhallshall tarry a little while with you. I [deſign | design]deſigndesign to
[haſten | hasten]haſtenhasten up here again; I [ſ[illegible]hall | shall]ſ[illegible]hallshall make this Place my Home as
long as I live. — Give my kind Respects to Mrs Wheelock[pers0577.ocp],
Love to your Children and to all the Scholars.”
And may the [Bleſsings | blessings]Bleſsingsblessings of Heaven [reſt | rest]reſtrest on you, [above] [&c | etc.]&cetc. [&c | etc.]&cetc.[&c | etc.]&cetc. [&c | etc.]&cetc.
and [illegible]conti[above] nuenue you a long [& | and]&and rich [Bleſsing | blessing]Bleſsingblessing in the World, may the Hea­
then in the [Wilderneſs | wilderness]Wilderneſswilderness feel [above] thethe [goodneſs | goodness]goodneſsgoodness of thy Labours — May [above] youyou have
double [Meaſure | measure]Meaſuremeasure of [above] thethe Spirit of God, and fill your Heart with
Love of [illegible] God and [Compaſſion | compassion]Compaſſioncompassion to poor [periſhing | perishing]periſhingperishing Souls. — and
may the Giver of all things, give Strength and Health,
Wisdom and Authority to rule and govern and [theach | teach]theachteach
those thatwho are [commited | committed]commitedcommitted to your Care in Fear of
the Lord: which is the [ſincere | sincere]ſinceresincere [above] PrayerPrayer of him who [deſires | desires]deſiresdesires
the Continuance of your Prayers.
[Closer]
your affectionate,
[tho: | though]tho:though unworthy Pupil,

David Fowler[pers0155.ocp].
[Trailer]
to [Revd | Rev.]RevdRev. [Mr | Mr.]MrMr. Eleazar Wheelock[pers0036.ocp]
[note (type: editorial): Blank page.]
[note (type: editorial): Not transcribed.]
Document Summary

People identified in this document:

id Text in document Role in header Authorized Name
pers0742.ocp the other Boon bone mentioned Fowler, Hannah (née Garrett)
pers0315.ocp M r Mr. Kirtland mentioned Kirkland, Samuel
pers0577.ocp Mrs Wheelock mentioned Wheelock, Mary (née Brinsmead)
pers0155.ocp David Fowler writer Fowler, David
pers0036.ocp Eleazar Wheelock recipient Wheelock, Eleazar

Places identified in this document:

id Text in document Authorized Name
place0179.ocp Onoyda Oneida Oneida
place0114.ocp this Castle Kanawalohale

This document does not contain any tagged organizations.

Dates identified in this document:

Standard Form Text
1765-06-24 June 24 1765

Regularized text:

Type Original Regularized
variation Onoyda Oneida
modernization Rev,d Rev.
modernization juſt just
modernization preſent present
modernization ſo ever soever
modernization ſince since
modernization Houſe house
modernization bleſsed blessed
modernization Goodneſs goodness
modernization ſuch such
modernization Buſineſs business
modernization ſome some
modernization ſixth sixth
variation cante can't
variation togather together
modernization Proviſion provision
modernization ſta[above] rrve starve
modernization almoſt almost
variation any thing anything
modernization ſhall shall
variation beleive believe
variation perswade persuade
modernization moſt most
modernization ſee see
modernization fiſh fish
modernization lazieſt laziest
modernization ſaw saw
modernization Breakfaſt breakfast
modernization ſleeping sleeping
modernization al­
moſt
al
most
modernization ſoon soon
modernization ſordid sordid
modernization miſerably miserably
modernization ſay say
variation Boon bone
modernization waſh wash
variation Cloaths cloths
modernization uſe use
variation Feild field
modernization ſho[above] uuld should
modernization ſhant shant
modernization Mr Mr.
modernization laſt last
variation fatigueing fatiguing
modernization deſigns designs
modernization Harveſt harvest
variation mearly nearly
variation Poney pony
modernization Au
guſt
Au
gust
modernization deſign design
modernization haſten hasten
modernization Bleſsings blessings
modernization reſt rest
modernization &c etc.
modernization Bleſsing blessing
modernization Wilderneſs wilderness
modernization goodneſs goodness
modernization Meaſure measure
modernization Compaſſion compassion
modernization periſhing perishing
variation theach teach
variation commited committed
modernization ſincere sincere
modernization deſires desires
variation tho: though
modernization Revd Rev.

Expanded abbreviations:

Abbreviation Expansion
Hon,d Honoured
& and
beleiv’d believed
conſum’d consumed
frown’d frowned
ob­
lig’d
ob
liged
receivd received
ſwap’d swapped

This document's header does not contain any mixed case attribute values.

Summary of errors found in this document:

Number of dates with invalid 'when' attributes: 0
Number of nested "hi" tags: (consider merging the @rend attributes, or using other tags) 0
Number of tags with invalid 'rend' attributes: 0 (out of 13)
Number of people/places/organizations with unknown keys: 0 (out of 7)
Number of "add" tags with unknown 'place' attributes: 0 (out of 27)
Mixed case attribute values in header (potential error): 0 (out of 100)