Hezekiah Calvin, letter, to Eleazar Wheelock, 1767 August 14

Author Calvin, Hezekiah[pers0008.ocp]

14 August 1767[1767-08-14]

Call Number767464

[note (type: abstract): Calvin writes seeking permission to marry and advice about his future.][note (type: handwriting): Clear, formal and legible.][note (type: paper): Paper is in good condition, with light-to-moderate staining and wear.]
Persistent Identifier
[Opener]
Reverend Sir,
With sincerity of Heart I would tempt to write out
now my Mind, — My Cogitations have been [theſe | these]theſethese, —
  • 1st.after [M.r | Mr.]M.rMr. Wheelock[pers0036.ocp] had made the [propoſition | proposition]propoſitionproposition to me about my
    going Home, My Mind was [eaſ'd | eased]eaſ'deased, in thinking that if I returned
    Home and [lik'd | liked]lik'dliked the school, that I should tarry with it if
    I could support myself that way, without an Companion: [& | and]&and if
    I did not like the School or could not have [maintain'd | maintained]maintain'dmaintained myself
    that way, I concluded in my Mind to go to Sea [& | and]&and follow them.
     [below] And yet at the same time never to return here again —
  • 2ndly.I thought of Marrying at home [& | and]&and so follow farming
    [Buſyneſs | business]Buſyneſsbusiness, to maintain Me and my Companion, [&C | etc.]&Cetc.
  • 3rdly.And again the state [illegible]And condition of my Friends [& | and]&and fellow
    Brethren would be hovering in my Mind daily, so
    that I was almost ready to conclude to spend my life
    [amongſt | amongst]amongſtamongst them [any where | anywhere]any whereanywhere, if it were among the very
    [wildeſt | wildest]wildeſtwildest of them if I could but have it in my Mind
    that I should be likely of doing them any good

And so I left [theſe | these]theſethese thoughts in a [illegible][guess (h-dawnd): Par]Par leaving them to be
concluded when I got home [&c | etc.]&cetc. — —
[Aſ | As]AſAs [Mr | Mr.]MrMr. Wheelock[pers0036.ocp] has made another [propoſition | proposition]propoſitionproposition, I
know not what to say, it is true that we have concluded
to join. And my affections are so great for her, I should be
very [loth | loathe]lothloathe to leave her, — Yet if [M.r | Mr.]M.rMr. Wheelock[pers0036.ocp] has a mind [yt | that]ytthat
we should part [above] I can leave herI can leave her if you will let me go home [& | and]&and never to
return again, but conclude to one of the two of my first
thoughts. I leave the affair wholly with you to [conlude | conclude]conludeconclude;
for thou canst [adviſe | advise]adviſeadvise as a father, [&c | etc.]&cetc. — —
And as for the thoughts of my going home
I greatly have a fond for, that I might learn somewhat
of my own Native Language, that I might be the better
fitted for the [Deſign | design]Deſigndesign you have in view, that I might
be able to carry on a free [discourſe | discourse]discourſediscourse with them [above] IndiansIndians if no more,
And not be as A dumb stump that has no [tounge | tongue]toungetongue
to [uſe | use]uſeuse, like as when I was among the Mohawk Indians[org0062.ocp]
how [tireſome | tiresome]tireſometiresome was my life; [could,nt | couldn't]could,ntcouldn't understand, [above] [Ym. | them]Ym.them[Ym. | them]Ym.them and
[[gap: stain][guess (h-dawnd): no]no body | [gap: stain][guess (h-dawnd): no]nobody][gap: stain][guess (h-dawnd): no]no body[gap: stain][guess (h-dawnd): no]nobody to keep [gap: stain][guess (h-dawnd): at a free]at a free [discourſe | discourse]discourſediscourse with. — this is

what lays in my Mind.
But however sometimes I mourn [& | and]&and grieve for my breaking
Friendship with the Mohawks[org0062.ocp], — I [ſhould | should]ſhouldshould be very glad
[left] it seems to meit seems to me to see my Brethren become christians [& | and]&and live like Christians
My Mind is full. I cant [expreſs | express]expreſsexpress myself
[Closer]
And thus I End Subscribeing
myself to be your Dutiful Pupil

Hezekiah Calvin[pers0008.ocp]

[Trailer]
[Hez.h | Hezekiah]Hez.hHezekiah Calvin[pers0008.ocp]'s
[Augst | August]AugstAugust 14. 1767[1767-08-14]

To
The [Rev,d | Rev.]Rev,dRev. [Mr | Mr.]MrMr. E. Wheelock[pers0036.ocp]
[att | at]attat
Lebanon[place0122.ocp]
Document Summary

People identified in this document:

id Text in document Role in header Authorized Name
pers0036.ocp M. r Mr. Wheelock recipient Wheelock, Eleazar
pers0036.ocp M r Mr. Wheelock recipient Wheelock, Eleazar
pers0008.ocp Hezekiah Calvin writer Calvin, Hezekiah
pers0008.ocp Hez. h Hezekiah Calvin writer Calvin, Hezekiah
pers0036.ocp Rev, d Rev. M r Mr. E. Wheelock recipient Wheelock, Eleazar

Places identified in this document:

id Text in document Authorized Name
place0122.ocp Lebanon Lebanon

Organizations identified in this document:

id Text in document Authorized Name
org0062.ocp Mohawk Indians Mohawk Nation
org0062.ocp Mohawks Mohawk Nation

Dates identified in this document:

Standard Form Text
1767-08-14 August 14 AD 1767
1767-08-14 AugstAugust 14. 1767

Regularized text:

Type Original Regularized
modernization theſe these
modernization M.r Mr.
modernization propoſition proposition
variation Buſyneſs business
modernization &C etc.
modernization amongſt amongst
variation any where anywhere
modernization wildeſt wildest
modernization &c etc.
modernization Aſ As
modernization Mr Mr.
variation loth loathe
modernization yt that
modernization adviſe advise
modernization Deſign design
modernization discourſe discourse
variation tounge tongue
modernization uſe use
modernization tireſome tiresome
variation could,nt couldn't
modernization Ym. them
variation [gap: stain][guess (h-dawnd): no]no body [gap: stain][guess (h-dawnd): no]nobody
modernization ſhould should
modernization expreſs express
modernization Rev,d Rev.
variation att at

Expanded abbreviations:

Abbreviation Expansion
eaſ'd eased
lik'd liked
& and
maintain'd maintained
Hez.h Hezekiah
Augst August

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 15)
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