Joseph Johnson, letter, to Andrew Oliver, 1773 October 10
10 October 1773[1773-10-10]
ms number773560
[note (type: abstract): Johnson writes to Oliver about his service among the Farmington Indians[org0044.ocp], and requests funds to pay off his debts.][note (type: handwriting): Handwriting is small, but mostly formal and clear.][note (type: paper): Large sheet folded in half to make four pages is in fair-to-poor condition, with moderate-to-heavy staining, creasing and wear that results in a minor loss of text.][note (type: ink): Dark-brown ink is faded, heavily in spots.][note (type: noteworthy): An editor, likely 19th-century, has added the note "Jos. Johnſon's letter to Commiſsrs Oct. 10. 1773. ." to two verso. This note has not been included in the transcription.]
Persistent Identifier
[Opener]
Hartford[place0097.ocp]. October [10 th. | 10th.]10 th.10th. AD 1773[1773-10-10].
To the Honorable Andrew Oliver[pers0031.ocp]
[Eſqr. | Esq.]Eſqr.Esq.
With a due sense of my great [unworthineſs | unworthiness]unworthineſsunworthiness, I att‐empt to write to your Worthy [Perſon | person]Perſonperson at this time;
[Hond | Honoured]HondHonoured Sir, this afternoon I came down here to this Town to get my watch which I
left here [ſome | some]ſomesome time [paſt | past]paſtpast to be repaired being [conſiderable | considerable]conſiderableconsiderable da‐‐maged. and finding an Opportunity to Send
to your Honour, I with much [thankfullneſs | thankfulness]thankfullneſsthankfulness do Embrace it. I would [enform | inform]enforminform your Honor that the School which is under my Care at [preſent | present]preſentpresent is in good [Circumſtances | circumstances]Circumſtancescircumstances. the Children are well; and learnAre very tractable; or they
learn very [faſt | fast]faſtfast,
[Conſidering | considering]Conſideringconsidering chief of them are young, 5, 7, 10, 13 [illegible] years of Age. [&c | etc.]&cetc.: [alſo | also]alſoalso I would [enform | inform]enforminform your Honor, that the School has been kept very Steady, and I have
endeavoured to be [faithfull | faithful]faithfullfaithful to all with whom I have to do. both Parent, [& | and]&and Child. [alſo | also]alſoalso the Parents have Sent very Steady, and highly [Eſteem | esteem]Eſteemesteem the great
[Previledge | privilege]Previledgeprivilege which Kind Providence is at [preſent | present]preſentpresent favouring them with. and we all humbly hope that our [Previledge | privilege]Previledgeprivilege will be graciously Continued to us poor Unworthy, Ignorant, and [Deſpiſed | despised]Deſpiſeddespised Indians. we hope that Your Honour, has Remembered us, [a‐‐midſt | a‐midst]a‐‐midſta‐midst your [Croud | crowd]Croudcrowd of important [Buſineſs | business]Buſineſsbusiness. [alſo | also]alſoalso we hope that the Honourable Board of [Commiſsionaries | Commissioners]CommiſsionariesCommissioners[org0095.ocp] has [Conſidered | considered]Conſideredconsidered our humble Petition, and we hope still that an [Anſwer | answer]Anſweranswer of Joy will be [ſent | sent]ſentsent us in due time.
[Hond | Honoured]HondHonoured Sir. We are the Same as ever we was. Objects of Pity. the Indians are very [deſireous | desirous]deſireousdesirous to learn.
[gap: worn_edge][guess (h-dawnd): b]but not to be too
tedious, Suffer me to Conclude this my Indian [Epiſtle | epistle]Epiſtleepistle with [ahumble | a humble]ahumblea humble Petition to your Honour. Worthy Sir. be [pleaſed | pleased]pleaſedpleased to [Conſider | consider]Conſiderconsider of me; I have kept this School 6 Months already, and I have made out
to live hitherto, but I have been obliged to borrow a little; [altho | although]althoalthough it is not [Cuſtomary | customary]Cuſtomarycustomary to lend to an Indian in [theſe | these]theſethese Parts, but I have behaved [my‐ſelf | my‐self]my‐ſelfmy‐self as well as I could and People think, that I am no [illegible][guess (h-dawnd): r]r[eſt | est]eſtest, and have ventured to help me little. but
[H[illegible]ond | Honoured]H[illegible]ondHonoured Sir, I dare not [aſk | ask]aſkask there favours any more; but I am obliged to Seek your Honors favour.
[Hond | Honoured]HondHonoured Sir, I [confeſs | confess]confeſsconfess I am Poor Indian, a [fatherleſs | fatherless]fatherleſsfatherless, and [Motherleſs | motherless]Motherleſsmotherless, and [almoſt | almost]almoſtalmost
[friendleſs | friendless]friendleſsfriendless Lad. Yet I want to live and I want to live [honeſtly | honestly]honeſtlyhonestly. if it is not my Calling to teach my Poor Ignorant Brethren the
Indians whom I love, [& | and]&and Pity. I [illegible][guess (h-dawnd): will]will not [Croud | crowd]Croudcrowd
[myſelf | myself]myſelfmyself into the [buſsineſs | business]buſsineſsbusiness. but if it be my Calling, and Duty, I [muſt | must]muſtmust beg to live by it, or have Suitable help and Encouragement —
from [Some where | somewhere]Some wheresomewhere. all I want is things Conveni‐‐ent. that I may give [myſelf | myself]myſelfmyself to the Service [Chea‐rfully | chee‐rfully]Chea‐rfullychee‐rfully. and [Hond | Honoured]HondHonoured Sir, as I Said [Juſt | just]Juſtjust now that I have made out to live hitherto, So now I say that
[unleſs | unless]unleſsunless your Honor is [pleaſed | pleased]pleaſedpleased to Pity me, and help me I [can not | cannot]can notcannot live any longer in this [Buſsineſs | business]Buſsineſsbusiness but I must break off, and go into Some other Call‐‐ing in order to clear [my Self | myself]my Selfmyself of little Debt, which I have [neceſsarily | necessarily]neceſsarilynecessarily contracted the [Seaſon | season]Seaſonseason
[paſt | past]paſtpast. I have no [pleaſure | pleasure]pleaſurepleasure in being trusted, neither is it honourable. So [Hond | Honoured]HondHonoured Sir. my humble and [Earneſt | earnest]Earneſtearnest
[Deſire | desire]Deſiredesire is that your Honour would be [pleaſed | pleased]pleaſedpleased to Send
me half years Pay if [poſsible | possible]poſsiblepossible, or if it has [pleaſed | pleased]pleaſedpleased the Gentlemen to allow me [any thing | anything]any thinganything for Encourage‐ment, to keep this School. [Hond | Honoured]HondHonoured Sir, without doubt that the [Revd | Rev.]RevdRev.
[Mr | Mr.]MrMr. Pitkin[pers0430.ocp] my Kind, [& | and]&and
[faithfull | faithful]faithfullfaithful
[Overſeer | overseer]Overſeeroverseer would write in my favour if he had Opportunity. I was at his [Houſe | house]Houſehouse last Thursday Evening, and [Enquired | inquired]Enquiredinquired of him whether he had recieved any News from your Honour Concerning
our Petition, or Concerning this School he told me that he had not
heard^[above] recieved^recieved one word
^[above] from your honour^from your honour Concerning us Indians. I acquainted him of my
[Circumſtances | circumstances]Circumſtancescircumstances at [preſent | present]preſentpresent, and he Said he would Join and write in my favour again if there was any
going from hence to [Boſton | Boston]BoſtonBoston[place0013.ocp]. I [enquired | inquired]enquiredinquired little but heard of no one, that was going to [Boſton | Boston]BoſtonBoston[place0013.ocp]. So kind Sir I hope that you will no[gap: hole][guess (h-dawnd): t]t be angry with me in [Under‐takeing | under‐taking]Under‐takeingunder‐taking to write to you of [myſelf | myself]myſelfmyself. without I know that I am an Indian. but having an Opportunity,
I thought it my Duty, to [aſk | ask]aſkask for the thing that I do really Stand in great need of. be [pleaſed | pleased]pleaſedpleased to Send the Money for which I [Earneſtly | earnestly]Earneſtlyearnestly Request, by the
[Boſton | Boston]BoſtonBoston[place0013.ocp]
[Poſt | post]Poſtpost. with whom I [ſend | send]ſendsend these few lines. but if there is nothing [allowd | allowed]allowdallowed for my Encouragement be so kind, an[illegible]d [Condeſcending | condescending]Condeſcendingcondescending as to let me know it by
[Poſt | post]Poſtpost next Saturday as I [purpoſe | purpose]purpoſepurpose to meet him here — again on that Day if I am well. I am Sorry that
I have troubled you So often with my Requests, but I hope that hereafter I Shall
know what to depend upon forgive me for [what ever | whatever]what everwhatever I have at any time wrote
[un becoming | unbecoming]un becomingunbecoming to your Honour, and charge it to my Ignorance. So I [muſt | must]muſtmust End [wiſhing | wishing]wiſhingwishing you, and yours
[Proſperity | prosperity]Proſperityprosperity in this Life, and perfect felicity in the Man‐‐sions
of [Bliſs | bliss]Bliſsbliss hereafter.
[Closer]
I am your humble Petitioner
[Joſeph | Joseph]JoſephJoseph
[Johnſon | Johnson]JohnſonJohnson[pers0288.ocp] the Mohegan[org0063.ocp]
[In[illegible][guess (h-dawnd): dn]dn | Indian]In[illegible][guess (h-dawnd): dn]dnIndian
[Trailer]
To [illegible][gap: stain]
[guess (h-dawnd): [Esqr | Esq.]EsqrEsq.][Esqr | Esq.]EsqrEsq.
Document Summary
People identified in this document:
id | Text in document | Role in header | Authorized Name |
---|---|---|---|
pers0031.ocp | Andrew Oliver | recipient | Oliver, Andrew |
pers0430.ocp | M r Mr. Pitkin | mentioned | Pitkin, Timothy |
pers0288.ocp | Joſeph Joseph Johnſon Johnson | writer | Johnson, Joseph |
Places identified in this document:
id | Text in document | Authorized Name |
---|---|---|
place0097.ocp | Hartford | Hartford |
place0013.ocp | Boſton Boston | Boston |
Organizations identified in this document:
id | Text in document | Authorized Name |
---|---|---|
org0095.ocp | Honourable Board of CommiſsionariesCommissioners | The Company for Propagation of the Gospel in New England and the parts adjacent in America |
org0063.ocp | Mohegan | Mohegan Tribe |
Dates identified in this document:
Standard Form | Text |
---|---|
1773-10-10 | October 10 th.10th. AD 1773 |
Regularized text:
Type | Original | Regularized |
---|---|---|
modernization | 10 th. | 10th. |
modernization | Eſqr. | Esq. |
modernization | unworthineſs | unworthiness |
modernization | Perſon | person |
modernization | ſome | some |
modernization | paſt | past |
modernization | conſiderable | considerable |
modernization | thankfullneſs | thankfulness |
variation | enform | inform |
modernization | preſent | present |
modernization | Circumſtances | circumstances |
modernization | faſt | fast |
modernization | Conſidering | considering |
modernization | &c | etc. |
modernization | alſo | also |
variation | faithfull | faithful |
modernization | Eſteem | esteem |
variation | Previledge | privilege |
modernization | Deſpiſed | despised |
modernization | a‐‐midſt | a‐midst |
variation | Croud | crowd |
modernization | Buſineſs | business |
modernization | Conſidered | considered |
modernization | Anſwer | answer |
modernization | ſent | sent |
variation | deſireous | desirous |
modernization | Epiſtle | epistle |
variation | ahumble | a humble |
modernization | pleaſed | pleased |
modernization | Conſider | consider |
variation | altho | although |
modernization | Cuſtomary | customary |
modernization | theſe | these |
modernization | my‐ſelf | my‐self |
modernization | eſt | est |
modernization | aſk | ask |
modernization | confeſs | confess |
modernization | fatherleſs | fatherless |
modernization | Motherleſs | motherless |
modernization | almoſt | almost |
modernization | friendleſs | friendless |
modernization | honeſtly | honestly |
modernization | myſelf | myself |
modernization | buſsineſs | business |
modernization | muſt | must |
variation | Some where | somewhere |
variation | Chea‐rfully | chee‐rfully |
modernization | Juſt | just |
modernization | unleſs | unless |
variation | can not | cannot |
modernization | Buſsineſs | business |
variation | my Self | myself |
modernization | neceſsarily | necessarily |
modernization | Seaſon | season |
modernization | pleaſure | pleasure |
modernization | Earneſt | earnest |
modernization | Deſire | desire |
modernization | poſsible | possible |
variation | any thing | anything |
modernization | Revd | Rev. |
modernization | Mr | Mr. |
modernization | Overſeer | overseer |
modernization | Houſe | house |
variation | Enquired | inquired |
modernization | Boſton | Boston |
variation | enquired | inquired |
variation | Under‐takeing | under‐taking |
modernization | Earneſtly | earnestly |
modernization | Poſt | post |
modernization | ſend | send |
variation | allowd | allowed |
modernization | Condeſcending | condescending |
modernization | purpoſe | purpose |
variation | what ever | whatever |
modernization | wiſhing | wishing |
modernization | Proſperity | prosperity |
modernization | Bliſs | bliss |
modernization | Joſeph | Joseph |
modernization | Johnſon | Johnson |
modernization | Esqr | Esq. |
Expanded abbreviations:
Abbreviation | Expansion |
---|---|
Hond | Honoured |
& | and |
In[illegible][guess (h-dawnd): dn]dn | Indian |
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 9) |
Number of "add" tags with unknown 'place' attributes: | 0 (out of 2) |
Mixed case attribute values in header (potential error): | 0 (out of 102) |