Joseph Johnson, letter, to Eleazar Wheelock, 1774 December 4

Author Johnson, Joseph[pers0288.ocp]

4 December 1774[1774-12-04]

Call Number774654

[note (type: abstract): Johnson humbly requests money to pay his debts, as well as an answer to a letter he sent to Wheelock through Jacob Fowler. He notes that soon he must go take possession of land granted to the New England Indians.][note (type: handwriting): Hand is mostly clear and legible, although occasional overwrites make it difficult to differentiate between original words and corrections. The transcriber has used her discretion.][note (type: paper): Two separate pieces of paper of unequal size and shape are in good-to-fair condition, with light-to-moderate creasing, staining and wear.][note (type: noteworthy): When Johnson refers to "your Seminary" it is uncertain whether he refers to Moor's Indian Charity School or Dartmouth College. The postscript is contained within a large, parenthesis-like bracket, which has been indicated in the transcription by a closed parenthesis at the end of each line. Unexplained numbers are written upside-down under the trailer.]
Persistent Identifier
[Opener]

[Revd | Rev.]RevdRev. and Worthy Sir; —
with much humility, and
gratitude do I undertake to write to your worthy [Perſon | person]Perſonperson
this once more. — I have the pleasure to [enform | inform]enforminform you,
my honoured Patron, that through Divine favour,
I, and my little family are in health, and it is the
desire of my heart, to hear that your valuable health
is still continued. my honoured Patron, I hope will
not take it ill, from his dejected Pupil, to add a petition
still. I humbly acknowledge that your worthy [Perſon | person]Perſonperson, hath
in a very [wonderfull | wonderful]wonderfullwonderful manner multiplied your favours —
towa[illegible]rds [above] me anme an [undeſerving | undeserving]undeſervingundeserving Object. — well might I, in times
past forever [deſpaired | despaired]deſpaireddespaired of ever [recieving | receiving]recievingreceiving any Tokens of
[reſpects | respects]reſpectsrespects from you, or from any of my honoured Ac-
-quaintance that Surround you. but I greatly rejoice
that I have a reason to hope, that you, my honoured Patron,
and your [Reſpectable | respectable]Reſpectablerespectable [Houſehold | household]Houſeholdhousehold, is in part reconciled, and
I humbly hope theat, that great Breach, which wvile Ingra-
-titude
, and abominable Pride, had made in times [paſt | past]paſtpast
between me, and you my Honoured Patron, with the
[reſt | rest]reſtrest of my worthy, and loving friends, is in some
[meaſure | measure]meaſuremeasure repaired, and may the God of all grace, Who
I humbly hope hath quickened me, be my [conſtant | constant]conſtantconstant Sup-
-porter, that I dishonour Him no more, neither wound
the hearts of his Dear Children anymore. — and I
thank you, my [Compaſionate | compassionate]Compaſionatecompassionate Patron, for all your
[kindneſses | kindnesses]kindneſseskindnesses to me w[illegible][guess (maggiec): a]ard, even from my Childhood,
and I would thank you, in a [perticular | particular]perticularparticular manner for your
[Reſpects | respects]Reſpectsrespects, and [kindneſs | kindness]kindneſskindness to me, when I was [illegible]At the Place
of your [Reſidence | residence]Reſidenceresidence. and I thank all your honoured
family, and the loving members of your dear Seminary,
which may long flourish gloriously, for all the [Reſpects | respects]Reſpectsrespects
and Tokens of Love, and [Friendſhip | friendship]Friendſhipfriendship [shewn | shown]shewnshown to such a
[Deſpicable | despicable]Deſpicabledespicable Lump of polluted Clay, as is [incloſed | enclosed]incloſedenclosed in

in this [tawnny | tawny]tawnnytawny Skin of mine. — and I do ever, re-
-tain in my mind, with [pleaſure | pleasure]pleaſurepleasure, and [reſpects | respects]reſpectsrespects, Dart­
­mouth[org0037.ocp]
and Her Sons. — But as for my adding
a petition still, methinks there is no need, you, my Honour-
-ed Patron, is well acquainted with my [Circumſtances | circumstances]Circumſtancescircumstances,
my Situation is w[illegible]ell known to you — — your worthy
[Perſon | person]Perſonperson knows that I am poor, needy, and [almoſt | almost]almoſtalmost [dis-
-treſsed | dis
-tressed]
dis-
-treſsed
dis
-tressed
Creature. and I believe that it is not owing to
my [Lazineſs | laziness]Lazineſslaziness, neither can it be [reaſonably | reasonably]reaſonablyreasonably computed
to my Extravagance, that I am thus reduced. —
methinks that no one can think hard of me, if they
would duly [Conſider | consider]Conſiderconsider, the [neceſsary | necessary]neceſsarynecessary Charge that I have
been at, from time to time since I have voluntari
-ly devoted [myſelf | myself]myſelfmyself, for the good of my poor Brethren
that live scattered about in these parts. — all I [deſire | desire]deſiredesire
from you my Honoured Patron, is that you would be [pleaſed | pleased]pleaſedpleased
to give me an [Anſwer | answer]Anſweranswer to the full, [illegible]to that Letter I [ſent | sent]ſentsent
to you by Jacob Fowler[pers0018.ocp]. — so as I might know
what to depend upon. — now I am betwixt hope, and
[Deſpair | despair]Deſpairdespair. — and I know not which way to turn, the
time is very short before I must be obliged to go
to take [Poſseſsion | possession]Poſseſsionpossession of the Land granted to us New
England Indians[org0118.ocp]
. — there are some going out of every
Town, to whom the Land is granted. — that is out of
Seven Towns. — there is nine from Mohegan[place0143.ocp] that is
going next spring to take [Poſseſsion | possession]Poſseſsionpossession. — things look
very Encouraging. — my Debts remain unpaid. and
I do not know how I shall get along this winter. I have
nothing to live upon, hardly. and I am in no way to
[perſue | pursue]perſuepursue a Study of Divine Truth as I [purpoſed | purposed]purpoſedpurposed if I had
[illegible] a relief from you. to my sorrow be it said, that
the chiefest of my Enquiry is what shall I eat. [&c | etc.]&cetc.: —
but my trust is fixed on the mighty god of Jacob, who
knows what is [beſt | best]beſtbest for me.

[Closer]
I am your Well [wiſher | wisher]wiſherwisher. Joseph
([Johnſon | Johnson]JohnſonJohnson[pers0288.ocp]
.

[Postscript]
I have [recieved | received]recievedreceived no Letter)
or [Inteligence | intelligence]Inteligenceintelligence from you)
my Honoured Patron)
Since I wrote to you by friend)
Jacob Fowler[pers0018.ocp]. — I am your)
humble well [wiſher | wisher]wiſherwisher [Joſeph | Joseph]JoſephJoseph [Johnſon | Johnson]JohnſonJohnson[pers0288.ocp].)

To
The [Revd | Rev.]RevdRev. Eleazar Wheelock[pers0036.ocp].
D.D. and [Preſident | President]PreſidentPresident of
Dartmouth College[org0037.ocp]: —


[Trailer]
from [Jos. | Joseph]Jos.Joseph [Johnſon | Johnson]JohnſonJohnson[pers0288.ocp]
[Dec.r | December]Dec.rDecember 4. 1774[1774-12-04]

[bottom] 220./720/3
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220./720/3
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Document Summary

People identified in this document:

id Text in document Role in header Authorized Name
pers0018.ocp Jacob Fowler mentioned Fowler, Jacob
pers0288.ocp Joseph ( Johnſon Johnson writer Johnson, Joseph
pers0018.ocp Jacob Fowler mentioned Fowler, Jacob
pers0288.ocp Joſeph Joseph Johnſon Johnson writer Johnson, Joseph
pers0036.ocp Rev d Rev. Eleazar Wheelock recipient Wheelock, Eleazar
pers0288.ocp Jos. Joseph Johnſon Johnson writer Johnson, Joseph

Places identified in this document:

id Text in document Authorized Name
place0143.ocp Mohegan Mohegan

Organizations identified in this document:

id Text in document Authorized Name
org0037.ocp Dart­­mouth Dartmouth College
org0118.ocp New England Indians Brothertown Tribe
org0037.ocp Dartmouth College Dartmouth College

Dates identified in this document:

Standard Form Text
1774-12-04 December 4th4th AD 1774
1774-12-04 Dec.rDecember 4. 1774

Regularized text:

Type Original Regularized
modernization 4th 4th
modernization Revd Rev.
modernization Perſon person
variation enform inform
variation wonderfull wonderful
modernization undeſerving undeserving
modernization deſpaired despaired
variation recieving receiving
modernization reſpects respects
modernization Reſpectable respectable
modernization Houſehold household
modernization paſt past
modernization reſt rest
modernization meaſure measure
modernization conſtant constant
variation Compaſionate compassionate
modernization kindneſses kindnesses
variation perticular particular
modernization Reſpects respects
modernization kindneſs kindness
modernization Reſidence residence
modernization Friendſhip friendship
variation shewn shown
modernization Deſpicable despicable
modernization incloſed enclosed
variation tawnny tawny
modernization pleaſure pleasure
modernization Circumſtances circumstances
modernization almoſt almost
modernization dis-
-treſsed
dis
-tressed
modernization Lazineſs laziness
modernization reaſonably reasonably
modernization Conſider consider
modernization neceſsary necessary
modernization myſelf myself
modernization deſire desire
modernization pleaſed pleased
modernization Anſwer answer
modernization ſent sent
modernization Deſpair despair
modernization Poſseſsion possession
variation perſue pursue
modernization purpoſed purposed
modernization &c etc.
modernization beſt best
modernization wiſher wisher
modernization Johnſon Johnson
variation recieved received
variation Inteligence intelligence
modernization Joſeph Joseph
modernization Preſident President

Expanded abbreviations:

Abbreviation Expansion
Even.g. evening
Jos. Joseph
Dec.r December

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 18)
Number of people/places/organizations with unknown keys: 0 (out of 11)
Number of "add" tags with unknown 'place' attributes: 0 (out of 2)
Mixed case attribute values in header (potential error): 0 (out of 97)