David Morris to Isabelle Morris, letter, 4 October 1861

Name/Title

Entry/Object ID

2025.5.2

Scope and Content

David Morris, (Camp Hovey, Ironton, Iron Co., Missouri) to Isabelle Morris, letter, 4 October 1861; Keith Riggle Collection, privately held by Keith Riggle, 2015. Transcribed by Keith Riggle. The author of this letter, David Milligan Morris [1840-1917], was a son of Robert Morris and his first wife, Emaline Mills. The letter was sent to his sister, Isabelle (Morris) Atwood [1841-1884]. David was a member of Company F, 33rd Illinois Infantry Regiment, during the Civil War. TRANSCRIPT PAGES 1-4: "October the 4 AD 1861 Camp Hovey Ironton. Iron. Co Missouri Dear Sister I Expect you are looking For A letter from me before this The cause of my not writing is because i have not received but one letter from you and this is my third to you. if you receive this i wish you would answer with out delay Were now in Missouri about 80 miles below St Louis in the hilliest part of Missouri we landed at Pilot Knob the nineteenth of september and that is as far as the Railroad Extended it is thundern hilly here They couldnt extend the road farther we went through one Tunnel a bout a quarter of a mile in length before we got this far We Landed here about 8 or 9 oclock at nught and in the morning as soon as soon as i got my breakfast i started for the top of Pilot Knob it Looked like an immese pile of rocks piled one on top of the other and on top of the rock the secessionists had a secession Flag planted but there is a Union Flag floating from there now and it shall wave to as long as Illinois boys stay here at Ironton or they will die in the attempt to keep it there. When your are once on top of Pilot Knob or Iron mountain you have a surrounding View of many miles you can see way off south many miles when you stand with face to the west you can look down to your right and you have a commanding View of the town of the same name as the rock has and then Just turn to the left and look to the southward and you will have a view of nother town Called Ironton and on a little further there is another small town Named arcadia there is all kinds of minerals about here nearby only Gold and silver they make tens of thousands of tuns of iron here every day there is plenty of fruit here of [most?] every kind and some secession[ists?] but they have to keep cool We are Busy building fort here now and i am working as a carpenter it is called fort Ironton I am getting as fat as a fool and just about as lazy i havent been sick a day since i arrived [letter damaged here] Missouri until the other night i had to stand guard we have to stand two hours and the we are off 4 hours i went up at 8 and come off at 10 and then went on at 2 two and come off at 4 and then I Felt sleepy and tired and i laid Down on the ground and I caught cold and i have the head ache to day The health in camp is pretty good There is some got the cholera fever There is one man died with it [illegible line damaged in the crease] measles Will Morris had them [?] but has got about well now [?dren] [?] has got them now Otis Barrow [?] Dilman Hester one of my mess mates has got them I Dont suppose i will get them [?] before the arm is [over?] one [illegible line damaged in the crease] he expected we would all have to go to Leexington [Lexington, site of a 3-day battle in 1861] to fight before a week & Six October this evening Dillman Hester is worse and my other Man that sleeps with me is sick i guess he is taking the measles to" [End of extant letter. Since there is no closing or return address, a page is probably missing.]

Collection

Keith Riggle Collection

Lexicon

Search Terms

Letters (Correspondence), Military, Morris family, Veterans--Civil War

Other Names and Numbers

Other Number

RIGK-AN001-0002

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Morris, David Milligan [1840-1917]

Person or Organization

Morris, Isabel [1841-1884]

Web Links and URLs

DOWNLOAD high-resolution JPG image - Pages 1 and 4, DOWNLOAD high-resolution TIFF image - Pages 1 and 4, DOWNLOAD high-resolution JPG image - Pages 2 and 3, DOWNLOAD high-resolution TIFF image - Pages 2 and 3

Provenance

Provenance Detail

Morris Series - Keith Riggle Collection

Acquisition Method

Digital

Acquisition Date

2015

Notes

The letter was passed from Isabelle (Morris) Atwood [1841-1884] and her husband, Dr. Elisha R. Atwood [1830-1902], to their daughter, Ella (Atwood) Morgan [1868-1944], and her husband, Frank Morgan [1867-1940], to their daughter, Julia Ethel (Morgan) McKuskey [1896-1967], and her husband, Frank McKuskey [1875-1935], to their son, Frank McKuskey [1919-1988], and his wife, Margaret (Watkins) McKuskey [1920-1991], to their daughter Susan (McKuskey) Campbell, to Keith Riggle, a 2nd-great-grandson of David Morris. Keith shared the letter with the Greene Connections: Greene County, Pennsylvania Archives Project in 2015. SOURCE CITATION: David Morris, (Camp Hovey, Ironton, Iron Co., Missouri) to Isabelle Morris, letter, 4 October 1861; item no. RIGK-AN001-0002, Keith Riggle Collection; Greene Connections Archives Project (GreeneConnections.com).