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Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott
for the U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/
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Letter from Isaac H. Witherell to his mother,
Eupemia (Scoon) Witherell
======================================================================

Lookout Valey Tennessee March 26th, 1864


Dear mother I have not hurd from you in some time and I thought I
would write a few lins to let you know  how we get a long.  We are
well at present and hope this will find you well.  When maggie rote
you was sick I hope you are well before this time.  I haven't had many
letters for the last three weeks.  I don't know but my coraspondants
are geting tired of me.  If they are I shal get some more.  I received
too ledgers yesterday from John Pennock but the ledgers didn't say a
word about the folks at home and that was the nuse that

[page 2]
I wanted to get but the mail has not came in to day and I ma get a
letter from some one.  We have had a awful snow storm.  the snow was
about 10 inches deep.  it was prety cold for too day but today it
rains and the snow is going very fast.  I tell you that the mountains
look rather dismal.  W[e] are in the valey betwne too rainges of
mountains so that the wind don't do us much hurt.  last night it blew
prety hard before it comenced to rain.  our shanty is vary warm.  we
have a good fire place in it and lots of good wood to burn.  there is
not eney sick in the regiment now a few cases of measels too in our
company.  Wal I must tell you what we had for dinner yesterday.  We
had boiled beef and pork and

[page 3]
bread molases offer peach py and coockies.  dont you think we live
_____ ______ wal so we do when in camp.  We have got a good baker but
it costs conciderable to by his stuff, I was up on lookout the other
day but it was so smokey that I couldnot see much but I see the top of
the mountain where the rebs had their guns that they ust to throw
shells over our heads with but they never done much hurt with them.
susan has got a little girl has she.  When you write ___ tell all the
nuse you can think of.  how dos father get a long now.  dose he drink
as bad as he ust to.  I hope not and how dos John Witherell get along
and where dose he live.  does he drink much.  I hope he dont for I
think that it is better to let it alone than it is to have

[page 4]
eny thing to do with it.  I have not drank a pint of eny kind of
liequor since I left portage and I don't intend to drink it if there
is such a thing as not doing it I can let it a lone and not drink it
unless it is for something that nothing else will do.  I cant think of
eny more this time so good by

From I H. Witherell to mother
rite soon

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Transcriber's Notes:

Reference to "maggie" is his sister, Margaret (Witherell) Moore

Reference to John Pennock: husband of his sister, Susan Goss Witherell

Susan's "little girl" must have died young as she is not with the
family on the 1870 Census.

Reference to John Witherell: brother of the Isaac, Walter & Susan.
Odd how he uses the surname when referring to his brother.