The Islands: Island Letters: Wolfe: Irene Bamford

Island Letters

Letters from Irene Dixon Bamford

IRENE DIXON BAMFORD (1833-1922)
Letters to Her Daughter Grace Bamford Gaskin (1874-1950)
& Daughter-in-Law Flora Lindley Bamford (1875-1915)
Kindly submitted by Thelma Moye
Transcribed by Chris Morrell

Letter to Her Daughter Grace Bamford Gaskin

St. Lawrence PO
Wolfe Island
Ont. Can.
Sunday 21 Jan 1901

My Dear Grace
We received your letter by Friday�s mail and glad you are well and happy and enjoying yourself so well. I was sorry I mentioned Edna�s letter when I wrote you. Voltie thinks Edna meant well enough while I am hasty and suspicious and you know Voltie is the soul of Charity and honor itself. So I hereby inclose [sic] a part of the letter (the Principle part) to you. Thanks be to the Great Giver of every blessing we are well but the ? is quiet. Robby Reed came to see us sometimes and Will. Sis after dinner and Maud has gone over to Wills to visit the children. Voltie is reading �Thelma or The Land of the Midnight Sun.� Belle heard me express a wish for the book and first time she went.

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Voltie & Wally Rob Reid are going Tuesday to the �Old Folks Ball.� Voltie at the village and will go across to City if he can get there for lumber and coal for the �smithy� shop. Aunt R has got as near home as Belles where she is anchored on account of roads and weather. Tell Robert that Wall Niles is here and Voltie is trying to entertain him (Wall) by the description of the burning of Rome by Nero. The Roman Emperor who fiddled while he burnt the metropolis of the world but Wall don�t understand much about it - and tell him his chair is working for him by the coal stove but I suppose you have had such an enchanting time and seen so much gaiety that the old home will seem to you a sort of a hum drum place. But the sunshine is over the home and the river sparkles as brightly and quite content and peace in every heart in the old house at home.

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Eddy Bates. Is it possible that you never heard of Eddy�s marriage to Dora Gillespie over two years ago. Eddy has a deed of a house and lot at St. Lawrence N.Y. very near Dr. Buchanan�s has a shop of his own where he makes all kinds of wagons sleighs and all such work. They have a girl baby over a year old now about every third Sunday he and Dora come over and after leaving Dora at he father�s (George Gillespie) Ed comes (rows) Up to Wallie�s and stays through the day and then they go back home to the corners again towards night. Eben Bates has black smith shop at the corners. I was pleased to hear from your uncle John and the �bbasker. Will is doing a job of painting and graining (?) for John Niles they say is very fine work. I think Will does the prettiest graining [definitely begins with �g�] I ever saw it and �you know of a job of painting and graining (?) out your ways recommend your uncle William.

Letter to her Daughter-in-Law Flora Lindley Bamford, not dated

My dear Flora
I am glad you have got your house cleaning done which is a good job off your hands. We have not all through yet. Got to paint and paper. Grace is gone now and then to Kingston among her new relatives. They � they have great charm on her now. I am always busy from morning till night I am helping Arthur (or rather he is helping me) plant all the potatoes in the field. Yesterday I planted corn and potatoes. Now my dear girl, because you�re doing your work alone don�t kill yourself. Let your work jiggle once in a while. Keep your mind as free from worry and care as possible. Once �time a long while ago I was � pretty much as you are now �I had no more little ones to look after and I was alone. Then father was gone every summer off on the Lakes just as he is now. I had to work in door and out worrying and fretting about every thing. � to work all day and after I went to bed think over what I had to do next day and I got thin as a wafer I used to work some days when I seemed as if I could hardly drag one foot after the other. XXXX [cross out] grew corn, beans, potatoes, all our garden (???) go to milk � Oh I went big in to tell you all the things I done in those olden times. John can remember some of it. At last I made up my mind to one thing sure that I was � breaking (breathing?) down under all this weight. I care and then when I went to bed at night it would be to sleep and not take my churning and washing ironing baking sewing and mending to bed with me and I would go to bed early and that I would be happy and � under all circumstances and what was
my right and privelege [sic] as well as duty to do so and at certain times of day I would sit down and rest or better still take a nap every afternoon of an hour or so. It proved to be the most wonderful tonic cure medicine that I ever used. And that I would always have a song of gladness in my heart and Flora dear our Father who art in Heaven wants all His children to be happy. I talk to you just as I do to Grace. How often I think of your hard work and your hurting your knee. I don�t know why it s but I am thinking of you and John more than any of my children perhaps the reason is because you are away from me. Write to me if you get a little time. Next time I write & tell you of Rellie Amy Brocks away off in Montana in her new house. She wrote me a letter of 24 pages now think of that 24 pages. Try and come soon if you possibly can so you can co up to Billies (?) and be sure and write me how is you. Your mother, your loving mother, Irene Bamford

The Islands: Island Letters: Wolfe: Irene Bamford