Old correspondence...........

[Fred (S.Indiana)]

Between family of my grandmother's great grand parents, Brothers John Henry Dutton in Vincennes Indiana and Jacob, Hezekiah, James Dutton and Rufus and Mary Brown, who are nephew and niece to the Dutton bros. Dialog is somewhat dry, the common denominator seems to be who has or has not survived since last writing, as life must have been a precarious balance, as one family member has died from the kick of a horse to the head, talk of produce prices, and pork being 2.50 per hundred weight, and beef at 5.00, also talk of the progress of the railroad, and machinery except one that will grind the old and turn them young again. The oldest being 1846, the newest, 1863 corresponding between Vincennes Indiana and 7 mile Ford Smythe Virginnia, interesting.........

 

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[xGregx]

I have always found it interesting the quality of penmanship back then compared to today.

 

[Fred (S.Indiana)]

Yeah, the fact is that they could read and Write, my dad says that John Henry Dutton was a farmer in Knox county and had a huge spread of acreage and was known as the "melon king" for the melons he shipped by flat boat down the wabash to Louisiana......fred