W.M. Patterson Letter to J.R. Patterson 28 May 1891

The Letter

Why is this letter so exciting?

It is a pretty mundane, short letter between brothers.  Weather, crops, news about people they know.  Not much to it. And then you read one short little sentence: “I was sorry to hear that Bob Ferguson got his house burned with all of its contents.”

And just like that…everything changes.

Family Stories

Family stories are wonderful, especially the old ones.  Unfortunately, unless the original teller of the tales writes it down, oral family history is more like a game of telephone.  With each telling, the story gets bigger.  Details are omitted or added.  The teller gives their own version to the listener, who then becomes the teller, creating their own version.  By the time I was old enough to hear some of the family stories, they were over 100 years old and had gone through five generations of revision.  I am adding a sixth generation of revision, but hope that I am able to “set the record straight” when I can.  This letter provided a bit of clarity on an often told (and one of my favorite) family stories.

The Story

Robert Andrew Ferguson (aka R.A., “Uncle Bob”, or just “Bob”) was my great great grandfather and he owned horses and raised and sold them on a massive scale.  He was gone from home (to “the camp” as this letter says) for months at a time, sometimes in Callahan or Jones counties in west Texas.  Later (and probably by the time this letter was written) he kept his horses in New Mexico.

Family lore says that R.A.’s wife, Isabella Wood Ferguson, wanted a new house and R.A. refused.  As the story goes, she watched him ride away in one direction and as soon as she couldn’t see him, she headed in the opposite direction to town where she contracted to have a new house built.  When R.A. returned home, there was a new house standing where his old house once stood.  He supposedly slept on the porch and when morning arrived, he knocked on the door to find out where his family (and house) might be.

Somethings Don’t Make Sense…Until They Do

I love that story so much especially after Jerry was in the Navy for twenty years.  He would deploy and I would be left at home with the kids for months at a time.  I chuckle as I write this because it makes me feel ancient.  The majority of his deployments occurred prior to cell phones or the Internet.  This meant that, like Isabella, I relied on handwritten letters complete with stamps, to communicate with my husband.  And sometimes, there wasn’t time to write a letter and wait for his response.

My motto was always “wait and include him, but if you need to make a decision…you need to make a decision.”  I mean, if he wanted to make every decision, he would have stayed at home, right?  I am certain Isabella felt the same way, but I always though she was pretty gutsy to build a house without imput.

One thing that always bothered me was, when R.A. arrived home, his house was missing.  Gone.  Not there.  That is strange.  I mean, I get having a house built, but housing was at such a premium at this time, there is no way she would have torn the house down.  The new house had to be where the old one was or R.A. wouldn’t have gone to it instead of his original homestead.  Things didn’t make sense.

In Which All Things Are Made Clear

And then, in a letter dated 28 May 1891, not only do I get an explanation, I also get an approximate date.  The Ferguson house burned.  That is why there was no old house for R.A. to go to.  It also explains why Isabella felt secure in making the decision.  It is one thing to want a new house and a completely different one to NEED a new house after a fire.

Here is the letter just in case reading 1891 handwriting isn’t your favorite thing to do:

Vernon, Wilbarger Co., Tex

May 28 AD. 1891

Mr. JR Patterson

Brandon, Texas

 

Dear Bro,

I received your most welcome letter day before yesterday and was glad to hear from you and to know that you were all well.

I was sorry to hear that Bob Ferguson got his house burned with all of its contents. 

You said Jo Rochelle had quit the sod team, I guess there was not so much fun in it as he at first though.

How many sod teams are they running, and who is running them? You said Bob Ferguson was out at the camp with Caz and the other boys.

I guess you have had rain there before now.  You said cotton was needing rain.  There has been plenty here.

Wheat is beginning to get rip here now.  Some have begun to cut and a good many more will begin next week.

There has been a very large amount of binders sold here this year. (One can hardly look out on the streets but that he sees several wagons loaded with binders.)

Some threshers have been taken out all ready (sic). Wheat is cheaper now than it was a week or two ago.  It is selling now at about 80¢ per bu.

Business has been a little better this week than before.  Mr. Ferguson has ordered a soda fountain and it will be here about Saturday or Monday. 

T.L. Pierce has sold his interest in “The Eagle Drug Store”, and will return to Hillsboro.

I haven’t been getting many letters lately I guess it is because you are all so busy you have no time to write.

As I can think of nothing more to write, I will close for the present.

This leaves me well and hope it will find you all the same.

Write soon and a long letter to

Your Afft. Bro.  (Your affectionate brother)

W.M. Patterson

Now I am on the hunt for information on that soda fountain R.A. Ferguson purchased!