Keller Family of Lawrence Co KY Letters from John W. Keller to his parents LOUISA LAWRENCE COUNTY KY, DEC 22, 1850. My Dear Parents, I again resume my pen to give you the news of our country. I should have written to you long since but when I received your last letter I was yet living in Paintsville in the county of Johnson and was not then determined what I would do, whether to buy a farm on the waters of Blane creek in Johnson county and settle there, or to go somewhere and follow the saddling business. I at length concluded to come to the town of Lousia and see what I could do here. I moved here on the 21st of November last and commenced business on the 25th of the same month. And, I am doing what I call first rate. I will now give you an idea, or a sketch of my business. I am in partnership with Wm H. Johnson, a tanner from Baltimore, who has been living here four years, he came here about the time I started to Mexico and bought a tanyard, the only one in the town. Which he cares on very extensive, he sells leather at Cincinnati frequently however I have nothing to do with the tanyard, only this, I keep his books. I also the books of the saddling and shoe making business, In both saddling and shoe making, I am a full partner. Our agreement is as follows, Johnson is bound to furnish all materials for the saddling and shoe and boot business at Cincinnati prices. And, I am bound to manage both of the businesses, keep the books, for which I get half the profits of both saddling and shoemaking and 300 dollars a year extra for my services. We entered into partnership for 2 years. You are bound to think as I do and that is that I have an excellent contract. I have 2 hands on saddles besides myself & one hand on bridles, etc, and 2 on boots and shoes. I sold upwards of 100 dollars worth of work the first week that I was I in the concearn. Johnson wants to take $1000 worth of saddles up the Missouri river in the spring to trade for hides. I want one more saddle hand badly and one good bootmaker. Wages are very good here, a good workman can make from 35 to 45 dollars a month. I make 50 dollars here in the month of March 1847. When I carried on at Pointsville and frequently bought skirting and bridle leather of Johnson and in July last he for the first time intimated partnership to me and in Nov we closed the agreement. I am working on full Spanish saddles, quilted all over. Which I make on the Walker Spanish Trees, and sell them at 45 and 50 dollars apiece. When I would up my business at Paintsville, the folks there did not want me to leave, because they would be left with out a saddler. But I left them and that too without owing 1 dollar in Johnson County. I have between two and three hundred dollars in good notes on people in Johnson which I will be able to collect about next July. My family is well and well satisfied here. Provisions are rather hard to come at this fall, and some folks will eat but a small portion of fresh pork. Write to me as soon as you receive this and give me all the news of your country. Give my respects to all my old friends. Tell how and what Edward is doing, for he never writes to me, he has not written for upwards of one year. I supose Uncle Saml has returned by this time, and given you a full history of his travels. I should be very glad to see him or some of you coming out this way again. No more at present. I remain your dutiful son, John W. Keller This is a dark and gloomy day, we have had no ice nor snow this winter. ------------------------------------ LOUISA L. C. KY APRIL 12 1851 DEAR FATHER, I received your last letter in due time, and should have answered it long since, and can offer no legal excuse for not having done so. I hope however, that you will pardon me for this, and I will do better the next time. I have been very busily engaged in the shop all winter. We have had six hands at work all the time, and sold our work nearly as fast as we had it made. We have some 500 dollars worth of saddles and bridles on hand at this time and intend adding some 3 or 400 dollars worth to it before our public times come on, which will commense on the first Monday in may. There will be Superior Court, election and general muster which will be nearly three weeks that our town will be crowded with country folks. And then will be the time to sell saddles, bridles, etc. My partner is now at Cincinnati buying hides and saddlery. I look for him back tomorrow on the steamer (Relief) a regular Big Sandy to Cincinnati packet. Once a week from Louisa to Cincinnati touching all points on the Ohio between the two places. I have been in this firm now a little upwards of four months and we have averaged upwards of 300 dollars per month during the dull season. Our sales, with work and stock on hand since I have been here, amount to nearly 2000 dollars. I can say that I have cleared at least 100 dollars per month since I have been here. And that is doing very well, for a Machanic. I can assure you that I am doing a close business and at the end of a year I can tell exactly to a half dime what I have made. I keep a family expense book in which I put down every item I buy, even to a half dime, lest it be appropriated in any shape, form, or fashion. My family is well, and I can say that young Fred is the finest boy I most ever saw. He runs all over the yard and nothing seems to gratify him more than to get after a dog or a hog with a stick. Our shop is opposite the court house, and my house is in the same square, only on another row. About as far as from your shop to William Rouchs house. Uncle Saml can tell you how our town is laid off if he recollects. We have a great time here among so many candidates for the different offices of the county such as judge, clerk, surveyor, etc., too numerous to mention, which comes off in May. And in August, we will have our political election for Governor, Senator, Congress and Legislature. Our party have nominated L. W. Powell for Governor, and I think we can lay it on to the Whigs about right at least I hope so. I shall take a trip up Sandy immediately after our May election to collect some 300 dollars which I have owing to me there. I should have gone there ere this but could not leave on account of business. I received a letter of Hiram some three weeks ago which I shall answer next Saturday. I was much pleased with it the fact it was a very well composed letter by far better than I expected. The weather is very fine here, a great many farmers have planted the most of their corn, we had hardly any snow, the ground was not covered all winter at any one time, our DEEPEST snow was about half inch. I have a splendid garden planted a great many onions & potatoes and sowed a great many seeds. My garden is nearly half acre and the very best of soil. I pay 50 dollars per year for my house and two gardens. And a good garden in this town is worth 50 dollars cash to any person that will attend to it. I shall raise some 10 or 12 bushels of onions for which I can get 10 cents a dozen. I planted one roasting ear patch and early cucumbers on the first day of April, also beans, peas, peppers, sage, radishes, mustard, lettus, and a variety of other little notions, nearly all of which are up and look fine. I also sowed two tolerable large fields of the very best drumhead cabbage and if I have luck with the plants, will yeald me some 5dollars beside some 200 which I shall set out for myself in order to have some barrels of kraut next winter. By which time, from all signs, my family will increase. I have a boy bound to me for two years from last Dec by order of the county court. He is a very apt fellow and can make a very good double bridle which I sell for two dollars. I have him so far advanced now that he makes about 1.50 per week over his board and clothes. Give my love to Mother, Sister and Brothers and all my old friends. And do answer this immediately. I remain your dutiful son, JOHN W.KELLER ------------------------------------- Copy of letter written by John W. Keller of Blain, Ky, to his mother, Maria Keller in Litiz, Pa Blain L.C. Ky Jan 29, 1855 My Dear Mother, With shame to myself be it said that two years have lapsed since I last wrote to you and if you will but pardon me for this offense, I promise never to be guilty of another such during our natural lives, and even now, at this period, I have not much of importance to write. I fear therefore that my letter will prove rather dull & uninteresting to you. At the time I last wrote to you, I was unsettled and knew not where I would setter and that was one reason why I did not write to you soon after. I received your last favor which came to hand in May 1853. In August of the same year I traveled through a portion of Eastern Ky to look over a situation for location and found a delightful spot in Lawrence County where I now reside at a home of my own. Myself & family are well, when I speak of family I mean wife & child, that same dear little child of whose birth was near at hand when I last wrote to you, she was born on the 13th of Febry 1853. Her name is Laura Ann, and a fine little girl she is as fine & healthy as I ever saw, talks lovely & has uncommon good sense for a child of her age. I must now give you a small history of my affairs so far as I have progressed since I left Louisa which took place in July 1853. I came here on Big Blaine creek a tributary of Big Sandy, about 20 miles distant from Louisa, bought a small piece of land, paid for it & had the deed recorded in the clerks office at Louisa. The next step I took, I built me a good house on the place and moved into it in Oct 53. Then I fitted up a shop in the upper story & bought $183 dollars worth of saddlery at Cincinnati, brought them home I went to work, and found this the best stand to sell work of any that I ever tried. I soon found that by strict attention to business I would accumulate some thing in a short time, my means were but limited after paying for land & building house & buying trimming so I could not at that time raise the dough to build a shop etc. I however soon worked up my trimmings and have been to Portsmouth twice since recruiting my stock. I have now a lot of trees, skirting, skirting, bridal leather, pad skins, bits, stirrups, buckles and enameled leather is coming on I expect them by the first of Febry, notwithstanding the money panic, I have more work than two hands can do, if I ever don't live in a town, I used to think it would not do to live in the country but I find let me be where I will, I can find as much as I can do. I'm now building a shop 16' square in the clear. I have the frame up, door frame and window frames & 2 ends weatherboarded, and it would have been finished ere this, but the weather has been so bad for the last month that the carpenters could not work ahead on it. I also build a neat smoke house and dug a well last Augst and all paid for, and by the time my shop will be finished I won't owe $10 on it. This summer I intended building a kitchen and stable and then I will stop building for a while. I intended going to Cincinnati next to buy some grocerys such as coffee, sugar, salt, molaysis, rice & I found I have the best stand in the county for an establishment of that kind. I live on the main road from Va to the west and there are immigrants traipsing continually going to the west, and you may say there are four roads intersecting here, the road from Trayson to Paintsville from West Liberty to Paintsville, from west Liberty to Louisa and from Louisa to Paintsville, and the nearest shop is at Louisa and yes, I sell fine saddles in that town, and two shops there. But only ordinary workmen, I as one of them had an idea of going to some western city to start business, but I feared that the many inducements to spend money would perhaps keep me poor and a renter all my life and I abandoned the idea, as my paper is near exhausted and I have no envelopes at this time I must come to a close. Give my respects to my all, brothers and sister and all relatives. Tell Edward and Uncle Lichtenshaler to write to me soon and don't forget to write yourself and give me a history of all the most important events and occurrences that have transpired since your last letter. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Your dutiful son John W. Keller Blain P.O. Lawrence Co, Ky ======================================================================== File submitted by: Mary Goodyear USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation. Commercial entities must ask for and receive permission from submittor before downloading.