Allegheny County PA Archives-  Biography: Letter to John & Elizabeth Bentz, 1857

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by:
Pam Dunn

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From Pam Dunn
This is a letter writtten to my gr, gr gr, grandparents (John and Elizabeth Kingan Bentz) by her sister Mary Kingan, upon hearing of the death of her neice. It was written in 1857 from Pittsburgh:

Pittsburgh July 13, 1857
Dear brother and sister Your letter to Presley was received last Saturday. We were all very glad to hear from you once more, but were very sorry indeed to learn the sad intelligence of your bereavement. You have a great deal of sympathy from your friends and acquaintances in this place for all who knew Mary Jane loved her and she was in every respect worthy of the love which was bestowed upon her both by her parents and friends. But however much we loved her we could not keep her with us. Her father in heaven loved her better than her earthly friends and wanted her to go and live with and sent and took her to himself. You may mourn her death and it is but natural you should. But you do not mourn as one without hope. For you know that your loss however hard it may seem is her eternal gain. And while you have laid her body beneath the ground, her spirit is with God who gave it, freed from pain and the many ills to which she would have been subject had she still lived in this world of sin and care. It only remains for us who are left behind to prepare to go to her for well we know she will never come to us. It has been such a long time since we heard from you. I wrote two or three times and Presley wrote several times. But none of us got an answer to our letters. The last letter I received was while I was in Cincinnati a year ago last April. Last Summer Aunt Jane wrote to me that Aunt Sally had received a letter from you and that you had gone back to Sandwich (Illinois). That was the only intelligence we had of your having returned. I wrote to that place but that letter met with the same fate as the others. I did not get an answer. After I came home this summer I went to find your brother to see if he knew anything about you, but found he had moved to St. Louis in the spring. Brown is working in Byardstown in Bolemans Rolling Mill and they are living in the the 5th ward. He has been there almost a year. Both the boys are in the shop with him. Fathers health has been very poor for a long time. He was obliged to give up work altogether and has sold his horse and waggon. Last winter they did not think he would live till spring, but he is some better now and has gone to the country to stay two or three months. Robert is living in Temperanceville in their own house. He is working in Bolemans Mill, he has a horse and rides back and forth morning and evening. They have five children, three boys and two girls. They are all well I believe. We have not heard anything from John Baugh since last winter. They were all well. Mary Ann was married sometime last winter. I do not know what kind of a husband she got, but Stewart Grimes seems to think she done very well. Our brother Thomas was married last December. I think he has got a right nice wife. She was a Miss Torrance of Allegheny. They are living only a few doors from Brown. Thomas is working in the Roling Mill and is getting along pretty well but his health is not very good. Stewart Grimes was married last November to a Miss Campble (sp?) from Iowa and has gone there to live. I wrote to you last summer about Lizzie Barr being married to R. R. McQuistion. They were married the 22d of May 1856. She has a young daughter about three months old. Her health has been very bad ever since her babe was born. Thery were all well in Steubenville the last I heard from there. Our church is getting along pretty well but does not increase as fast as it did for a while after Mr. Taylor came, although the congregation is still pretty large. There has been so many changes among the members that it hardly seems like the same place. Quite a number of the old members have gone away, some have died and strangers have taken their place. Maria More died last winter. She was sick a long time. She has left several little children. I believe Elenor is taking care of them. Mary Ann Weaver has met with a sad bereavement. They moved to Minisota in the spring and had been there only two weeks when her husband was drowned. I did not learn how it happened. She returned home on Saturday with her fatherless children. Martha McGloughlan was married about three weeks ago to a Presbyterian Minister and has gone as a missionary among the Indians. Levinia Dougherty, Sarah White, Lucritia Eaton, and nearly everybody else is married but me. I am still on hands and likely to be for a while. I was (at) Lizzie Brownlies about two weeks ago. Her little girl had the measels but I have since learned she has got quite well. Mary Jaye Alstons children have all been sick. John is not doing any better then he used to do. Aunt Mary is about as usual, Uncle John Kingans oldest son is very bad with the rhumatism. Since last November I have been in Mt Union Ohio two miles from Alliance attending school. Aunt Sally offered to bear my expences if I would go and you may be sure I was very thankful for the oppertunity. I like the school very much. It is quite a pleasant place. I never had better health in my life than while I was out there. I am going back again in three weeks. I do not know how long I will be there, I would like to stay a year. Eveline requested me to write this in answer to the letter you wrote to them. She wants you to write soon and let them know how your are and how you like the place as we have never heard whether you liked it or not. We would all be very glad to see you all. Have you no idea of coming back if only to pay us a visit. I would like to go out there very much but it takes so much money that I can not afford it. Eveline has had a very bad cough for several weeks. The rest are as well as usual. When you get (thoe?) lines on Marys death send them on and they will be attended to. I hope you will try and bear your bereavement with Christian patiance and resignation knowing that the Lord doeth all things well remembering how much better for her to be taken than one of you and she be left with the rest of the children to battle with this unfriendly world without the wachful care of a Father or Mother to shield them from the many dangers which beset the path of youth. I want that this letter should answer Browns and me, too. Direct your answers to Presley Seymore Brown, 5th ward. And to me at Mt Union, Stark Co., Ohio, write soon. Brown, Eveline and all the children send their love to you all. Robert John was wishing only a few days ago to see Mary, Annie and Willie. Little did we then think that we should never see Mary again in this world. I hope it will not be long untill we hear from you again. My love to all the children, with a great deal of love to you both and hoping to hear from you very soon. I remain as ever your affectionate sister. Mary Kingan

Wm & Eveline Brown to John & Elizabeth Bentz