Overton Letter, 15 Jan 1880, - Maury Co, TN - Clinton, LA ***************************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm Permission has been granted from Howard Bramlette of Nashville, TN, owner of the letter, for submission to the Smith County TXGenWeb Archives by Joel Patrick Childress - londonwildcat@earthlink.net 19 September 2000 ***************************************************************** LETTER FROM E.C. OVERTON TO MATTIE BELLE OVERTON IN LOUISIANA Columbia, Maury County, Tennessee March 15, 1880 Miss Mattie Belle Overton Clinton, Louisiana Cousin Mattie, Your welcome letter came to hand out last evening and I hasten to answer it to for I assure you, I was much gratified to hear from you. I have written to your Uncle John, your father and your cousin Beauchamp and to the Postmaster at Port Hudson in 1878 or 1879 and could get no answer. I am sorry to hear of Cousin John's death, I thought a great deal of him. I have, since I was at your grandmother's, received letters from your uncle and your father and one of your cousin Beauchamps, but they all quit writing. I will inform you the late War broke me. The Yanks robbed me of all my property. I had bought two hundred and fifty acres of land in 1856 that belonged to my father, who departed this life on the March 26, 1856. I will inform you that I live in the house built by my grandfather. I gave $5,750 for it and owed $1,700 on it when the war commenced and I have had a hard row to travel to pay up and support my family. I married in 1856. I have eight living children and a boy buried, and I will give you their names and ages. Alice Jane, she is twenty-three and married William A. Moore and has one child. My next highest Stephen Carter, 19; Robert Lee, 17; Claibourn Hayes 15; Judge Walter Samuel 13; Margaret Paralee, 9; Emma Susan, 7; and John Lane, 5. My eldest son Jesse Milton died when three years old with diptha; he would have been twenty-one. I married a widow Susan Lane and 1856 when I was 44. I am now nearly sixty-eight. I never was sick but once to be confined to my bed, I have lost all my teeth, my head is white as cotton. Still, I enjoy fine health and can make a pretty good hand on the farm. I and my sons carry on the farm. They are stout and good workers. My oldest living was not in good health for two years but is stout now. I have been so poor I could not send my Children to School as I wished. I intend if I live to Educate them, so that they will be able to do their business and if they wish to study a profession they can do so. I want them to have a good constitution and if they are raised to labor they will be apt to have a constitution, so they can enjoy life. I will now give you the names of my Brothers and Sisters. Emeline Jackson Rodery lives in Marshall County, Mississippi. She is seventy. Margaret Caroline McKay lives in Smith county Texas and Old Canton is her post office. She has a large family at age sixty-six. Colonel John F. Overton died last August; he has a large family and lived in Smith County Texas. Eliza Cassandra died twenty-seven years of age and has one daughter who married a Thomas and lives in Texas. Dr. Samuel Overton lives in Smith County Texas post office old Canton and has a large family. He has practiced medicine in Canton thirty-four years and weighs 220 pounds at age sixty. James Jefferson lives in my neighborhood; he is nearly blind and has a large family at age fifty-eight. Robert Carter lives in Maury County, Missouri (Corsicana is his post office) and has a large family at age fifty-six. Abdon Alexander lives near Robert and is a physician with a large family at age fifty-four. Dr. Jesse Overton died eight years ago, he left four little girls and they live in Old Canton, Smith County, Texas. One of his daughters lives in Georgia. She married a Fitzgerald. I learn they are all doing well. You should write to Dr. Samuel Overton as he would be proud to hear from you and he has a daughter near your age named a Cornelia and she would delight in corresponding with you. Brother John's oldest daughter married my stepson Alfred J. Lane; her name was Mary Alice. They have three children and live in Marshall County, Tennessee. Brother John died with bronchitis. He has an interesting daughter, single; her name is Emma J. Overton. Post Office Old Canton is the office of all my relatives in Texas. I want to tell your Grandmother and Aunt to write to me and visit me this summer if they can. They can come by railroad to Columbia and I live within seven miles of Columbia. Aunt Cassandra Buyers, my father's sister, died about 1874. All of her children are dead except Isaac Newton. He has two children. He was her youngest son and is in bad health. Marshal the oldest died in 1874 in Talahatchy County, Mississippi leaving a wife and five children. Dr. Nelson, William, John, Martha Jane and another daughter I have forgotten her name died without families. The children of Aunt Martha Patton are all dead except John O. Patton, alias John P. Overton, and I have not heard from him in thirty years… Well, Cousin, you spoke of going to the schoolroom. I will inform you that I have enjoyed myself teaching as well as any business I have ever followed. When I had a paying school and I could succeed in getting my students to engage heartily in their studies, I enjoyed teaching. But when the pay was small and students had to be forced to take an interest in learning, it was a tiresome business. I closed my last session last fall and do not think I will ever teach another session. My daughter taught one session and the first thing I knew she married and I thought she did right, as she did not like the business and she married a very clever man. Send your picture on the receipt of this. E.C. Overton Cousin Samuel and I would like to see you. I have your picture you sent me before you were married, you were good-looking. I suppose you are looking something older. I should be pleased to see you and if I can't, you must write to me and let me know how you are and have been getting along with the world. I am of the opinion we are going to have the greatest excitement in our next Presidential Election we have ever witnessed and fear our Government will fall to pieces. It is presumed that General Grant will be the Republican nominee and if he is, then state’s rights will pass away and the United States will be considered a nation where each state will be forced to give up their constitutional rights to the ruler of the United States. Then I look for trouble. Some of the late decisions of the Supreme Court foreshadow the course the radical Party will take. Write me and I will correspond with you. E.C. Overton Cousin Belle, I will inform you that my wife is fifty-nine years old, pert as a girl, tends to her own business and does her own cooking and sewing and enjoys fine health. I am in the bee business. I have forty colonies and more good honey perhaps. I am of the opinion that Louisiana would be a fine country for honey as your winters are also mild and so many flowers for bees to collect honey from. I have an extractor and get the honey out of the combs and then put the comb back and the bees fill it again. I have the patent gum, with racks eleven inches by nine and the bee builds comb to the rack. I then lift out the rack and extract the honey and return the rack without any trouble. Well, excuse my long letter for if I could see you all I could talk enough to fill forty such letters and then would not begin to talk as much as I would wish. Write me about the bees of your country. Well, I will close. E.C. Overton (Use "back button" to return to the Overton Letters Table of Contents.)