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The Philander Chase letters were written in the 18th and 19th century and therefore may contain language that we understand today as harmful or offensive. You may encounter paternalist descriptions of Native Americans, racial slurs, or sexism. For more information, see our policy page.
Date
Summer 8-25-1827
Recommended Citation
Morse, Intrepid, "Letter to Rebecca Morse" (1827). Philander Chase Letters. 505.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/chase_letters/505
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Dear wife,
I cannot be sufficiently thankful for your safe arrival at Worthington and for the improving state of your brothers health, that you found him living and convalescent excites feelings of enormous gratitude to the Giver of all goods. May we be as thankful as we ought for this and all our blessings! I read your letter, to Mary and endeavored to make her fully comprehend its import, she seemed as much pleased as any of us with its contents- “when will mother come home?” was the only comment made by our dear daughter- a question which we all frequently ask ourselves in common with her. Indeed, dear we are very lonesome and sad without you, and nothing but the conviction that you are engaged in the sacred offices of fraternal affection and charity can reconcile us to your absence. Mary often says with me , “ O’ God bless my dear mother and make uncle well”; an infants prayer it is true, but I hope heard and registered on high, because I am sure it is sincerely true. Just this moment she was with me and read her lesson as usual, when I told her I was going to write to her mother and asked of her what I should say, she answered, “ tell my dear mother to come home soon” - “I’ll give her a kiss and a buss” - “when mother comes home I shall be so glad!”- Why do I write this? It is to recall to your mind the domestic scene, and to show the universal feelings that pervades us all; a feeling you will not despise. The town is at present overrun with some seventy or eighty methodist preachers attending upon their annual conference now. We have three of them at our home- Mr Elliot, presiding elder, from the reserve- Mr. Sharp, from Beever Pa. and Mr Moore from Short Creek Va - all very clever good sort of men. With Mr. E I was formerly acquainted- he was originally a churchman in Ireland his native country, and I took the liberty of once asking him why he had forsaken his mother, the church, now that she was old and poor and needed his assistance? A question which he found it difficult to answer, at least to my satisfaction. If much preaching will make us good, we certainly ought now to be so, for we have three sermons a day at present with the prospect of more- the Presbyterian and methodist meeting houses being opened every day for worship, alias preaching, as it is termed. Rebecca Hammond is here- but her mother, who you know dislikes a crowd, is not coming, as we expected before you left. Alexander is not yet arrived, but we look for him to be here this evening, when we hope to hear further respecting her.
My appointments are so arranged that I cannot come to W, until after the convention, say the ninth or tenth of Sept. In the meantime I beg that you will use all needful precautions to preserve your health, and pray that ours may be made prosperous , so that we may then meet in peace and joy and be safely restored to our family and home. All here are well and send much love and kind remembrance.
Write often and may God bless and keep you now and ever