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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.
Description
Margaret Kenyon thanks Chase for his letter and assures him of her family's support. She also discusses her plans for an "Ohio garden" and asks Chase to send more Ohio plants.
Date
1-1-1825
Keywords
Chillicothe Convention, Mr. Rutledge, Mrs. Marriott, Gredington, New York, Cincinnati, Zanesville, Steubenville, Circleville, Mr. Wiggin, Great Horkesley, Peel Hall, Duff Macfarlane, Adam Hodgson
Recommended Citation
Kenyon, Margaret, "Letter to Philander Chase" (1825). Philander Chase Letters. 508.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/chase_letters/508
Rights Statement
Transcript
K.Ch.250101a
Gredington
New Year’s Day
1825
Rt. Reverend and Dear Sir,
I trust you will not think me either presuming or troublesome in addressing you again, but as I have been employed during the last few weeks in preparing an humble memorial for your acceptance, (which is now almost complete) I cannot willingly pass by the opportunity it affords me for the pleasure & gratification of writing to you again. & I cannot do better than begin my letter today, with the new year, especially as we have just been [drinking] your health (as we never fail to do) & wishing you many happy years, & that the New Year may prove every way a happy one to you & those most dear to you.
How happy we have been made by your most delightful letters I cannot tell you! Especially by the unexpected & speedy arrival of those from dear Ohio! And most anxiously shall we await that of the interesting journals of the Chillicothe Convention which you have provided us. We were very much interested & pleased with Mr. Rutledge’s beautiful address at the funeral of your excellent son, as you will suppose all your friends in England were, from its being reprinted here. I have copied almost all your letters which have passed thro’ our hands since you went & I expect to make many additions to my invaluable Ohio collection thro’ dear Mrs. Marriott, when we go to town (London) next month. Indeed I have read & written & talked so much about you, that it hardly seems as if I had only seen you for little more than an hour. & the delightful picture we possess, & which hangs near me while I am writing, is a continual source of interesting thoughts & recollections. You are very kind, very dear Sir, in your affectionate remembrance & mention of myself & my sisters, indeed it is more than we [?] or ought to have hoped for. But indeed I hope if you knew us better, you would not think us ungrateful for I do not think any of your numerous English children can love you better, or revere you more than we do, & we only wish we were able to show it, by being of more real use to your sacred cause. We have also to thank you, (as we do most truly), as well as good Mrs. Chase, for the kind manner in which she is so good as to think of us, & the assurance that we share your prayers & blessings must ever be a high gratification & comfort to us, in “all the dangers & shames of this mortal life.”
January 19. My little offering being now quite completed, let me, my very dear Bishop Chase, beg your kind acceptance of it. I wish it were better done, & something more useful & more worthy acceptance; but such as it is, I hope you will be pleased with it, as recalling some of the scenes in your visit to England, in which we have been the most interested, & should it only serve sometimes to remind you of one who loves & venerates you most affectionately, I should be more than satisfied. I have added a view of Gredington, that you may have some idea of the place where your letters are so welcome. The Ship [Orbit] you will see is not forgotten. The reference under the [?] I fear you will hardly be able to make out, it is, Acts xx V. 38. I shall be very glad to hear the poor little letter case has reached Ohio in safety. We thought it a long time to be without hearing from you, from the time you left N. York till after the Chillicothe convention: but we comforted ourselves with hoping it would never be so long again between our letters. We saw good Mr. Wiggin in the autumn, who has got us the amount of American signatures, which you were so good as to desire we might have, & we have read the account relating to Ohio with great interest. We are not the less pleased with the book, as it contains a most excellent map of Ohio, in which we have found Worthington, Chillicothe, Cincinnati, Circleville, Steubenville, Zanesville — all the places in which we are most interested. I have also [read] Mr. A. Hodgson’s travels, which you so strongly recommended (July 15, 1824) with very great interest: & I think I could find my way pretty well in the U.States, tho’ I should care for little but the nearest way to “dear Ohio,” if I were ever on the other side the Atlantic. Mr. Wiggin has also been so good as to make us a model of a log house, & we intend to have one built in our Ohio walk, which will be a very favorite walk indeed! But we shall still be very glad of any places are so good as to send us, & the cargo of American plants will be very highly valued. Could we not have some Apple [?] from your own orchard? The account of your dear children & the heaps of apples, was quite a picture. I must not forget to say, that when we saw Mr. Wiggin, he again led us to entertain hopes of seeing you again in England. How happy such an event would make us, I cannot tell you! But I hardly dare think about it, it seems almost too delightful to look forward to. We hope to see the Ohio [wards] of Great Horkesley while we are in London. [Mary] Ohio has been so good as to send us some very interesting accounts of what passed during your visit there. My dear Aunt, whom you saw at Peel Hall, is with us, & as warmly your friend as ever. She & my sisters join me in best wishes, & affectionate & respectful remembrances. My brothers have left us, or would desire me to add theirs. And now, my very dear & ever-revered Sir, believe me ever, most truly, your gratefully obliged & very affectionate humble servant,
Margaret Emma Kenyon
Miss Macfarlane will not be in London this spring, which I am sorry for, for I cannot help wishing to know one so much connected with you & dear Ohio.