The Civil War Letters of Aaron Jones Fletcher

 

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Letter dated July 19, 1863 from Wealthy Gates and Hepsabeth Augusta Fletcher (sisters), Shrewsbury, Mass., to Aaron Jones Fletcher

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            Shrewsbury  July 19th 1863

My Dear Brother
It is a long time since I received
your last letter and should have answered it before
but we have been sick here  My Children have
all of them had the Measles but they have got
over them now  George he has been very sick
he was all run down and then the Measles
did not come out well he had the Dr seven
times but he is better now  he has got out
again but he was pretty sick for four weeks
so you see I have been p[r]etty baisy and did not
get time to write to you but I thought of
you many times  how is your health now
I hope it is better if you are not able to do
duty their whare you are, dont go back to the
reg. but resign and come home same as the
rest do cant you do so Eliza has been here
she came last week I told her you was not
very well  she said to tell you to resign
if you could not stand it their not go back
to the reg unless you wanted to  we heard
that the 26th were all captured but dont believe it
is it so

 

[p.2]
I sent home for Hepsey when the children
were sick she came one week ago Wednesday
will stop a while with me  I am going to let
her write to you on half this sheet to tell you
the Acton news I dont get much only they have
begun to draft and have kicked up quite a
fuss over it  I will send you a paper that will
tell you about it but perhaps you will hear
about it before you get the paper  Newell did
not get drafted but I was agraid he would be
their  was a lot of acton fellows drafted but
I will let hepsey tell you for she knows
them better then I do  I have not heard
from Swift for some time  the last time
that he wrote to me he said he was well
Hepsey had a letter last week he said he
was not very well he had been up ten nights
to guard his road the rebels were thick and
ment to distroy the road if they could but I
guess they did not make out  I guess he will
be all right again as soon as he gets rested
as for the girls down east I dont hear from them
at al do you?  I want to hear from you very
much I hope you are better  Newell sends his
love and says take good care of yourself and not
get sick  well I will leave the rest of this for
hepsey  we all send our love and hope to hear
from you soon   from your sister W Y Gates

 

[p.3]
Monday Afternoon July 20th

Dear Brother
I received your letter
before I left home but I was so buisy
in getting read to come up here that
I have not had time to write  I left
the folks all well  Father was haying
he was intending to do it alone with
Jonathans help  help is so scarse and so high
$2.50 per day seams a big prise to pay so Father
thought it best to do alone I suppose that you
have heard that they was drafting  I had a
letter from Mother she sent me the names
to the men that was drafted [*] in Acton Nelson Robbins
Edward Harris Winthrop Jones George Fletcher Hiram Hapgood
John Tenny Charles Moulton George Conant Joel Garliston
Edwin Tuttle Daniel Tuttle William Wild Simon Robbins
Luke Tuttle Samuel Fletcher Hosmer  Uncle Edwin Jones
Joel Hayward Henry Gilson Charles Jones  George Gardner
Varnum Mead a Dunn boy and a Chaffin boy James Parker
Henry Stevens was drafted in Acton and Boston two
he come from Vermont last Spring to work for James Tuttle
and he was enrolled in Acton then he left for Boston
and was enrolled again their and he was drafted
in boath places that was all of the news and
nothing else but Mary & Reuben & Emma are going down
East this week and Elias Haynes wife  much love to you I shall
look for a picture of yourself
soon write soon good bye
your sister Hepsie

[* the result of this draft was reported in the 1863/64 annual report for the Town of Acton, p. 20].