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1855 Cornelia Jane Nesmith Letter Hume NY – Windham NH Family, Courtship, Sewing SocietyOriginal 1855 Cornelia Jane Nesmith Autograph LetterHume / Wiscoy, Allegany County, New York – Windham, New Hampshire Family Connections – Warsaw Visit – Courtship Gossip – Consumption Death – Women’s Sewing Society
Offered here is an original three-page handwritten letter dated January 18, 1855, written and signed by Cornelia Jane Hill/Hills Nesmith (1821–1910), wife of George Reid Nesmith (1803–1882).
Written from the Hume / Wiscoy area of Allegany County, New York, this unusually content-rich personal letter preserves a vivid snapshot of everyday life in a mid-19th-century rural community. Cornelia reports on illnesses, visitors, social gatherings, travel, music teaching, courtship and marriage prospects, the death of a neighbor from consumption, migration to Wisconsin, and the internal troubles of a local women’s Sewing Society.
The letter is especially interesting for its strong connection to the old Scotch-Irish community of Windham, New Hampshire, where Cornelia’s husband George had been born and raised. Near the close, George asks for news of a number of his old Windham acquaintances and relatives, including Capt. William Campbell, Jacob, Uncle Joe Clyde, Aunt Jane Hemphill and her daughter, showing that the Nesmiths maintained close social and family ties to New Hampshire long after settling in western New York.
Content Highlights
Cornelia opens by apologizing for not writing sooner and discusses her own improved health. She then gives detailed news of neighbors and acquaintances, including the Davidson family and the declining health of Jane.
The letter becomes particularly lively when Cornelia describes the winter social season:
“Partys are very fashionable again this winter”
She mentions attending a party at Mrs. Hopkins’, another party given by Mrs. Van-, and an upcoming donation party and oyster supper at Esq. Boucher’s.
Cornelia also records the recent death of:
“James Taggart died about two months since with Consumption”
providing a direct contemporary reference to tuberculosis, one of the most common causes of death in 19th-century America.
She then describes a four-day visit to Warsaw, New York, where Isabell was boarding and teaching music. Cornelia met Maria Barnett and visited the household of Merrill/Merriell Barnett, whose daughter Mary Ann had been seriously ill with fever.
The most entertaining section concerns Mrs. Butler and her uncertain romantic prospects. Cornelia writes that Mrs. Butler had:
“done a little to much Courting”
and wonders whether she may still “get the Merchant after all.” The merchant had recently visited while accompanied by another woman, and Cornelia predicts that “there will be a winding up before long.”
The postscript offers another excellent glimpse of women’s community life:
“our Sewing Society is about done, they will not train under their Officers such as Widow Brown for President.”
This brief remark records internal disagreement within a local women’s voluntary association and adds an important women’s social-history dimension to the letter.
Biography – Cornelia Jane Hill/Hills Nesmith
Cornelia Jane Hill or Hills Nesmith was born March 2, 1821, and died October 12, 1910.
She married George Reid Nesmith on April 16, 1846, becoming his second wife. By the time this letter was written in 1855, the couple was established in the Hume / Wiscoy area of Allegany County, New York.
Cornelia’s letter gives an unusually intimate view of her daily world: household health, travel, neighboring families, women’s work, music instruction, social gatherings, courtship and local organizations. She survived George by nearly three decades and lived into the early 20th century.
Cornelia and George are buried in Wiscoy Cemetery in the Town of Hume, Allegany County, New York.
Biography – George Reid Nesmith
George Reid Nesmith was born March 4, 1803, in Windham, New Hampshire, and died August 21, 1882.
He belonged to the long-established Nesmith family of southern New Hampshire, part of the region’s important Scotch-Irish Presbyterian population. Windham and nearby Londonderry had been heavily settled in the 18th century by Ulster Protestant families, and the Nesmith name was deeply rooted there.
George moved west to Hume, Allegany County, New York, around the late 1830s and spent much of the remainder of his life there as a farmer and trader.
The closing section of Cornelia’s letter is particularly valuable because George asks for news of people he had known in Windham, including members of the Campbell, Clyde and Hemphill families. These surnames were all associated with the old Windham Scotch-Irish community, making the letter useful not only as personal correspondence but also as a document of continued family and social networks between New Hampshire and western New York.
Other People Mentioned
Viola – A woman who had recently left the Nesmith household and departed for Wisconsin, reflecting the continuing westward migration of families and individuals during the 1850s.
Mr. and Mrs. Davidson – Friends or neighbors whose health Cornelia reports on. The Davidson surname was also well represented in Windham, New Hampshire, suggesting a possible connection to the family’s earlier New England network.
James Taggart – A local man who had died approximately two months before the letter was written from “Consumption,” the period term for tuberculosis.
Isabell – Boarding in Warsaw and working as a music teacher, an interesting reference to respectable paid employment for a woman in the 1850s.
Maria Barnett – A friend seen during Cornelia’s visit to Warsaw.
Merrill / Merriell Barnett – Member of the Barnett family in or near Warsaw, New York. Cornelia visited his household and reported that his oldest daughter, Mary Ann, was recovering from fever.
Mary Ann Barnett – Merrill Barnett’s oldest daughter, recently seriously ill.
Mrs. Butler – A local woman whose courtship and possible marriage to a merchant form one of the most colorful portions of the letter.
Mrs. Watkins, Mrs. Hopkins, Mrs. Van-, Esq. Boucher and Widow Brown – Local acquaintances associated with domestic work, winter parties, the donation supper and the Sewing Society.
Capt. William Campbell – One of George Nesmith’s old Windham acquaintances. The Campbell family was prominent in Windham’s Scotch-Irish community.
Uncle Joe Clyde – Member or close family associate of the Clyde family, another old Windham surname.
Aunt Jane Hemphill and daughter – Members or close family friends of the Hemphill family, likewise associated with Windham.
Aunt Anna and Lucretia – Women from whom George asks for news of his former New Hampshire acquaintances.
Historical Importance
This is much more than a routine family letter. It provides a compact but highly revealing record of mid-19th-century American social history.
Its subjects include:
- Rural women’s daily life
- Health and household labor
- Death from tuberculosis
- Women earning money through music teaching
- Winter parties and an oyster supper
- Courtship and marriage gossip
- A women’s Sewing Society and disputes over leadership
- Travel between Hume and Warsaw, New York
- Migration westward to Wisconsin
- Continuing family and social ties between western New York and Windham, New Hampshire
- The persistence of old Scotch-Irish kinship networks after migration
The letter is particularly attractive genealogically because it contains a dense group of surnames tied to Windham, New Hampshire, including Nesmith, Campbell, Clyde, Hemphill and possibly Davidson.
It is an excellent primary-source document for collectors of 19th-century Americana, New York history, New Hampshire history, women’s history, genealogy, social history, Scotch-Irish history, manuscript correspondence and pre-Civil War ephemera.
Condition
Original handwritten three-page letter with expected age-related toning, staining, creasing and old fold lines. Ink remains generally strong and legible. Please examine the photographs carefully for the exact condition and completeness.
A particularly appealing 1855 pre-Civil War manuscript letter, combining identifiable family history with unusually lively observations on women, courtship, illness, migration and community social life.
