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Transcription |
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Phil Swire, Esq.
Baton Rouge, La.
Dubuque Iowa
Dec. 14th 1871
My dear Uncle Phil,
You will perhaps be taken a little by surprise at being addressed
as above from this place. You are probably aware that you are
Uncle to a great many boys & girls, but perhaps did not know of
your having a nephew so near. I did not till quite recently know
of your whereabouts. I was told you used to be in this country
somewhere, but that no one had heard of or from you for many
years. I was under the impression that I did not possess a blood
relative in this country, at any rate that I know of but learned
through my sisters in
Jamaica, two in number, that
my grandmother had
heard from you recently & in writing to
Roger Haughton of
Kingston I got your address & determined to write to you, thinking
that if I had an own uncle in this country I would like to be on
more intimate terms with him, at least through correspondence. I
don't know that you ever saw me & I am very positive I do not
remember you. You must have left Jamaica before I was born. I am
just past twenty two years of age & have been in this country six
years, coming here, or rather, to Davenport in this State, to
my Stepmothers
relatives. I am now a book keeper in an Insurance office where I
have been for more than four years. I hear from my sisters
regularly every month & correspond with my grandmother & Roger
Haughton.
I trust this is only the beginning of a pleasant correspondence &
perhaps personal acquaintance between us, I assure you it gives me
pleasure to know I have one of
my poor Father's
brothers in this country. I have often felt alone & longed for
some of my own relatives nearer me than Jamaica. Hoping you will
answer this letter.
I remain with much love,
Your affect. nephew,
Roger Swire
Box 137 P. O.
Dubuque Iowa |
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Notes:
"My sisters in Jamaica"
refers to Roger SWIRE's sisters Lydia Anne SWIRE (later ROWE) and Alice
Catherine SWIRE (later HAUGHTON). Their father is
John Henry Dalzell
SWIRE.
"My grandmother" refers to
Frances Lydia (COX) SWIRE, mother of
Philip SWIRE and John Henry Dalzell SWIRE
(father of Roger SWIRE).
Roger HAUGHTON (full name
Roger Swire HAUGHTON) is the son of Hannah (SWIRE) HAUGHTON,
sister to Philip SWIRE and John Henry Dalzell SWIRE.
"My stepmother" refers to
Caroline (PAGE)
BARCLAY SWIRE (later HARRISON), the second wife of Roger SWIRE's
father John Henry Dalzell SWIRE.
"My poor Father" is
John
Henry Dalzell SWIRE, who died of yellow fever in St. Thomas,
Virgin Islands on 23 May 1867.
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