Swire Family Letters - Roger SWIRE

SWIRE Family of Yorkshire, England & Jamaica

Roger SWIRE

November 29, 1849 - September 18, 1921

Letter 3 - Dated May 22, 1872

(letter images & transcription below - click on images to enlarge & read letter)

Roger SWIRE (photo above taken about 1920) wrote at least twelve letters to his uncle Philip SWIRE in Louisiana from his homes in Dubuque, Iowa, USA, Springfield, Illinois, USA, and Iowa City, Iowa, USA. The letters date from 1871 to 1881.


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Transcription

Springfield Ills.
Sept. 18th 1872

My dear Uncle

I had not intended leaving your last letter so long unanswered, but circumstances prevented my sooner writing. Soon after I rcd. it I went on a visit to Mother & the McCulloch's in Wisconsin, was gone two weeks & since my return I have been very busy in the office. I enjoyed my visit to the folks very much & they seemed glad to see me. Mother is very well, looking better than I have seen her for a long time. She particularly sent love for you all. We had hoped by this time to have been living together, but I am not permanently settled here & may not stay after Jany. 1st, so we thought it best not to go to the expense of a move & furnishings, till we knew it could be permanent, so we decided to defer that plan & she just then had an opportunity to go into a good boys school as matron. Having her son Charles (by her first husband, Mr. Barclay) who is now a big boy of 15 years she
was anxious to have him attend a good school & as he is rather delicate she wishes to be with him in case of his being sick, so this seems to be just the thing. She went there (Fairbault, Minn.) last week & I have not heard from her since. Under the circumstances we thought it best to do as we have. Charlie will be attending a good school where they will both be comfortable & in the mean time I shall settle, somewhere, then when she is ready to take him from school, they can come to me. I hope to make a success of the Life Ins. business & settle next year. Thanks for your long interesting letter & the full news of your doings it contains. I am very sorry Uncle to hear such poor accts. of your crop prospects. It does seem very hard after all the work you have put it. I trust you may soon settle down again & to better chances. Mr. McCulloch desired to be remembered to you. He talks very often of going back to Jamaica & in the planting line, but there is little chance of it I think, for he could not again stand any such work. Mr. Robt. Page, Mother's brother, now a minister in Eau Claire, Wis. took your address & says he means to write to you some time. I told him you would be pleased to hear from him. Do now send me your own likeness soon. I am very anxious to see it also that of Aunt Anna & the "bairns." I will have some good ones of myself taken for you this winter. Just at present I am going through that, to all young men, very interesting process of raising whiskers & I want them to come out before having a likeness taken that I may send one to my sisters. I have never let them (the whiskers) grow yet. I shall be very much pleased to get a letter from any of the cousins & shall expect it, as soon as you are sufficiently settled to superintend it. I was very much surprised a few weeks since at hearing from Roger Haughton of his intending a visit to America. He is on his way to England with a friend of his who wanted him to go first to America so he wrote us he hoped to leave Jamaica by Str. of the 22nd of this month & altho he would only be here about two weeks hoped to make us a flying visit. You can imagine we were surprised, for we had no idea of his coming. He wrote us last month that he was going to England on a hurried trip. Business of his own I believe, "by which he hoped to better his position in the Bank in Kingston & so enable him to marry sooner." So we supposed he had gone there & never expected to see him here. I don't think he will bring Alice with him this time much as I long to see her. I wrote him, as he requested to New York care of Mrs. Maitland, Phelps & Co., 45 Exchange Place, & shall look for him about the 1st of Oct. Is it not pleasant to anticipate? My Aug. letters from my sisters said nothing of it. They were both well. I look for letters from them daily now. About what time & how often do you get letters from Jamaica? I have not heard from my Grandmother for a long time. The girls mention her in writing tho. so I know she is well. I am able to hear nothing of Norwich matters so far. When Roger comes I intend having a good talk with him about it & find out all I can. Have we besides yourselves any other relatives in this country? Do you know there is a firm of Druggist in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio with a name I take to be very near ours. I think it is spelt "Suire." Do you know anything of them? Affect love to all & kiss the "baby Anna" for me. I would dearly love to do it for myself & live in hopes of it too. I must now close with much love for yourself & waiting to hear from you soon. Believe me your loving nephew. Roger.

Notes:

Mother is Caroline (PAGE) BARCLAY SWIRE (later HARRISON), the second wife of Roger SWIRE's father John Henry Dalzell SWIRE.

The McCULLOCH's refers to the step-uncle and aunt of Roger SWIRE. The sister (Mary Anne PAGE) of his stepmother Caroline was married to Thomas McCULLOCH. Roger and Caroline are believed to have left Jamaica with the McCULLOCH's when they moved to Iowa, USA.

Charles is Charles Alexander BARCLAY, step-brother to Roger SWIRE, being the son of Caroline PAGE BARCLAY SWIRE (later HARRISON) and Charles BARCLAY of Kingskettle, Scotland and Jamaica.

Mr. Robert PAGE (Mother's brother) is Robert F. G. PAGE, Caroline's oldest brother. He came to Iowa before 1856 from Jamaica. He died in Wisconsin 1870 - 1880.

Bairns means children.

Roger HAUGHTON (full name Roger Swire HAUGHTON) is the son of Hannah (SWIRE) HAUGHTON, sister to Philip SWIRE and John Henry Dalzell SWIRE.

Alice is Roger SWIRE's sister Alice Catherine SWIRE, who married their cousin, Roger Swire HAUGHTON (above).

"My sisters" refers to Roger SWIRE's sisters Alice (above) and Lydia Anne SWIRE (later ROWE), who lived in Jamaica.

"My grandmother" refers to Frances Lydia (COX) SWIRE, mother of Philip SWIRE and John Henry Dalzell SWIRE (father of Roger SWIRE).

This is the first reference found to "Baby Anna". She must have been born in late 1871 or 1872, and was the daughter of Philip SWIRE and his wife Anna C. KEAN/KEEN.