Ard Godfrey

Title: Letter to His Wife
Type: Letter
Date: 1863
Source: Minnesota Historical Society

Description: Ard Godfrey wrote to his wife from a gold mining expedition in the West.

Transcription:

I have ben at work this winter buiIding saw mill and it is now most done I think in a week we will be sawing lumber and if it gose off well we will make some money. I have no doubt but we shal get at the mill one hundred dollars per m. I own 1/16 of the mille and I will have about $200 comeing to me out of the first sales of lumber I intend to come in town to stop after the mill is completed and get into some mecanical work that will pay me good wages. I have a claim Right to mine at a specific location. but do not know as it is good for anything as it is not examined yet. There have been some very rich claims found here. I am told that in one claim here a man got $200.00 out of one pan full of dirt: this looks very well but perhaps the next man may get $200.00 1 or 2 weeks. There will be quartz mills in here this season. The quartz have been discovered to be very rich, and I have no doubt this will be a rich mining country, and this place will be quite a large village. I hope they will do honor to themselves as well to their country and I have often thought that it was all a divine Providence that I left home home when I did and I will tell you why if I had not it might have been that Abner wood gon in to the army and we wood have had more to worry about then we now have so I wish you to consider it all for the best and content yourself that we had better to suffer at a short time than risk the loss of our only son that appears so promising to us I knew my dear son would be a good boy and I am in hopes the is not far off when he will be rewarded for all of his exertion.