Transcription Tuesday--New Sparks and Rhodes Letters!!!

 Well, as COVID seems to be providing me with more spare time, I am working on cleaning out all the boxes of data and mixed stuff that we packed up for our move to Texas.....

And I found several letters that I didn't know that I had, providing info to aid my search for my English Rhodes and Sparks roots!!! 

I've placed here, and will move them to the Rhodes/Sparks Letters separate page  after I finish them all. The first is from Jane Sparks, a sister of John Gill Sparks and addressed to him, and his wife Sarah Rhodes. Each letter I find adds another name to be researched, and another link in the family chain!!

Letter from Jane Sparks to John Gill and Sarah Rhodes Sparks, copy obtained from Patsy Davies in 1980 and transcribed by Susan Fairchild Barry on 11 Sep 2021.  Photocopy of letter attached.

                                                                                                March 3^d 186[ 4? 9?]

Dear Brother and Sister

  I am very well of myself and am living

in Burley and I am very unhappy about you

not sending me a letter. I send you a letter and

you never sent me no answer back and you ask

me what I thought about going into Canada

and I told you then I could not come by my-

self, we have had a very hard winter here

and am left by myself and I mention John

Shoesmith and he die very suddenly at Ilkley

and Ann is living at Otley and she is very well

for anything I know and Elizabeth is residing

in Leeds and I got a letter from her last Friday

and she sends her best respects to you she would

like to see you but she thinks it will be not in

this world and Elizabeth has one son and his

age is fourteen and ^he would like to see you.

     William is living at the bottom of Holling[s?]

Hill [s or,] is William writing to you or not

I have sent this letter William Smith and

John Craven and if they come to your house

you must treat them very kindly for I know

their parents remarkably well and you must

give my best respects to Mr and Mrs Wie and

please to let me know if Elizabeth has got

married or not but let me know in the next

letter and I have sent my mother funeral chard

and I have sent you a English newspaper

             So no more from your

                   Affectionate

                         Sister

                  Jane Sparks

 

 

I'll try to add one each week until they are all here!   Thanks to the family members who saved these and didn't throw them away!!

 

Follow Friday -- The Patriot War -- a bright shiny object

Well yesterday, I succumbed to what Brenda Wheeler from National Institute of Genealogical Studies calls  a BSO -- bright shiny object --- something that takes us away from our planned genealogical task.  I was on the Clayton Library's microfilm catalog,  which was what I originally planned to write about for Follow Friday.  I was looking to see whether they had NY Civil War or 1812 service record microfilms for  one of my ancestors to use as an example .... and I noticed they had a listing for
 INDEX TO COMPILED SERVICE RECORDS OF VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS WHO SERVED DURING THE WAR OF 1837-1838 IN ORGANIZATIONS FROM THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
and
  INDEX TO COMPILED SERVICE RECORDS OF VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS...PATRIOT WAR, 1838
State: NEW YORK

Now I know most conflicts and military sources, but this was a new one for me. 1837-8 ?  Too late for War of 1812, Too late for Texas Independence, too early for the Mexican War, and too early for the Civil War....uh oh,   I was hooked!   So I started to Google the war of 1837, got  Patriot War, followed it, and I learned a lot!
The Wikipedia listing is here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_War and
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Canada

    I knew nothing about the Canadian Rebellions of 1837 and 1838 or the Republic of Canada formed by William McKenzie  and his followers in the US and Canada.  This was a failed attempt for the prospect of a declaration of independence and secession of Canada from Britain !  And on  "Navy Island " between Ontario and New York!
     And volunteers from the State of Louisiana?    Now I can't wait to get to the Clayton library and check out the names on the microfilm!!!! Perhaps it will help with finding info for members of my DAR chapter from Louisiana!!! But I obviously didn't have what I intended to post today.
    So I guess it is a great lesson that checking the microfilm catalog for things other than just surnames is a great idea to find unusual records and history!!!