Joseph H Camfield, 23 Feb 1888

South Bend, Ind., Feb 23, 1888

Dear Sister and family

[stained and illegible] for a friend of mine _____ is in the patent medicine buis he wants a good lady agent
I thought perhaps mother Carlisle would like to try it there is big money in it for a good women and I think she would make a success by. I told him I thought so and he wanted me to write and see if she would like to try it
I send a lot of serklers so she can see what it is for frther particulars

2

she can write to the U G Manningseay or me J H Camfield
1120 so mich st
so Bend
Ind
Ps tell Ashley thare is going to be lots of his kind of work here this somer
We are all well here and hope you and yours are the same
Write and let me kno as soon as you can if she will try it. so if she wont he can look for some one else

JHC


This letter was written by my great-grandfather, Joseph Harrison Camfield to his sister, Anna Camfield Carlisle. Mother Carlisle was Anna's mother-in-law, Hannah Glover Carlisle. Hannah was against alchol consumption so I wonder if she went for this or if she was even aware that most patent medicines contained a large percentage of alchol?

This is the first reference to the S. Michigan St address that I have run across.

Ulysses G Manning was born 9 Aug 1864 in New Paris, Preble, OH and moved to South Bend, IN about 1873 with and uncle. At the age of 15 (about 1879-1880) he went to work as a clerk in a drug store and continued in that job for about 10 years when "he turn his interests to manufacturing interests as a maker of medical and toilet specialties" which would be about the time he connected with Grandpa Joe. A short biography of Mr Manning is found in A History of St. Joseph County, Indiana, by Timothy Edward Howard, 1907, on pages 582-583.

For more see:
Camfield Family Letters
Descendants of Sarah Ann Wisner
Michael Camfield


Camfield, Joseph Harrison. (Noble Center, MI) to “Dear Sister and family”
[Anna Camfield Carlisle]. Letter. 23 February 1888. Digital Images 1-2.
Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,]
Snowville, New York. 2009.
[Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, 1887 - 1889,
Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]