Francis Ashley Carlisle, Oct 11, 1905

Chicago Ill
Oct 11 .05

Dear Mother + All

I presume that you think that we must have dissapeared from the face of the earth as far as any news to the contrary are concerned. I explain: I wrote to you shortly after leaving and laid the letter up to mail it and forgot all about it + wondered why you did not answer. We have had quite a time since I left we were afraid that we would have to part with our little boy at one time he having cholera infantous and struggling with obstiriate teeth at the same time. We give thanks to God however that we have him still with us and much better though far from well. he was reduced greatly in flesh and

page 2

yet looks very thin + peaked. we are feeding him on malted milk but not yet dared to entirely wean him. He has but seven teeth yet and we have to have each one lanced when they swell up. he talks some but his sickness has put him back so that he does not walk.

Added to this Mamie who has not been feeling well for a month caught cold from being up with the baby and now has either bronchial pneumonia or a aggravited case of la grippe. the doctor can not tell which. The doctor was in just now + she is no better this morning.

We have one of our Hartford girls helping us but she is suffering from severe cold + sore throat so that she must be taken care of too. Frances + I are the only ones too tough to succumb as yet.

page 3

though I have quite a cold.

Frances does not get over her visit yet + extoles Tamerson to the skys admitting but one fault + that was that she called her "Pheeny." That was a happy thought on Tamersons part for it has broken her completely of calling any one else that name. She has allso the Grandmother question straightened out declaring that there was two grandmothers + a grandma (yourself) and a cat. How is Daniel making it in the wild + wooly West. I hope he will not follow fathers example of returning with a big hat + long hair + go to church in that costume for Grand mothers diersion. My work goes as usual though much harder as I am now at the University again studying Greek + Hebrew.

page 4

If Chas Pears says any thing as to my taking that house Father can tell him that sickness has prevented my doing any thing about it to date but will take it up as soon as I can:

I wish father would find out some way to know if they repaired the building at all for the present family _ if so what sis they do. I want him to fix it up + not let him know that I have fully decided to take it untill he has done so as he is better able to do it than myself.

Well I must close now + go after some medicine.

Give My Love to All. Always.
Frank

223 - 100 Pl.
Chicago Ill


Poor little Sewell!

Did Ashley have a western trip too? Or is Frank referring to Ashley's service and travels during the Civil War?


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


Carlisle, Francis Ashley (Chicago, IL) to “Dear Mother + All”
[Anna Camfield Carlisle]. Letter. 11 October 1905. Digital Images 1-4.
Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,]
Snowville, New York. 2009.
[Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, 1905,
Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]

Apple Butter

We're slipping into fall here and all along Lake Ontario the orchards are full of apples and the harvest has begun. The Carlisle family lived in the fruit belt of Michigan and this time of year is much the same there, near Lake Michigan.

In a letter written 28 October 1906 by Aunt Tamerson, to my Aunt Vivian, she wrote:

As father worked at fine jobs (not small) of stone cutting + for years earned 1.00 a day we never went hungry altho it was plain food + dried foods + apple butter was always made in fall either in a big kettle outdoors or the copper boiler inside + it was stirred all day + all nite. Sometimes a friend who lived back of us on the other street came over + helped stir. I always wanted to stay up all nite but soon got sleepy.

Now I have no proof, there is no specific reference, but I'd bet the neighbor who helped stir was Toley Robinson. I can picture Tamerson as a young girl wanting to stay up and visit with her mother and her friend and finally succumbing to the depths of sleep. I can "see" Anna and Toley tucking her in and when all were asleep inside the two of them tending the kettle and talking through the night as best friends will.

But why on earth would they have to stir all night and what is apple butter and why did they make it? Obviously the making of apple butter is not a tradition that continued in my family.

From Wikipedia:

Apple butter is a highly concentrated form of apple sauce, produced by long, slow cooking of apples with cider or water to a point where the sugar in the apples caramelizes, turning the apple butter a deep brown. The concentration of sugar gives apple butter a much longer shelf life as a preserve than applesauce. Apple butter was a popular way of using apples in colonial America, and well into the 19th century. There is no dairy butter involved in the product; the term "butter" refers only to the thick, soft consistency, and apple butter's use as a spread for breads.

A bit more poking around online and I learned that there are apple butter festivals all over the country. The apples are first cored, cut and and cooked just long enough to soften them. They are then pressed through a sieve or strainer and added to the kettle with cider. Initially a hot fire is lit to bring the cider to a boil and afterward the fire is kept just big enough to keep the mixture simmering. When the mixture is reduced enough, spices and sugar are gradually added. Large wooden paddles are used to stir the mixture continuously. Depending on when you start and how large your batch is, you need someone constantly standing over the pot and stirring for hours. I can see how Anna and Toley could easily have worked well into the night.

You can find dozens of recipes online for apple butter. I've found one for the crockpot that I think I'll try. Twenty four hours of the heavenly scent of apples cooking on a cold fall day - without the constant stirring. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I found this wonderful video of the process on YouTube. There are several videos there that I could have used but this one was very well done as a tribute to their family's apple butter tradition. It's about nine minutes long but well worth watching for inspiration as to how to share our own family traditions! (But if you are in a hurry, the actual Apple Butter making starts at the 2:00 point.)





Binns, Tamerson Carlisle. (Buchanan, MI) to “Dear Vivian” [Vivian Carlisle LaValle]. Letter. 28 October 1960. Digital Images 1-9. Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Snowville, New York. 2008. [Carlisle Family, Box #1,
Genealogical Papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]

Anna Camfield Carlisle, Sept 27, 1905

Buchanan, Mich.
Sep 27th 1905

Dear Daniel.

Your letter came today. was very glad to get it: Yes we had a letter from you last week and we answered it as soon as it came and sent you a paper with it. I wonder why you did not get it. I am glad if you are felling better. thought you would get used to the water after a time but did not know how long it would take.

page 2

suppose you enjoy having horses to drive. what do you do with them. draw up the wheat to be thrashed or take it away after it is thrashed. how do you like those big farms. are there any trees there. is it any colder there than it is here we have not had any frost yet. you see I want to know all about every thing. when will you be through there and what is the attraction at McHenry Glad you have a good man to work for. think you need Sunday to rest. if you get up that early in the morning

page 3

who calls you up or can you wake up your self. The dog is all right. he was determined to run off. lonesome I guess. so we had to tie him up, today he is good and stays at home. Yesterday Leland was not well and stayed at home from school. in the afternoon he came over and took the ferretts out in the yard and let them have a play. they seem to be doing all right he tales care of their box all right so far. he and Virgil go boat riding as often as they have time. Fleda McFallon is dead funeral today.

Mrs Tryco has taken her

page 4

two oldest children to an Odd Fellows home in Illinois. Tamerson is at work in the shop this week. Your Father went to Dayton to work yesterday but it rained hard last night and he is not feeling very well so he came home today, thinks maybe he can go back tomorrow. last week we had a boiled dinner with turnips dont you wish you had some. Will Guyberson is cutting up his corn. the shocks look big. Well I guess that is al for this time. I hope you will get this.

Yours as ever,
A. Carlisle

Write soon.


Grandpa must have saved these letters and brought them home with him. How is it that none of his letters were saved? In a letter that Tamerson wrote late in life she mentioned that at some point Daniel went through the letters and some were destroyed. Were his included? If so why?

I did talk to Mom about Grandpa's "western trip." She thinks he was out "in the Dakotas," so McHenry, ND seems likely.

Fleda McFallon may have been the daughter of John and Ellen McFallon of Buchanan township. If so she was born Oct 1886 and only 18 at the time of her death.

Leland Robinson was a neighbor. Virgil most likely refers to Virgil Schwartz who lived on Fourth St in 1900 and was close in age to Leland.

Next door to the Robinson family on Mocissin Ave was the family of George E. Guiberson. I have not located a Will Guyberson.

It's sad that Mrs. Tryco couldn't care for her children and took them to an Odd Fellows home. I have not located this family on the 1900 or 1910 census so I have no further information on them.

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


Carlisle, Anna Camfield (Buchanan, MI) to “Dear Daniel”
[Daniel Michael Carlisle]. Letter. 27 September 1905. Digital Images 1-4.
Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,]
Snowville, New York. 2009.
[Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, 1905,
Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]