Letter signed J.F. Sowell, St. Louis, to Mrs. Elizabeth M. Sowell. I am enjoying fine health, have an excellent appetite, a pleasant boarding house, and am succeeding well as a lecturer. My students say they are learning more chemistry than was ever taught here before. Everything is still frozen here. The river is “frozen over as tight as a drum, and the ice is very firm and thick, so much so that horses and wagons can pass over on it.” One curious arrangement was a table set out and a man offering hot toddy, hot coffee, and Tom and Jerry for sale. The citizens say it is unusual to have the river closed and look upon it as a novelty as I do. I went to the Catholic Cathedral to witness their worship. To my mind it presented quite a contract to the simple faith of the Christian “humbly trusting in the merits of the meek and lowly savior.” Family news. Individuals mentioned: Oliver, Dr. Maclin, Elizabeth, John, Christ, Jimmy, Billy, Mary, Ben, Maggy, Ziffy, and Presby. Places mentioned: Illinois, Alabama, and Athens. [Purchased from Symmachus Trading Co., Boston, Mass., September 1945, $2.65.], 1845 Dec 14, Box: 2, Folder: 1. Saint Louis History Collection, A1427. Missouri Historical Society Library and Research Center.

Letter signed J.F. Sowell, St. Louis, to Mrs. Elizabeth M. Sowell. I am enjoying fine health, have an excellent appetite, a pleasant boarding house, and am succeeding well as a lecturer. My students say they are learning more chemistry than was ever taught here before. Everything is still frozen here. The river is “frozen over as tight as a drum, and the ice is very firm and thick, so much so that horses and wagons can pass over on it.” One curious arrangement was a table set out and a man offering hot toddy, hot coffee, and Tom and Jerry for sale. The citizens say it is unusual to have the river closed and look upon it as a novelty as I do. I went to the Catholic Cathedral to witness their worship. To my mind it presented quite a contract to the simple faith of the Christian “humbly trusting in the merits of the meek and lowly savior.” Family news. Individuals mentioned: Oliver, Dr. Maclin, Elizabeth, John, Christ, Jimmy, Billy, Mary, Ben, Maggy, Ziffy, and Presby. Places mentioned: Illinois, Alabama, and Athens. [Purchased from Symmachus Trading Co., Boston, Mass., September 1945, $2.65.], 1845 Dec 14, Box: 2, Folder: 1. Saint Louis History Collection, A1427. Missouri Historical Society Library and Research Center. https://mohistory.mobiusconsortium.org/repositories/2/archival_objects/17060 Accessed November 12, 2024.