LETTERS OF JOHN D. MOLER, Letter to his brother, undated (possibly circa Dec 1860) Transcribed and submitted by Marysue Eulitz, (c) 1999 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- KSGENWEB INTERNET GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In keeping with the KSGenWeb policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Brother Grif I received Hans and yours of the 18th Dec. and also on the same day two from Dan whitch were the only letters we had received from Ohio for two months. I got home from Lawrence last night. I found a check there for me all right. I had a rather unpleasant trip there being gone four days. One of my neighbors (Mr. Means) accompanyed, we camped one night and stayed with a Yankee friend in Lawrence one night and one night we camped in a deserted Indian Hut. The night we camped out three Jayhawkers came to our campfire and stayed with us. Jayhawkers are a kind of people that think it right to steal from the decesh in Missouri, but if they don't succeed in robing Missourians then they will not hesitate to rob union men in Kansas. They are generally well dressed and rather a prepossing well behaved sett of young men, the above mentioned had four Horses that they said they had traded for. I suppose they steal and then trade their property so as to be more safe. I was at Lawrence a few weeks ago and camped at a place near Toy Jones the old Indian where was also camped two young men that had just been to Missouri and had been employed to bring about twenty colts away from Missouri to Kansas for safe keeping. They had no doubt stole them- but they will soon have to quit operating in Missouri for about every thing is gone from Western Missouri including the slaves, they are scattered all over Kansas and are at present liveing quite well for when they came away they took their masters horses and cattle and sold them and have at present plenty of money, but you understand the nature of negroes well enough to know they will soon be in a mutch worse condition than would have been with their masters. Times are getting better in the west I think, in consequence of large purchases for the army. There are large forces being placed in southern Kansas and southwestern Missouri preparatory to making a great move on our southern brethren. Our favorite Jim Lane will soon be home to take charge of the Kansas department of the army and you know he is not so afraid of hurting the enemy as your more humane commanders. Almost every day a government train of from fifteen to fifty waggons pass through the neighborhood going south. I saw on train pass, drawn by over three hundred mules. They came through here so as to avoid Missouri as mutch as possible for the rebels had the impudence to capture the trains when they went down through Missouri. I am fearful now as have always been that we cannot whip the south enough to make them love us so as to be good citizens of the United States. I suppose slavery will be abolished by the United States or by the Confederate States themselves. I rather like the idea of colonizing the negroes in South Carolina or in Florida and of abolishing the State of Virginia, the home of great men and the home of great rebels. I wrote to my little friend Sam Cox and our Congressman from Kansas about our bad mail facilities and asked them to make an alteration, they both wrote me very polite answers that they would make the desired arrangement and now they have done so, made an entirely new route forty four miles long from Ohio City by our office to Leroy, for whitch I am mutch obliged, and my friend Sam sends me any quantity of publick Dockuments. Our family all spent Christmas at one of our neighbors and people are generally verry friendly to us, but people are all mutch poorer here than they are in Ohio and are far more economical, but all now have the necessaries of life in abundance and you know it does not take long to become extravagant. I have no doubt but this country is healthyer than Ohio and we now have more scholls and preaching than in Ohio. there has been a discovery of extensive salt springs about forty five miles southwest of here and some verry extensive coal beds eight miles north of here and we can produce cotton, hemp & flax, sugar cane, beef, pork, sheep and all the necessaries of life and also some of the luxuries. (Last summer I raised three hundred waggon loads of watermelons.) The winter so far has been quite mild, the thermometer has not been lower than five degrees above zero and then but a few hours at a time, but last night there fell about three inches of snow. In a few years the Indians will all sell and leave this state and their places filled by an enterprising class of white men and I warn you to not be to late in taking your place amongst us. After reading the above, please sent it to Hannah in Maryland. Yours John Moler.