William Gay Butler letter to Jonathan Butler 2nd, 1833 October 1

Letter addressed from Buffalo, NY, with a stamped postmark including the date, for 18 3/4 cents postage. The paper is torn and stained with red wax residue where it was sealed, and the address page has torn where it was folded. William Gay Butler writes to his father Jonathan Butler in West Hartford. He received Jonathan's letter of last January in April and replied in July, but had received no answer by the time he left home on September 5. When he left, his wife Mary and children were well. His sister Maria, her husband George Wells and their children, as well as Deacon James, Aunt Rhoda, Theodore and his family, Mother Wells, Margaret (Wells) Hawley, and everyone else at Brownhelm were well when he saw them last week, plus Amasa Kelsey and Hezekiah Jr., H. Wells, and everyone else in their settlement. Neither William nor George Wells has heard from William's brother Epaphras Butler since the last winter, though William wrote to him. William will start for home on October 4, and plans to call in Ohio for Margaret's husband Mr. Hawley, as he and George Wells plan to visit the country in Michigan with William. When William first invited them three years ago, they would have had their choice of almost any prairie at $1.25 an acre; now it is all located and sells for no less than $10 or $12 an acre. He says they will not think of crossing the lake to Illinois, although there is plenty of prairie still at $1.25 an acre out there. The land near William's settlement is advertised for public sale the 1st Monday in December. R. R. Crosby, son of Ebenezer Crosby, came to see William's land and intends to purchase a lot adjoining his to build a tannery. He plans to come out in April, after teaching school in St. Joseph that winter. Crosby's brother in law, mother, and sister will arrive as early as is practical in the spring. Crosby visited William for 12 days, and he plus three gentlemen from Haddam, CT, set out with him from there as far as Kalamazoo County. The three Haddam men and four from Litchfield all bought land in that county. He refers Jonathan to Mr. Comstock for further details, as he traveled even further west and found the land there worth buying. Mr. Comstock runs a shoe store in Hartford, and William urges Jonathan to call on him when he receives this letter. In Jonathan's letter, he wrote that he did not think it advisable to invest his money in land in Michigan. William responds that he "cannot refrain from mention my opinion once more, and then you will not have it to say that I didnot inform you of it, and solicit your attention to it, as I expect if you should live but a few years, you will be convinced of what I now inform you." Jonathan offered to give William's brother Epaphras' children $500 to $700 for land in Ohio, and William urges him to invest in land in Michigan instead. He writes that if Jonathan were to deposit some money in the branch bank, and write to Mr. T. C. Sheldon, receiver at the land office for White Pigeon, Michigan Territory, then William would take the time, trouble, and expense to locate it to his advantage. If he wrote instructions to the land office, the money could remain in his hands til the land was entered in his name, for him to dispose of as he decides. William writes that land selling for $1.25 an acre will rise 100 to 200 percent. Aunt Rhoda has made a very good speculation in her Shepherd lot (in Isabella County). George Wells told William they had found a mill site on the lot, and William writes that she could sell for $1250 any day she wanted. William sends his best wishes to Aunt Steele's family, from whom he has received no answer to last year's letter, and all other friends that inquire. In a postscript, William adds that Mr. B. Willcox and his family are well, and wished Jonathan would send some newspapers occasionally. George Wells will tell Jonathan about the country once he sees it.