Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2020.027.001 |
Object Name |
Letter |
Description |
Three page, handwritten letter from Asahel Gage to his mother, Portia Gage, mostly about the Chicago Fire. The letter is written with black ink on one piece of ivory-colored stationery folded in half and with an embossed seal in the upper left-hand corner, perhaps the initials of Asahel Gage. The letter begins, "Chicago if there is any of it left October 9th 1871 / Dear Mother..." He writes that he can't mail the letter in Chicago, but plans to send it with someone who is going to Waukegan and then it will be sent to Milwaukee and across the lake to Grand Haven. Asahel also writes about how he thinks that he lost everything in his business, "My office is burned and undoubtedly all of my books and papers." He also mentions that the Court House has burned, as well as the bank where he does business and many other major buildings. They have no water, and he hopes to take the family (his wife and infant son) to the country. The letter is signed, "Your son Asahel Gage / 133 Sangamon St." On the back of the letter are two notations in handwriting that looks different from the one that wrote the letter. The top notation in black ink reads, "Asahel Gages letter sent during the great fire in Chicago / Oct. 9/71". The second notation at the bottom of the pages in red ink reads, "A. Gage / Chicago - / Sent during the great / fire of 9, Oct. 1871". |
Date |
October 9, 1871 |
Classification |
Banking & Financial Structures Business & Commerce Chicago Fire |