Item Detail
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Frost, Nancy Pate
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1800-1856
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MSS SC 2737
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Letters
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Nancy Pate Frost was born on 5 May 1800 in Knox, Tennessee. Her father was Jeremiah Pate and her mother was possibly Elizabeth Withers Pate or Mary Reynolds Pate.
On 10 January 1822, Nancy married John M. Frost, and together they had 8 children: Jane, Lafayette McCullers, Mary Ellen, John, Martha Ellen, Jesse, Clarinda Rebecca, and Jeremiah J.
Little else is known about Nancy, other than that she sent letters to her daughter and son-in-law, Mary and Joseph Rawlins, living in Utah. She died on 1 December 1856 in Linneus, Missouri. -
This folder contains a total of 34 photocopied pages of handwritten letters from Nancy Pate Frost to her daughter and son-in-law, Mary Ellen Frost Rawlins and Joseph Sharp Rawlins. There are 5 different letters in total, with extra copies of some of them, and they range from 1850-1856.
The first letter is dated 30 November 1850 from Hancock County, Illinois.
Nancy opens this letter with a report that everyone is in good health, and that its been since the previous fall that shes heard from her recipients, Mary and Joseph. She is presently living with Wallis (possibly her son-in-law) and the girls. She mentions that Jeremiah, her son, is not large for his age, and that Jane, her daughter, has two little boys, but lost a boy the previous January, possibly to croup. He was only a week old.
Wallis has bought a quarter of the land he lives on now, and the crops have been good this year. Nancy received a letter the previous May from brother John, whose last known location was New Orleans, Florida, about to leave for California in search of gold. She then reports that father is dead. He passed away the previous June. Mother is living at brother Johns. She then mentions the Woods family and the Jones family, all of whom are in good health.
Nancy then spends a brief time updating her daughter and son-in-law about marriages of friends and family that a Rolen Meltybarger gave to her. Nancy expresses her wish that there was a man who could teach Jeremiah how to work in the ways that she cannot teach him.
The letter finished with a poem added by Jane Wallis, Nancys eldest daughter and Marys sister, that reads, Remember me when far away/Amid a thoughtless world you stay/Remember me when urged to wrong/by passions and tamtations strong/Remember me when fools would win/Thy footsteps to the paths of sin/And when on bended knee/Others dar [possibly Polly] remember me.The second letter is dated 20 June 1852 from Hancock County, Illinois.
Nancy reports that she got their letter the previous day and was glad to hear from them. She informs them that she sent a letter in February or March in response to their report that they had not received a letter from her in a while. She explains that she was waiting to write again until she had news of brother John, who had gone to California in search of gold. He has since returned. Nancy and her family are thinking of going to Missouri, but it isnt certain yet. Father and Mother are both dead now. Sister Amanda is probably going to die soon, too.
Last years crops were bad, but this years promise to be better. The girls are in school and sometimes Jeremiah, Leroy, and William go, too. The previous March, Jane had a little girl. Nancy wishes Mary and Josephs children were near, too. She wishes she could go to visit them (in Utah), but with her old age and Jeremiahs young age, she doubts it would work very well. She declares that she could not make the journey on the basis of her faith, like her daughter has. She continues by saying she cant even judge men because she has seen people declare their faith and then rescind that declaration later. However, Nancy is not prejudiced against the Mormon people. She cannot see the need of undertaking a journey so filled with danger and hardship unless she thought she could adequately protect her family from those sufferings.
She closes her letter with a request for her recipients to write soon, kiss the children for me.The third letter is dated 6 May 1855 from Linn County, Missouri.
Nancy begins this letter with news that we are all well. Martha is in Iowa and was well the last time they heard from her, which wasnt long ago. Nancy has received a letter from her recipients dated September. Aunt Margaret is not doing well. She has stopped speaking. Robert Foust is in town, and so is Aunt Maria and her son. Wiley Foust has three children living and one child dead. Leroy is single, living in Knoxville.
Nancy remarks on the poor yield of their crops, thanks to the dry weather theyve been having. She expresses her wish to be nearer to her recipients. Jane and her children are close enough, though, which makes her happy. Jane has had another boy, as of the previous October.
She then apologizes for not writing as often as she should and wishes she could know whether her recipients received them when she does write them. She asks them to give her love to Harvy and Margaret and tells them she would love to hear from some acquaintances. Hancock is filled with many newcomers.
She finishes by mentioning some mutual friends and acquaintances of theirs and how theyre doing.The fourth letter is dated 16 September 1855 from Linn County, Missouri.
Nancy begins by explaining that this letter is a response to her recipients letter of 25 July 1855. Everyone is well except for Robert Faust, a cousin. Martha is in Iowa teaching school. The crops have been plentiful this season. Nancy misses Mary and the others of her children who are not near her. Aunt Margaret has died as of the previous June. She seemed to have lost her mind, but Nancy does not know why or how. She only knows that she was very distressed in the last year and a half or so of her life. John went to California a second time and stayed a year there. He would have stayed longer, but when he found out his wife, Margaret, was doing so poorly, he rushed home to care for her. She had a child, became extremely ill, and though her body recovered from the ordeal, her mind never quite seemed to.
Leroy Faust is single. He bought a store in Knoxville, Tennessee. Wiley is farming on the old place, and he has three children living and one who has died. Nancy also mentions that she saw Nancy Jones boy, and that Birkheart is married to Rebeka Shipe. Louisa Woods husband has died and so has Mason Woods. It is unclear if they are the same person.
After sharing news of mutual connections, Nancy uses the remainder of her letter to talk about her stance on Mormonism. She states that while she is happy for her daughter and her daughters family, she would have to see it for herself in order to believe. If she knew it was wrong, she would try to convince her daughter of the error of her ways. For the time being, though, she concludes that people make mistakes all the time, and that as long as one loves God and justice and mercy, one can be rewarded. She has nothing against the Mormons. In fact, she says, she has the best of feeling toward them.
She expresses her wish that she could visit with her recipients in person. But since that is impossible, she will rejoice in the fact that they can write letters to one another. She asks them to write back as soon as they receive this letter and to give Nancys love to Margaret and Harvy, as well as Isaac Steward, Matilda, and possibly a Mrs. Perle.
Following Nancys writing, there is a brief message from Clarinda, Marys sister. She says that she has not