Letter 30
Date:
October 3, 1891
Sender: Gerrit
Jan te Selle
Addressee: Derk Willem te Selle
Holland Neb October
3, 1891
Dear friends:
I am tired of waiting
for another letter from you and take my pen to write you some
words in order to let you know that we are faring very well and
hope to hear the same from you. We would be sorry to hear if it
were different.
We received on January
20 your letter written on January 5, and concluded that you had
not received our letters with photographs.
I
wrote then immediately again and sent more photos and asked you
for a quick response, but until now I have received nothing, so if
you got my letter, then please let me know, or I will write you
the same again.
The harvest is good
this year. We have 584 bushels of wheat, 578 bushels of oats. Corn
will be about 2000 bushels I presume. The prices are still low,
but that's due to the fact that the railroads cannot ship it and
the warehouses are full. Hogs have a good price at $475. Recently
I sold 38 hogs at once for $553 at $4,95 per hundred. Also I had
sold for $75 more a bit earlier on, and now I still have 12 pigs
which are ready to be sold in a few weeks from now. Then I have
40 left over. Feeding corn was also expensive. I sold a few
hundred bushels at 53 cents per bushel.
I also sold 200 bushels
of oats at 53 cents. Last year oats were very rare, but then I
still had 1500 bushels old corn from the previous year. I sold
some a bit too early. In May I sold more than 600 bushels
for 41 cents for which I could not get more than 18 cents last
year.
A few months ago I
bought an 80‑acre plot of land for $2500. I think now that I could
make $500 profit on it, because it is the most beautiful land in
this State. My brothers had the best land of all Dutchmen
living here, but now it's me. It is at the other side of the road.
I bought it from a hermit, one can say. We lived close to each
other for 18 years, but he has never been in my house, and we were
still good friends. He had bought that land about 20 years ago for
its beauty for $600 for 80 acres. But he was only looking for
beautiful land and got it. There he lived all alone with two
horses and one dog.
He had a loaded gun
with him in bed to warm him up. But recently he suffered from
some heart disease. Then the doctor told him to see his friends as
he could die any moment. Then he came to me and wanted to sell his
land. In two hours' time, I bought it from him. He wanted $800
directly and $1700 in a five year time period. That's how it goes
with earthenly goods if men makes it, its God!
