ABSTRACT
Edward Gilley is writing to his sister in Northumberland, from Wisconsin, saying that she would be more comfortable in Wisconsin, where he was making a good living as a farmer. Apparently, his sister was a domestic servant in Northumberland. Details on Wisconsin farm life run throughout the letter, and there is a sense of pride in his success. Like other immigrants, Gilley was impressed with New World crops: ‘There is also another plant called Indian Corn a verry useful thing it is, it is good for either man or beast’. Yet, tragedy struck as well: ‘I got me a wife last January’, but she died of inflammation in the bowels. His sorrow seems to be behind his urging his sister to join him, and he even offers to pay for her voyage.
