ABSTRACT
John Hodgson’s letter to his parents on the east coast of Yorkshire suggests the power of ‘chains’ in migration, as Hodgson headed for the ‘English settlement’ near Milwaukee and benefitted from the help of other immigrants there. He says ‘The place where I am is Reevesville but it is not known yet as it only took its name lately’. Perhaps he is in the village of Reeve, in western Wisconsin, or Reeseville, near Madison, though he asks his parents to send their next letter to Iowa County, which includes Dodgeville, Mineral Point, and other lead-mining centres. Details on farming and living in a log shanty, and references to lead mining farther west in Mineral Point make this letter particularly interesting and fruitful when used with the biographies in this volume.
