ABSTRACT
These extracts from letters written by Welsh immigrants pioneering in Ohio can be effectively used with the biographies included in this volume. They convey something of the difficulties stemming from fevers and hot summers, but also the benefits coming from the use of Indian corn and local fruits and nuts. The flour is deemed good, ‘but so much shipped of [off] for England and Ireland that it has made it much dearer’ – a fascinating link to how the exports to Britain affected local farming and prices. The letters continue in Volume 3, and in 1853 they observe the rising price of wheat – due to the repeal of the Corn Laws – and the looming Crimean War.
