Letter #6

Fall 1934?

(Letter missing page 1 - starts with page 2)

must tell you of the death of you poor old Uncle Ely Davis. He past away the 10 of this month. He was 12 days without eating or drink, only just a spoonful to wet his lips. He went off as he would go to sleep after his eighty-eighth birthday. He left a bit of money to John H. but we don’t know how much it was.

My self and Mrs. Davis stayed up for four nights with him and saw the last of him so you see my boy, that was all that we could do for him. Your Uncle John Davis in Harbour Grace is very sick too. He was paralyzed about two months ago and he is very sick and Uncle George Davis in the head is not much better so you see that your father is the best of them. But my years is dragging to a close and I will soon have to follow on and I hope and trust if we never meet no more on earth, we shall all meet beyond the river where all our trials and troubles will be over. Where all is joy and peace and love. All that you got to do my boy is to try and live a good life so when the Lord calls you will be ready for the call. This is the earnest prayer of your loving father for we all know is we live to be a hundred we got to die just the same and leave it all behind. So all we got to do is to try and get ready to meet God. That is all my hope and all my plea for me and you. The savior died he suffered on the cross to save us all so now I suppose that I must tell you about the crops.

Well, we never had much potatoes this year, only six barrel and the cabbage we got none - the insects got it all………(can’t read) for turnips we will have to try and get a half of a barrel. There is lots of them around this fall for a dollar and a half a barrel. The misses raised 12 pounds of onions and that is quite enough for the winter. So we won’t have to buy any now.

How is your wife and children? I hope that they are all well. Remember me and Mrs. Davis to them all and receive the best …..(can’t read) for your self. You said that it is bad times in the States, well, my boy, it is terrible times here like was never known in Freshwater. There is quite a lot living on the government for the fish is no good there isn’t anything given for it this year. I don’t know what poor people is going to do. You ask for John H. Davis. Well, he is home now. He was in St. Johns for awhile and when his father took sick, he had to come home. So he is home ever since and he is very lonesome since his father died. We go over a ……..(can’t read) night for a bit of company for him.

So now I think I have told you all the news for now. Please answer this letter when you get it and let us know if you got it or not. The fine warm summer is gone and the cold fall is coming in and we must try and get ready to meet it for you know that I am not so young as I used to be and I am not as well able to get a warm shirt now as I could three or four years ago. So I got to get the old ones patched for the want of a new one. I don’t know if I will get one for a Xmas Box or not. So that is all for now. So George, bye from your loving father William Davis.

Editor’s Note: I left this letter from William to the end of his letters hoping that I correlate a date by the information but can’t do that from the data in the letter. May have been the fall of 1935. In August 1935, William wrote daughter Bertha that Uncle George had passed away. - James R. McKay