Hurley Family Emigrant Letters (Ref. U170)

U170/

25 January 1891 Letter from Denis Hurley, Carson City, Nevada, to ‘Dear Mother’. He received her last ‘welcome letter’. He received a letter from Michael, who is in charge of the tracks in the yard of the railway at Spokane Falls. Michael wrote about Parnell and Irish affairs and also strongly disapproved of the family at home paying ‘so much money for a tenant’s interest’. Mentions his spouse receiving a letter from home. 2pp 15 September 1891 Letter from Denis Hurley, Carson City, Nevada, to ‘My Dear Mother’. He has received three letters from different members of the family. Michael is still in Spokane Falls, Washington. He is glad to know his nephews are going to school, where Mr. Madden is a ‘good educator’. Notes that Mr. Deasy is fortunate in getting a reduction in rent, and mentions the sickness of Tim. Encloses a paper which records that he was one of a party who dined with the Bishop. 2pp 5 December 1891 Letter from Denis Hurley, Carson City, Nevada, to ‘Dear Mother’. Christmas is coming and he encloses a little money. He hopes his brother John and wife are kind to her. There was a church mission by one of the Vincentian Fathers, as in Clonakilty in 1868, but ‘what a contrast…between the spirit of the people of both places…There is not much faith here, but drinking, gambling, immoralities and dissipation.’ He attends Mass at 5 o clock every morning after work. 2pp 18 February 1892 Letter from Denis Hurley, Carson City, Nevada, to ‘My dear Mother’. He sends congratulations on the birth of his brother’s first born and hopes that in years to come he will be able to correspond with his uncles in America. He had feared his mother would be one of the sick of West Cork as reported in the Eagle (Skibbereen Eagle newspaper). He has been pretty fortunate with his health, unlike his wife. He is in contact with Michael, who ‘…would very likely write home oftener but he knows you hear through me’. Enquires whether Tim has any help [on the farm], ‘I hope he is not entirely alone like Robinson Crusoe’. Mentions Anglins and Palmers farms at home and notes ‘Our cousins are becoming large landed proprietors. They have a knack for money making which I do not possess’. 2pp