Raindrops and Real Estate: A 1876 Greeting from Burlington

“I have been drove in from my clearing by a little Shower of rain and have nothing else to do Just now.”

Pull up a chair and let me tell you about a little treasure I found in the archives today. It is a letter from April of 1876, written by a fellow named John Viney to his dear Uncle Gwinn. You can almost see him, can you not? He has just been chased inside from his land clearing by a spring shower, sitting down at a wooden table in his new frame house near the Michigan Road to catch up with family.

The paper itself tells a story before you even read a word. It is a soft cream color now, with those telltale signs of age we call foxing—little brown stains along the edges where time has left its mark. In the top corner, there is a beautiful embossed seal of a bird, a little touch of elegance from a man who spent his days grubbing out stumps. The ink has faded to a gentle brown, but John’s cursive is still clear as a bell, guiding us back to a time when Burlington, Indiana, was a bustling young town finding its feet.

John sounds like a man proud of his home. He tells his uncle all about the new stores, the two blacksmiths, and even the local silver band that played for every parade and gathering. But the heart of the letter is about the land. He is acting as an agent for a piece of property called the Gaddis land and he really wants his uncle to have first dibs. He even mentions that the ground is not as wet as it used to be thanks to some new ditching and drainage projects. It is a wonderful reminder that building a life back then was not just about farming; it was about managing the earth and looking out for your kin.

There is something so grounding about reading a letter like this. It reminds us that our ancestors were not just names in a census; they were people who worried about the rain, took pride in their towns, and wanted their families to live nearby. In our fast-paced world, John’s rainy-day letter is a gentle nudge to slow down, look at the land beneath our feet, and maybe write a line or two to the people we love.

Original Transcription

these lines and let me know
what you could do by way of
making payments – and how Soon
you could do anything in that
direction,, the owner is urging the
Sale of the land – and I cannot
hold it many months – especialy
if he finds out there are men wanting
the land,, Please bear in mind
this land is not wet like it was
when you Saw it,, people have
been improving and ditching all
around it which has taken all the
water off of it (except of a very rainy
time,, We have now commenced
a partnership ditch on South line
of Roberts land that will afford good
outlet for draining,, please write
immediately yours Truely
John. I. Viney

Burlington Ind
April 28th 1876
Mr Gwinn,,
Dear Uncle I have
been thinking of writing you
a few lines for a long time
and have neglected it, but as
I have been drove in from
my clearing by a little Shower
of rain and have nothing
else to do Just now – I will
inform you that we are all
among the living yet, and
only enjoying moderate –
health,, I am living Just
across the Road from Mothers –
have bought a piece of that
Gaddis land, and have built
me a good little frame house
and am now improving land

Jacob Awluider and myself
purchased eighty acres of the
Gaddis land for ten hundred &
fifty dollars ($1050.00), We Sold
forty of it for $8.75.00 the forty
that we Sold lays west of the
Michigan Road eighty Rods
and is now for sale for one
thousand & fifty dollars,, if you
want the land you can have
it,, I have the Selling of the
land it belongs to Mr Roberts
in Johnson County, and I am
his agent it is Excelent good land
black Soil, three to four feet deep
this land has twelve acres deadened
and is now ready to clear with no
grubing on it – but Some good
Oak and Poplar timber on west
twenty – also good Building Spot
halfe mile from my house – and
one half miles from Burlington

Burlington has now three good
Stores
Dry good & Grocery one Durg –
Store,, Two Black Smith Shops,, one
wagon Shop, Tinshop, & Two Churches
M.E., and Christian, there are also two
Splended halls 22 x 50 feet Masonic
and Odd Fellows,, there are two School
Buildings District and Academy,,
a good harness & Saddle Store
by R.B. Viney,, Also a good
Silver Band to make music
on all public occasions,,
One word more in regard
to that land there are two men
wanting the land will take it at
ten fifty,, Uncle Harrison is one of them
and he told me if you wanted the land
to write immediately for he wanted you
to have it, if not he wanted to buy it.
Mr Roberts would like to have the bigger
part of it down,, you will please
write Just as Soon as you get –