Polk County O.T. Oct 31st 1856
Dear Brother
I received an order on John E. Davidson from L.L. Burbanks for
thirteen hundred dollars. I have presented the order and he paid
seven hundred dollars and accepted the ballance of the order which
I suppose will be paid. I wrote to you soon after father's death and
requested you to write to me all about his businefs in that country but
have not as yet received an answer if you have not writen when you
receive this be shore and write all about it. I informed you in my other
letter that I have administered on the estate, we intend to give mother
any property that she may wish and then about two thousand dollars in
money to loan out so that she can live on the interest, and then after
paying the debts funeral expence and expence of administration we
intend to divide the balance that belongs to the estate that is in this
country among the six heirs that are here and then let the four heirs that
are in the States have the same amount per heir out of the property in
the States and then we can divide the balance equal among the ten heirs.
Mother and all the heirs in this country wish you to sell all the land in the
States as soon as possible so that while we are all liveing we can make a
good title you know that if any one of us was to die and leave minor
children, there would be no chance to make a good title. Mother will
assign her dower to the land there at any time. if you sell you can have a
deed made out and send it out here for us to sign and acknowledgeand
or send out a power of attorney for us to sign. We cannot send a power
of attorney now for the want of the nos of the land father owned some
land here if we can sell it we will have to send a deed to Illinois for you
all
to sign. Edward Ground talks some of taking the land here. I hope he or
some of the other heirs may take it though we can make no final
disposition of the land here at this time for the reason that he claimed
ninety acres that is uncertain whether he holds or no. he had a deed for
one hundred and sixty acres
Father said before he died that he thought that William ought to make
some allowances out of his share of the estate for what money he paid
for him. I have talked to some of the heirs here since and they say tell
him (William) to make just what allowance that his is a mind to and
they will be satisfied for he knows more about it than any of the rest of us.
we are trying to settle up the estate just as father requested us to on his
death bed. Mother is living with Isaac Butler yet, do not be uneasy about
her for she shall be well taken care of. write to me if Isaac Butler made a
deed to father for the land that he swaped with with him for land in this
country or not all the land that Isaac had there belongs to the estate.
Father gave him 320 acres of land here for it. I will write to you as
soon as we make a division and let you know how much each heir
receives
We are all well and all the connection so far as I know it has been
verry healthy here since last Spring we had a little flory of sickness then.
young grass is putting up here now about like it is in that country in May.
I have sold my claim that I now reside on and will move in a few days
on to a section of land that I have brought in one and a half miles of
Monmouth a place where we are trying to build up a school it is taking
a beutiful start. there is two stores there and another going up and also
a drug store people are building and prepareing to build considerable.
the school has about seventyfive schoolars now and would have more
if they could get boarding. come to Oregon in about two years if you
want to see fruit, it beats any place that ever I saw or read of for fruit
that is apples and pears, but make good for peaches. I have seen the
largest apples here that ever I saw any where, and the trees bear so
young they will bear in two years from the time they are set in the
orchard. people take more pains with orchards here than any place
that ever I saw. I saw an istimation from Portland the other day that
Oregon would sell to Calafornia this year seventyfive thousand dollars
worth of apples. Pork is worth $5 per hundred beef six cents on foot
wheat $1 oats 50 cts butter 30cts.In a few days you will know who is
president of these United States but we will have to wait till about the
first of January. I am verry anxious to hear for I think the fate of our
Union hangs on this election and here we are without a voice in it. I
would give a cow and calf for a vote at this election, and an Oregonian
thinks as much of a cow and calf as anything else in this world of the
property kind. I think that if the Black Republicans would send us some
of Beachers Bibles to read to the red man of the forest it would do
more good than to send them to Kansas. Tell the Review to send my
paper to Independence Polk County O.T. we are trying to get a Post
Office at Monmouth when we do I will have my paper sent to that office.
direct your letters to Independence our children have all grown
considerably since we came to Oregon two of them are grown and the
youngest can read in the Second Reader. Oh, how glad I would be to
see you all. my wheat made 35 bu to the acre and my oats that I thrashed
60. corn halo my sheet is full so I remain your brother
Verry Respectfully
Ira FM Butler
my paper is verry bad
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