The Huyck Bain Crandell Collection, Document BH032

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1812-07-15 Letter, James Huyck Writes Home to Mother

"I have wrote three times I think since I was home and I have not received an answer yet I have not been well for several days past I have got A very bad head ache so that I can't work and so I thought that I would write A few lines."

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Transcription

Obverse

Gt. Barrington July 15th 1812

Dear Mother

I shall non again write and wait with patience A spell longer and see if some of the family thinks enough of me to write me an answer I have wrote three times I think since I was home and I have not received an answer yet I have not been well for several days past I have got A very bad head ache so that I can't work and so I thought that I would write A few lines. I am constrained to confess that I did not use you in such a manner as you deserved but I shall be careful to make it the future business of my life to be doubly diligent, to perform to the utmost of my honer{?} all that shall become and obedient son I wrote A letter to Peter to inform you that I should want some clothes this fall and I wanted to have your advice about it what was best to get I wish that you could see my clothes I don't know but I feel A little prouder than common and want new clothes before there is need of it. I ought to have talked it over when I was at home, but I was so full of witchcraft that I could not set still A minute, but I did not think so then

Reverse

I can't think of much more at present. I see Mr. Van Deusens folks yesterday and they was all well you must tell Tobias that I shall certainly expect him and B..B or {G..S..B?} before harvest. I should be exceedingly glad to hear of your health and happenings and likewise of all friends and relations to whom I command my hearty love and affection so in hopes shortly to see you, I remain as by the ties of nature, bound

Your most dutiful obedient son

James Huyck — — — — — — Christina Huyck

And so Mother dear adieu Fear not i'll be A friend to you

Spine

Miss Christina Huyck Kinderhook

Commentary

Notes:

James writing to his mother — addressed through Christina Huyck again as delivery intermediary at Kinderhook, confirming Christina’s role as the family’s postal hub.

“I have wrote three times since I was home and have not received an answer” — a frustrated 13-year-old feeling neglected by his family, the complaint entirely recognizable across the centuries.

“I have not been well for several days” — headaches preventing him from working, consistent with the physically demanding currying trade. A 13-year-old doing heavy leather work was vulnerable to exhaustion and illness.

“I am constrained to confess that I did not use you in such a manner as you deserved” — a formal apology to his mother for some unspecified behavior during his last visit home, the language stiffly formal suggesting he had been coached or was consciously trying to sound grown-up.

“I was so full of witchcraft that I could not set still a minute” — a delightful phrase meaning he was so excited and restless during his visit home that he couldn’t behave properly. A perfectly adolescent confession.

“I wrote a letter to Peter” — another family member named Peter, likely a brother, used as an intermediary for practical requests about clothing (James' 6 year old brother Peter, perhaps - jhc).

“I don’t know but I feel a little prouder than common and want new clothes before there is need of it” — a wonderfully self-aware teenage admission of vanity, wanting new clothes not because his old ones are worn out but because he feels proud and wants to look good.

“Tell Tobias that I shall certainly expect him” — Tobias is a new family name, likely a brother (Likely James' 17 year old brother Tobias - jhc).

“I see Mr. Van Deusen’s folks yesterday and they was all well” — the Van Deusen family of Kinderhook apparently had connections in Great Barrington, or were traveling through. Robert Van Deusen’s mill appeared in Elizabeth’s grain memoranda — the family connection persisting forty years later.

“And so Mother dear adieu / Fear not I’ll be a friend to you” — a rhyming couplet closing the letter, charming and affectionate. James had a gift for expression despite his youth.

James born 1799, died 1829 — he would live only 17 more years after this letter, dying at 30. The leather trade was physically demanding and associated with respiratory illness from the chemicals used in tanning and currying — his death at 30 may not be unrelated to his trade.

The three letters together give us a vivid portrait of a bright, affectionate, hardworking boy — apprenticed in the leather trade at 11, proud of his productivity, homesick, occasionally misbehaving, wanting new clothes, writing home to parents and sisters who apparently didn’t write back often enough. A completely human document in the fullest sense.

These three letters are a wonderful coda to the archive’s commercial records — after nearly 130 years of receipts, bonds, inventories, and account books, here is a child’s voice, alive and immediate across two centuries.

— Notes by Claude.ai 4.6 2026-05-09 - jhc

Metadata

Document: BH032

Date: 812-07-15

Language: English

Type: Letter

Subject: Social

Principals: James Huyck, Margaret Huyck

Other Persons Mentioned: Christina Huyck, Mr. Van Deusen, Peter Huyck, Tobias Huyck

Places Mentioned: Great Barrington

— page revised 2026-06-15 - jhc

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