Robert Emmitt
Letter from Robert Emmitt
Article from Pike County Republican Newspaper dated Dec. 12, 1892
This is a letter written to Thomas and Isabel Higgins from their grandson Robert Emmitt.
(Little Rob Emmitt - Writes Another Interesting Letter From Chicago)
He joins the Church Choir and Don's a Surplice.
He Also Attends a Theater Which He Graphically Discribes.
Little Rob Emmitt, who now resides with his mother, at 178 Fulton-at Chicago, again
writes his grandparents in this city, under date of Nov. 27, as follows:
Dear Grandma and Grandpa:
Please excuse me for not writing sooner. I have been studying and practicing singing at the choir every few evenings. For the first time I wore a surplice at the church this morning and I will have to wear one again tonight. I have a locker at the church where I keep my over-coat when I sing in the choir.
The weather here is very cold at nights. The ice on the pond in the park is four inches thick. I was skating Thursday and Friday in Union Park. Saturday before last Charley Wilson came over and asked mother if I could go over, and spend Saturday Sunday with him. In the afternoon Charley and I went to a Theater.
The name of the play was Capt. Herne. The first act was a sort of a love story. The second time the curtain went up every light near the stage went out. and lying on the stage were about twenty or thirty men songing "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground." The next was the bombardment of Vick burn you could see ships moving past the city. Next time forts that were taken by the Union men. Next you could see the surrender of Gen. Lee and his troops. Next was where all the men of the Union forces and forces of the South met at Washington. You could see the peoples, mostly women and boys, cheering the soldiers. There were also several horses on the stage. The parade that was on the stage was made up of several ponies, a brass band and about two hundred soldiers. There were altogether about three hundred people on the stage. The stage is about ten times larger than the one at Waverly. As soon as the curtain had fallen for the last time, Charley and I got on a cable car and soon were at Mr. Wilson's.
Perhaps you would like to know what we had for dinner. Well, to begin with, we had beef soup and bread and butter. Then we had roasted mutton. After the waiter had cleared away the dishes and the remaining mutton, we had desert. For desert, they had grapes, different kinds of candy which were about the size of a quarter of a dollar. The flavors were banana, orange, winter green and pineapple. They also had nuts. Sunday morning we went over to Lincoln Park.
We saw bears, eagles, fawns, lions and also other animals. We saw Grant's and Lincoln's monuments. I also forgot to tell you that I am going over to Charley Wilson's next Saturday. I know all the streets around here and some of the most important in the very center of the city. I went down to Guntber's Historical Gallery, on State-at about two weeks ago by myself. I also know the way over to Mr. Wilson's.
From your own Grandson;
Robert Emmitt
(Robert was 13 years old at this time. )
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Pike Co. Genealogy Society a Chapter of O.G.S.
P. O. Box 224, Waverly, Ohio 45690