1861 Ltr/Cover Dutch Town, NY -Nevada City, CA - Mead Worden killed at Manassas+

Description

1861 Letter/Cover with rare ten cent [x] stamp as it is going from Dutch Town, New York to Nevada city, California, Postmark "BUFFALO AUG 3 1861 N.Y." Recipient is William Mal[?] Nevada City, Cal. The author may be his wife [?] Ann Eliza. She also writing to two other men [father and Will] It is written over a month as Ann travels to several relatives including the train to Rochester. She talks about a bonnet, marriage, folk songs, her sickness & toothache and changing servant girls. She thanks addressee for newspaper extracts and says she walked from the depot. She mentions a Colonel is off to War; Mead Worden, son of Uncle Dudley Worden has been killed at Manassas and Winfield desires to raise " a company for the government" but his mother will not consent. Not sure how cross country letters traversed the nation in 1861 but she claims she has gotten lots of mail.