Pea Vine Valley
Oct. 14th, 1852
Dear Mother
I am ashamed I waited to be reminded of my duty by my brother's kind visit. I will offer no excuse for myself for not writing before though I have been strangely taken up by the kindness and favor of your good friends here, particularly my aunt, for well do I know that my duty to my honored mother ought to take place of all other considerations. All I beg therefore is that you will be so good as to forgive me, on promise of amendment and to procure forgiveness also of my aunt and all friends. Belive me, Mother, when I say that no diversions here or elsewhere shall make me forget that the duty I owe to so good a mother and such kind relations. Henry and James send their love to you and family. Tell all the negros howdy. Tell Mer big for I reckon you know who I mean, brother Denis sister's old man I want to see him. Henry says that he is coming to see you in his fine buggy and bring his lady with him. He says that you must have every thing in order. I expect you would like to know what I am studying. I am spelling, reading, writing and studying Grammar and I am going to study arithmetic. I want you to bring my shawl and bonnet. Give my love to cousin Henry Dobson and cousin Patsy Hughes and family. Can Willy walk yet? Kiss Martha Ann for me. It is growing late. I must come to a close. Aunt Maria and cousins send their love to you all. Come soon.
Your most humble and dutiful daughter
Sallie Ann Hunt
Henry's buggy:
Wikipedia:
A Concorde buggy, first made in Concord, New Hampshire, had a body with low sides and side-spring suspension. A buggy having two seats was a double buggy. A buggy called a stanhope typically had a high seat and closed back.
The bodies of buggies were sometimes suspended on a pair of longitudinal elastic wooden bars called sidebars. A buggy whip had a small, usually tasseled tip called a snapper.
In countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, it was a primary mode of short-distance personal transportation, especially between 1815 and 1915. At that time, horseback riding in towns and rural areas was less common and required more specific skills than driving a buggy. Horsemanship tended to be an aristocratic skill of larger American and British landowners, North American western pioneers, the military and scouts. Buggies required at least crudely graded main roadways, where horses could go almost anywhere. The growing use of buggies for local travel expanded, along with stage lines and railroads for longer trips. In cities and towns, horse-drawn railed vehicles gave carriage to poor workers and the lower middle class. The upper middle class used buggies, as did farmers, while the rich had the more elegant 4-wheel carriages for local use. In the late 19th century, bicycles became another factor in urban personal transport.
Until mass production of the automobile brought its price within the reach of the working class, horse-drawn conveyances were the most common means of local transport in towns and nearby countryside. Buggies cost around $25 to $50, and could easily be hitched and driven by untrained men, women, or children. In the United States, hundreds of small companies produced buggies, and their wide use helped to encourage the grading and graveling of main rural roads and actual paving in towns. This provided all-weather passage within and between larger towns.
In 1852:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hl4p9r;view=1up;seq=669;size=150
A pound of tea cost between .50 and $1.00
A pound of common soap cost between .5 and .10 cents
A pound of roasted coffee cost .7 cents
A pound of rice cost .7 cents
In 1852, a bricklayer in New York worked about 60 hours a week (six 10-hour days with Sunday off) and earned about $2 a day. $12 a week or about $600 a year.
In 1852 a carpenter in Pennsylvania worked about 60 hours a week and earned about $1.50 a day. $9 a week or about $450 a year.
In 1852, a plumber in New York earned $2 a day.
In 1852, a weaver in Rhode Island worked 84 hours a week and made .79 cents per day.