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Archiver > IRISH-AMERICAN > 2002-10 > 1034611350


From: "Diane Tempest" <>
Subject: [Irish-American] SKELLERN DUBLIN TO NY.
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 17:02:30 +0100


I have a letter dated 1864 which I would like to share with the group. In a
few goes. It is written by my Great Uncle John Skellern a PRINTER to his
brother in London. Diane in Canterbury England.

"Page 1.

"Dear Thomas Very many years have rolled away, and almost a generation has
passed since I last saw you, or even had the pleasure of hearing from you- a
strange family indeed-I have sought in vain in this large City for a London
Directory to find out about you, but not one in any of the large Commercial
houses or Shipping Offices could I find, until last week ,I was told that I
could find Directories of all parts of the world at the Merchants Exchange,
when to my great joy I seen your name in 1863 Directory along with George
Skellern. God has spared us both to this good old age ,the last of out
generation, and only surviving ones. I have been anxious to hear all about
you, your wife and children. as like myself you must be a grandfather years
ago. Space will // me to give a history of myself- it would take a book and
that a large one for me to tell my history since last I seen you. All I ever
knew of in Dublin are dead years ago except a younger generation of the date
of George Skellern in London, and they too are gone some of them. I will try
to give you a very brief history of my family and hope to hear in return
from you a more fortunate one of yours. At the time I was in Dublin business
as usual was against me. Uncle George's money all expended by continual
idelness,and being persuaded by a young man of about 22 years old to dispose
of all I had and go to America where he had rich friends where we would all
be happy for life, showing me a letter of invitation from his father to us
for our kindness to his son by us, that he would be a friend to us as long
as I lived-all this turned out fictitious the letter was a forgery and all
turned out false on my arrival to this city.

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