1872

Katie Chapin begins her 1872 epistle to Dorcas by mentioning that the grasshoppers that had once been omnipresent at the Chapin homestead in Minneapolis have now, by her conjecture, “gone down stream.” The manner in which the grasshoppers are discussed implies that there was an earlier letter, not in the collection, which mentioned the arrival of the grasshopper swarms.

Grasshopper swarms on the Kansas frontier had seen the insects pile up three inches deep, break tree limbs under their weight, halt railroad traffic, and devour entire gardens despite efforts to deter them (Jones 1998).

The departure of the “hoppers” is mentioned as a fortuitous development for the Chapins living in Kansas. Oscar and Katie have had to spend heavily to get their farm up and running. According to Katie the family is relying on a good crop of wheat so that their financial situation will “come out all right.” 

Along with the wheat, a small crop of peaches along with a collection of other fruits is excitedly mentioned as allowing the opportunity of such a luxury as getting to bake a fruit pie.

There is also a noticeable amount of warmth between daughter and mother-in law in this letter. Katie mentions how pleased the whole family is to hear from Dorcas again. She also describes how loved she is among the younger generations, relating that all the young kids want to keep Dorcas’ picture. This theme is particularly prevalent in the second letter from this year sent to Lucinda Dorcas Chapin.

A fragment of a letter begun by Hannah Daggett in September, but finished in October by Thomas Daggett, heralds the birth of a baby girl. The couple state that giving the baby a name now is “obviously out of the question,” (look for a source on if this was a common practice) and instead ask for Dorcas to come up with the “prettiest name in the world” for their newborn girl. This privilege again indicates the love and regard generated by the Chapin matriarch at the center of this web of correspondence that makes up the collection of Chapin-McNeil family letters.