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Title: Letter from John Osborne Guion to his cousin, Theodore Kingsbury, March 13, 1846 (Includes Description of the Boarding House) : Electronic Edition.
Author: Guion, John Osborne
Funding from the University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill supported the electronic publication of this title.
Text transcribed by Bari Helms
Images scanned by Caitlin R. Donnelly
Text encoded by Caitlin R. Donnelly
First Edition, 2007
Size of electronic edition: ca. 16K
Publisher: The University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
2007

No Copyright in US

The electronic edition is a part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill digital library, Documenting the American South.
Languages used in the text: English
Revision history:
2007-05-30, Caitlin R. Donnelly finished TEI/XML encoding.
Source(s):
Title of collection: Theodore Bryant Kingsbury Papers (#403), Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Title of document: Letter from John Osborne Guion to his cousin, Theodore Kingsbury, March 13, 1846 (Includes Description of the Boarding House)
Author: J. O. G.
Description: 6 pages, 6 page images
Note: Call number 403 (Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Editorial practices
The text has been encoded using the recommendations for Level 5 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines.
Originals are in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Original grammar, punctuation, and spelling have been preserved.
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Any hyphens occurring in line breaks have been removed, and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line.
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All double right and left quotation marks are encoded as ".
All single right and left quotation marks are encoded as '.
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For more information about transcription and other editorial decisions, see the section Editorial Practices.
Letter from John Osborne Guion to his cousin, Theodore Kingsbury , March 13, 1846 (Includes Description of the Boarding House)
Guion, John Osborne



Page [1]
Chapel Hill March 13 / 46

Cousin Theodore ,

I suppose by this time that you have given out all hopes of receiving a letter from me this session; but you will see by this that you have not been forgotten, and I hope that it may not be treated with silence. Though we are seperated so as not to be able to convers face to face, yet we can correspond by letter; and since there has been a mutual neglect in writing this session; I hope there may also be a mutual improvement. For as Cicero says, "to destroy the intercourse of absent friends, is to strip life of all its social joys." I believe this to be true; for nothing affords me more pleasure than to receive a letter from a friend, & remember that we are more than mere friends. You may say that my actions differs much from my opinions: still what I have said is no less true.
Since I left home I have been well with the exception of bad colds together with soar throat which gave me some trouble. I had a very bad cough, which disturbed my rest at night. I room in the village, at Mrs Lewis's. whom I find to be a very fine old Lady. She has quite a pretty daughter, which

Page [2]
makes it so much the more pleasant, for you know what a gallant I am. I have no room mate, and I believe it is preferable not to have one, at least to running the risk of getting a bad room-mate. This may serve to makes us more cautious when we come to choose a sharer, not merely of your room for four years, but for life and more than the room.
Three more fellows besides myself, are keeping batchelors hall and I am much pleased with it, and shall continue doing so at least this session. The famous "Lord Chesterfield " waits on us, which makes the thing more a propor, to use one of his favourite expressions. There are a large number of students who board themselves, which makes the boarding houses less profitable. If I roomed in college, I should not do it for the inconveniences of having your meals prepared in your rooms are too great, but as it is I have nothing to do but to see to the smoke-house for our meals are served up in a seperate apartment from the rooms.
I often think of you and wish you were here with me, and hope that we shall be in college together at least one year. This is contrary to your belief, but I say to you banish such a thought from your mind and remember that, "Labor vinit omnia." & I have not the least doubt of your joining college in June. Your stay in Fayetteville was so short that I suppose you had no

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time to form any opinion of the place. Mrs is no doubt pleased with her new home and "Old Man." I presume sister has not returned and when she does Cousin Mary Ann will come up with her. I should like to see her. If she is pleased with Fayette it is more than I expect. she wants to get home. And I do not see how she can be pleased having left home so soon after the death of her mother, and having always been at home, it is almost impossible for her to be satisfied, and considering her disposition. [unrecovered] believe that she is hard to please, I have nothing [unrecovered] judge from more than what I have heard of [unrecovered] her, poor girl I am sorry for her; the words [unrecovered] favourite old song are really true, that "there [unrecovered] no place like home." And when anyone is to be deprived of home and the nearest and dearest to them, it is heartrending. When you write to her give my love to her. The mumps have been going the rounds in college, though I have escaped, and the "Tyler Grippe." also, some cases of the mumps have been very bad. but the majority of the cases have been slight.
The Young Ladies I hope are well (I cannot close my letter without saying something about them). though some are absent. I have often wished myself at neighbour Shaws, dancing with the young Lady who pleased Ford. so much. Miss Tucker I suppose is as beautiful as ever. I do not know but that I may comply with the letter of Mary's which you saw. there is no telling. Her charms are almost irresistible. So you had better become acquainted with your "perhaps to be" relation. But the

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Young Ladies of Raleigh are such frightful objects to you that you can hardly be persuaded to approach them. Tell Mary I have been expecting to receive a present from her, in the way of "goodies." but fear that I shall never receive it. And also tell that I have been awaiting an answer to my last letter. and very impatiently. I think you all have forgotten how to write. for I have only received one letter this session

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but I am not surprised. When you see Haywood

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present my respects to him and tell him that I should be glad to hear from him. Give my love to all the family and when you write remember me to your family & particularly to Delia. Write to me soon, and do'nt suffer the session to pass by without answering my letter. Tell Bernard & Julius. that I should like to have them here to go out shooting for me. since I am keeping batchelors hall. I could live very cheap. I could send them out. hunting. & now the fishing season is approaching. they could also supply me with fish. But never mind. they may wait on me this summer. bringing water &c. with all wishes for your welfare & advancement

I remain Your Cousin.

J. O. G.