Letter: Smith Town July 13th 1844

— Dear Sir. I recd yours, without date, enclosed in one from my wife, last evening – It is cheering to me, even in the wilds of Canada, to hear that the prospects of the Democratic party are brightening – Polk & Dallas forever!

Let their names be sounded in cheering peals=loud and long, the whole length and breadth of the Union from the evergreens of Maine to the everglades of Florida – let the enthusiastic voice of the Democracy along the whole Atlantic Coast be echoed from the Rocky Mountains and reverberate from from every hill and dale and plain – Let every Democrat catch the enthusiasm and be aroused and let not the names of Polk and Dallas die upon his tongue till after the election and Polk and Dallas will be elected – It must be – But without enthusiasm on the part of the Democracy that shall dampen and drown that of the Whigs, another defeat awaits us

– If our Members of Congress and others, laid out the work properly, at Washington, So that the charge upon the Whigs will be universal and simultaneous throughout the Union the Whigs must be routed – horse, foot and dragoons – But the work must be well executed as well as wisely planned; and after the first charge and rout of the enemy much remains to be done to prevent them from rallying; and this work and vigilance must be done by the lesser organizations – You have everything to do in the back towns of our part of the County – to see that associations are formed and kept up – See to it for you cannot depend upon the Pulaski folks – above all, for heaven’s sake dont let old Richland lose a single inch

– Our friends at Pulaski are very good to turn out to meetings and make speeches – this is all good in its place – but after the speeches are made they sit down as if nothing more was to be done – but we know this is but the flowery part – mere sunshine of a hard campaign – there is work to do hard tugging – continual fatigue – continual vigilance – You have much of this to do as much as you can bear upon your shoulders – I wish I was able to be there to help you

– Even if the heavy artillery had to be taken over the Alps I should glory in the work – any thing and every thing for the Democratic party – You know I have said I had done with Politiks when I crossed the line – I had intended never [to] think of them [any]more, but I find my self like an old war horse when he hears the sound of the Bugle

— If I could do it in justice [to] myself and family, I would be there through this campaign — but unless I get that appt I must content myself to do well here – Should an appointment come on for me, and there should be any necessity for my being there before the mail would reach me send Dezeng [?] on Bord a Steamboat from Oswego to Coburg or Port Hope – and thence to Peterboro by Stage.

I keep learning more and more about the Fur Countries north of here – and I have seen fresh signs of Beaver within a mile of Mud Lake in a small brook, where he had cut a popple and took off the bark. It is fine sport to catch the Bass and Mosquelongs here – They tell me the Ducks throng this Lake in fall and spring and that some geese stop occasionally.

Wheat looks extremely well here and there is a great deal of it – They will begin to harvest within a fortnight – Wheat is worth 75 cents here now – Pine Lumber can be bought on Buckhorn Lake (the first Lake above this) for 5 dollars. unassorted – just as it comes out of the log – Pine Sands can be bought for $2.00 per acre, or the same as other wild lands – Oak lands do

– Private [–] I have found a grove of Red Cedar, and I wish you would ask Mr. Bentley of Oswego what it is worth a cord delivered at Oswego what length it should be cut – and what size is preferred and also whether the green is worth as much as the dry — I think I can secure the land when this [ . . . . ] by way of the Canada Company — The Indians have shown me a sample of Plaster also, which they tell me is to be found in great abundance upon the navigable waters of one of the Lakes. I shall find it by way of these Indians – they dont know what it is, but procure it for pipes – It is first quality of Plaster full equal to the Novascotia

– Plaster is worth $2.00 per Barrel here – a cash article and scarce at that – all that is used here comes from Oswego and the head of Lake Ont[ario] [–] Keep a little dark on the subject of this Cedar [&] Plaster – I think I can secure both in the course of a year, at least – Johnson the Indian I spoke of having engaged for a partner in Trapping is anxious to go into it – I have only engaged him conditionally, he agreeing to go if I want him – You saw his father at Shlosser – the old Dutch Indian Jim Johnson – I have not seen Bill Kase yet. Perhaps he has not started from home – Money is a cash article here. Capt. Bob Hugunin’s ten per cent can be made on it to any account – I am sorry to hear our friend Tyler is no better – A thorough Salivation is the only thing to save his leg and if this does not do it he must loose his leg to save his life – God spare him.

I have no room to say a word of my friends – but my best respects to them – I remember them continually.

Your Obliged friend A. C. Dickinson