The Greer Way West, the web page of the Nathaniel Hunt Greer Family Organization — This page was last updated on July 17, 2008.

Letter from Mr & Mrs A W Lane to James A Lane
10 APR 1882

Before it was discarded and lost, this document was procured in 2007 by Mr Ron Carlisle from a Matthew Simeon Greer descendant who cared little for genealogy or family history. We are deeply indebted to Ron Carlisle for saving this document and sharing it with us.

To view an image of the outside of this letter (pages 1 and 4), click here.

To view an image of the inside of this letter (pages 2 and 3), click here.

[Transcription by William N Greer who added the bracketed note and the footnotes that follow]

[page 1]

Ga jasper Cty ~~March 31~~ April 10^rst 82

Mr James Lane

Dear Brot[her]

I was up at sister Pollie Cornwells last week and she gave me a letter to bring to Mr Lane and I told her it should be answered if I had to write myself although I knew I was a poor dependance but having known you from my earliest child hood and you being and intimate Friend of my Parents and now brotherinlaw you perhaps would not think strange that I should reply, this leaves our Family as well as usual Mr Lanes General health out side of the Rheumatism is as good as it ever was and he

[page 2]

looks as well as he did when you saw him has a rosy complexion and is fleshy enough,
he speaks of you often and says he will write but the Rheuma has drawn his hands so that he has not got good use of them and to day it is hurting him very bad and I thought I would write some any way and let you hear from all, I went to see brother William Lane last week he is in a bad condition indeed with Dropsy I do not think without a change that he will live a great while but he seems to be reconciled to his lot Brother Joel has been afflicted and suffered a great deal with his eye of which you have heard I suppose, but it has bursted since that it has been

[page 3]

easy, his son Thomas has taken him and his wife to his home in Macon where they are as comfortably situated as any person need to be he says he wishes them to remain with him as long as they live and I guess they will do so, I could write half the day but I will close as Mr Lane wishes to write some, write to us and direct to Eula and we will answer love to all, M J Lane

April 10^th/82

Dear Brothers James and Benjamin & families, we received your very excellent letter of recent date, and assure you that its contents was a source of joy and gladness, we have no news of importance, all are wide awake and duely sober making an effort to grow

[page 4]

an other crop but have rented most of the plantation
Tom ^{160 Lbs}, Major ^{90 Lbs}, and James ^{80 Lbs} are planting a nice small farm in addition to wheat & oats, my boys are noble fellows and so are the girls models of excellence & beuty, mammy like, And I, they say, am looking as well & allmost as young as when you saw me last, but I have the rheumatism can't travel far, use a stick, walk tolerably straight, read 3–4 & 5 news papers, prospects bright, relations all well, but Bro William, and I hope he will yet improve, we learn Bro Joel is fast improving I must close, and I say to you, to write & I will surely answer, my love to your dear familys and all relatives, A W Lane

Date of letter: The date of this letter was corrected by its author, but in doing so the intended date became difficult to discern. The year was clearly 1882, and the date changed from what appears to have been 31 MAR to 10 APR as verified on page 3 of the letter.
James Addison Lane: (4 OCT 1814 – 14 MAR 1883) He was the patriarch of the Lane migration to Texas.
Mary Ann (Polly) Lane: (6 MAY 1808 – 28 SEP 1897) She was the only sister of James A Lane. About 1825 she wed Obadiah Cornwell (7 SEP 1805 – 15 JUN 1875) and they farmed along the Alcovy River about 10 miles NW of Monticello, Jasper Co, GA. Their farmland was partially submerged in 1910 by the construction of Lake Jackson.
Augustus Washington Lane: (26 MAY 1806 – ???) He was one of the six known/alleged brothers of James A Lane that reached adulthood. His commonly reported death date (26 MAR 1882) is from Jasper County, Georgia Cemetery and Bible Records by Jewel Moats Lancaster. The date in that record is obviously refuted by this letter which he signed on 10 APR 1882 — two weeks after he allegedly died! The actual date of his death is not yet determined.
Her parents were: William Sims Williams, Sr (1804 – 22 OCT 1871) and Thurzy H Williams (1807 – 23 SEP 1881). Although both were surnamed Williams, they had no known blood relationship.
William Dawson Lane: (2 MAR 1812 – 26 NOV 1882)
Joel (Jack) Lane: (28 JUL 1802 – 25 AUG 1890)
Thomas Jefferson Lane: (28 SEP 1827 – 20 MAR 1897) He was the second son of Joel and Temperance Lane.
Temperance Parnal: (1806 – 1885) She married Joel Lane on 30 DEC 1823.
Eula: The identity of Eula has not been determined.
Mary Jane (Mollie) Williams: (22 JAN 1831 – 8 JAN 1891) She wed A W Greer on 25 SEP 1860.
Dr Benjamin Franklin Lane: (22 FEB 1818 – 2 SEP 1891)
Tom: His identity is unclear, but the context of the letter suggests A W Lane was referring to a son. Records show a son Thomas (1865 – 26 FEB 1941) by A W Lane's second wife who wrote most of this letter. But he would only have been about 17 at the time of this letter.
Major: His identity is unclear, but the context of the letter suggests A W Lane was referring to a son. Records show a son Leonidas Augustus (22 APR 1839 – 14 DEC 1895) by A W Lane's first wife, Martha Ferguson Chapman. But he was only a captain at the surrender at Appomattox. A W Lane himself was a major during the 1837 Seminole Indian War.
James: His identity is unclear, but the context of the letter suggests A W Lane was referring to a son. Records show a son James A (abt 1837 – ???) by A W Lane's first wife, Martha Ferguson Chapman. A second son James Luke (1872 – 1954) by A W Lane's second wife would have been only 10 at the time of this letter.
Rhoda Nicholson: (1776 – 1856)

Letter from Mr & Mrs A W Lane to James A Lane10 APR 1882

Letter from Mr & Mrs A W Lane to James A Lane
10 APR 1882