1850 stampless folded letter with red "WESTFIELD/N.Y." cds, red "PAID" & "5" handstamps, addressed to Rev. Levi Alburn Skinner, at Vernon Centre, Oneida County, NY.
1-1/2 pg. letter contents, dated at Westfield, NY, April 6, 1850, from A.H. Hungerford, to his Brother-in-Law, Rev. Levi Alburn Skinner.
The writer of this letter, Sextus Heman Hungerford (SH259), (1806-1867), is featured in the website: "The Strangest Names in American Political History", where you can find a very lengthy biography, photos, etc. In 1830, he married Maria Polly Skinner at Vernon, NY, and in 1837, they moved to Westfield, NY. In 1848, he founded and was President of the Bank of Westfield, and served as Town Supervisor of Westfield in the 1860's, and also one term in the NY State Assembly in 1865.
The letter is to his brother-in-law, Rev. Levi Alburn Skinner, (1811-1876), who was a Presbyterian minister who preached in Erie & Chautaqua counties in NY until 1854, when he was compelled to leave the ministry because of problems with his voice, and that year he made the unlikely switch in careers from a Minister to a banker, becoming Cashier of the Westfield Bank, founded by his brother-in-law, the Bank's President, and later was Cashier and President of the 1st National Bank of Westfield, also founded by Sextus H. Hungerford, serving until his death in 1876.
Good content in which Sextus H. Hungerford writes Rev. Skinner about their proposed trip together, and discusses at length the disposition of his wife's share of her father's estate.