Thomas Rotch letter to Benjamin Rotch, Kendal, Stark Co. Ohio 2 Mo 5, 1817

Thomas Rotch composes a six page letter to his brother in 1817 describing the "new Country" of northeast Ohio. He explains that he decided to relocate in 1811 on the advise of his wife's doctor who suggested that she might benefit from a warm climate with less severe winters. He describes the overland journey through the Allegany Mountains on to Cincinnati, and the eventual establishment of a wool mill and pottery factory in Stark County. Rotch writes that while he feared Indians attacks during the War of 1812, the general outlook for settlement in Ohio was good because of the development of canals and the state's natural resources. He reports that Quaker families in Kendal numbered "about fourteen families" many of them transplants from New England. 8.25" x 9.75" (20.96 x 24.77 cm