Alonzo Cushman Farmer was born in Charlestown, Vermont on March 1, 1831, the son of Bradley and Lydia (Cushman) Farmer. When Alonzo was eighteen he emigrated to Ohio where he appears to have been an agent for a scale company. In 1852 he took the overland route to California, taking 139 days. He later went to Sacramento, California and was present for the Sacramento Fire on November 2, 1852 (see MSA 371:9). He returned to Vermont, and settled in Brighton where he married Martha Jenkins on March 12, 1854. After her death in 1869, he married her sister, Susan Jenkins. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Burke, Vermont where he bought his father-in-law's farm. Alonzo and Susan Farmer had four children. Alonzo died on May 16, 1914 in East Burke, Vermont.
Farmer, from Brighton, Vt., was mustered into Co. E of the 15th Vermont Regiment October 22, 1862, and was mustered out August 5, 1863.
This is a transcription of a fragment (pages 5-12) of a letter written by Farmer to his family describing an escape from the Rebel Black Horse cavalry while outside Union lines. Includes patriotic envelope (stamp missing).
The VHS also holds two other items written by Alonzo C. Farmer: Alonzo C. Farmer diary, 1852 (MSC 212:3) and Alonzo C. Farmer letter re Sacramento, California fire, 1852 (MSA 371:9).
- Transcriptions of letter (PDF)
