1832 Letter from Peter Decker [ NY , Second Cholera Pandemic ]
$375
Out of stock
Description
An apocalyptic letter from New York state with one Peter Decker of Cobbleskill, NY checking in on his father during the Second Cholera Pandemic in 1832
Decker, Peter, et al. [Letter to Peter R Decker, Esopus, NY]. July 8, 1832.
A remnant of the second cholera pandemic that lasted from 1826 – 1837, this letter marks the downriver passage of disease and rumor through New York’s Hudson Valley on the way to Manhattan’s first great epidemic and the first major Cholera outbreak in United States history.
Arriving in North America by way of Quebec in June of 1832, the cholera outbreak followed river trade routes down the Saint Lawrence and Hudson, infecting Albany before arriving in New York City. As this letter of early July 1832 from Peter M. Decker of Cobbleskill, New York to his father Peter R. Decker of Esopus, New York (about 80 miles south on the Hudson) demonstrates, it was practically possible to track the disease’s southward progress in real time leading to widespread paranoia, as noted in the writer’s repeated references to the biblical apocalypse, rumors of cholera in the local canal, and unrest in New York City. (An estimated 120,000 Americans died in the second Cholera pandemic).
[2]pp manuscript letter folded for post. Toned. Some soiling at creases. Occasional ink smudging. Tear to address panel with remnants of wax seal. Very good.
If you liked this original manuscript letter, you might enjoy these handwritten Prophecies of Saint Odile or this original letter from Psycho author Robert Bloch with an HP Lovecraft cartoon.
