Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a letter from M. B. Light to Alonzo Waterman discussing Light’s life in Oregon, Illinois.
The M. B. Light who authored this letter may be Miles Bradley Light, born in Tioga County New York in December of 1827. According to the 1850 U. S. Census, a man named Miles B. Light lived as a “student at law” in Oregon, Illinois (having been born in New York). Based on the Census, Light moved from Oregon to Kirkville, Missouri by 1870 and then to Sedan, Kansas by 1880. In all of these places, Miles B. Light worked as a lawyer. Based on a headstone in the Find a Grave database, Miles Bradley Light died in November of 1897 in Sedan, Kansas.
This collection includes a letter from M. B. Light to a friend, Alonzo Waterman, who lived in Smithsboro, New York. Light described living in Oregon, Illinois. Light apologized for the two-year delay in writing to Waterman, asked about news about old friends in Smithsboro, and explained some of the species of fish in Rock River. Further comments included a list of the local wildlife and the growing conditions and prices of different grains. Light ended the letter by expressing the intention to return to New York and not to work as a farmer.
The Library purchased this collection in 2026 with support from the Bruce C. Creamer Fund.
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