A letter about Richmond History

Amherst, Mass. Aug. 27, 1932:

My dear Mrs. Baker,
           I was sorry to miss seeing you when I called the other day, but in your absence, your son gave a very gracious welcome.
          Later in talking with an old friend about Richmond and some of my recollections, he suggested that it might be of value in time to come if I should put on paper some of the sites of buildings there when the place was at its height, before the cholera of 1832 which put an end to its early promise. I have therefore drawn a rough sketch and marked several sites. The site of the old church is still very plain, a clump of bushes filling the old cellar hole. That structure was taken down later (cir. 1840) moved to Painesville and is now a part of the present Disciples building.
          On the opposite side of the river, just back of an old house still standing about east of the railroad bridge, I remember having seen the road bed, stringers and flat iron rails of the Painesville and Fairport railroad. That was about 1872-3, and the railroad must have been constructed in the '30's. Possibly some trace of the road bed might still be found although I suppose the fields have been [page 2] cultivated for years since that time.
          A number of years ago, I attempted to locate the old burying grounds, but the under brush had obliterated all trace. Fifty years ago many stones were still standing, and they should be there now if one could find the exact location. It was some 20 rods west of the road and right on the brink of the swamp. I suppose many victims of the cholera must have been buried there.
          These are all trivial items, but in the historical efforts and markings of the DAR and similar agencies, no items are without importance. I remember in that charming volume Celia Thaxter wrote about the Isles of Shoals and her early life there, she said of the pieces of wreckage that came ashore that nothing was too small to be without value. So it is in the historical game.
          In the event of the formation of a County Historical Society, I shall probably have other slight contributions to make.
Very cordially,
C. F. Luther