The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-01-31

"Minnesota It's Place Among the
States''--Being what Zebulon Saw
yer, Farmer. and his Neighbors
think about the said Book, as Com
prised In q few Letters.
EDITORIAL NOTE.-The series of letters
which will follow under the above head, were
written by Mr.. ZEBULoN SAWYER, well-to.do
Farmer, of Sawyersville the first of which
was received by us during the early part of
December last. We did not publish it at that
time, because, being personally unacquainted
with the writer, we would not commit ourself
to the publication of the series until we had re.
ceived, and had found leisure to examine,
them. Owing to his ill health, as he intimstes,
but, as we suspect, to some slight infacility of
composition, the last did not reach us until a
few days ago. We shall print them now. from
day to day, as space and convenience may per-
NIT and, on our correspondents account, we
ask for them patient reading.l Daily, Jan. "a
LETTER ONE.
SAwYERsvILLE, Dec. 7th, 1861.
To Mr. GOODRICH, Printer ethe Pioneer and Democrat
HoNoRED SIR I've been calculating a
long time to write you letter, or so, which
1 do with a kind of hesitating feeling. l
hav'nt ever written much for the papers
hardly none that is worth mentioning. To
be fair, and square, and honest with you,
never did write but one piece before; which
was some stanzas, wont repeat, on the
time of my junction in marriage with one
who was at that time, and is yet, my true
and lawful welded wife /; and she's as well
as could be expected.
You know it makes man sort of deli
cate to get up and talk before meeting,
and somehow when begin to write to an
Editor like you, which 1 want printed in
your paper, and it's to be read by several
thousand people. 1 seem to feel just as though
l was speaking to them all right before me,
and feel as if 1 didn't exactly know how
to say what want to say. l presume you
know all about this sort of feeling, which
you probably felt more than once before
you got used to it. It's human nature to
feel SO, anu l hope its nothing against a
man if he does feel 80. But it's curious,
though; and when l sit down to take up my
pen to write, my mind seems to sort of leave
me; and my pen grows heavier than the
axe with which I've cut down, these three
years I've been here, more than forty acres
of openings, besides cutting and splitting
the wood for the house.
am farmer, and that's my business ;
and I always had notion that the farmers
had an interest, as we'll as other people, in
seeing what they had done, set out in print !;
and that it would be better for all hands, if
half of the law books, and doctor books, and
such like, that we see, were filled with
something useful, which would teach those
who read them how to make good honest
living, instead of setting up to get it, second
handed, out of what others have earned.
Besides, it appeared to me, land all my
neighbors said so, too,) that, if farming
people in the East could only find out wtere-
aboutS our country was located, and how we
were getting on here, it would be mighty
good thing to bring them out to Minnesota,
to settle.
remember when l was boy, in York
State, before my father moved out to His
nois, of reading little book written about
the good lands on the prairies out there,
and how pleasant the seasons were there, and
the good crops they raised, and how easy aud
cheap they could raise cattle. 1t was not
much OF book to be sure and our school.
master used to laugh at it, and say it was
like some old farmers diary or journal, and
that it had no statistics in it; but still it
seemed to suit the neighbors just as well,
and they all used to borrow it, and read it,
till it was quite worn out and pretty much
all of them, afterwards, settled out West, at
one place or another.
Well, last Winter, while was reading
your valuable paper, (which, by the way,
there is So enclosed, and you must send me
again, this year, about the proceedings Of
our Legislature, at st Paul, saw that
they had concluded to give thousand dol
lars year to Mr.. Wheelock, from Nova
Scotia, for writing book called "Minne-
ia its place among the States ]" Ispoke
to the folks around here about it, but none
of them had seen it, and several said they
did not see what the Legislature wanted to
tax the people a thousand dollars year for
to be told Whereabouts Minnesota was pla.