Letter written by Edward A. Pace  to Albert Campbell

Edward was a lawyer who lived most of his adult life in Taylor county IA. Regrettably I do not know of the whereabouts, if still in existence, of the other letters Edward mentions.

This copy was sent to me by Jim Pearce.  It is in the collection of family material owned by Shirley Pace Newfarmer.  He is helping Shirley put together her family history.  Shirley is the daughter of Charles Wesley [PACE] 1867-1937 who was a son of  Charles Wesley [PACE] 1827-1908. You need a pencil to keep things straight!!

Anyway, when Charles Wesley, son of Edward and Susannah, was aged he went to live with his daughter, Rose Campbell.  It is to Rose's son, Albert, that this letter is written. 

I thought you would like a copy.  I left the typos as written. 

Jane

Permissions granted from Shirley to reprint this letter here. (Thanks to Shirley, Jim and Jane!)

New Market, Iowa
Jan. 25, 1907

My Dear Neqphew,

In endeavoring to comply with your request for a short biography of my
father, I am hampered by lack of material and will be compelled to rely on
my recollection of conversttion with father, and my grandfather and fathers
brothers.  Supplemented by reading I have examined the indexes of hundreds
of law books to find where men of the name of Pace had been Plaintiff or
Defendant with no cases reported and it is only in recent years that I find
the name, and never have I found it in the criminal reports.

Hence, I conclude that the race has never had great wealth and that they
were never great criminals.  I have read what Englis history I could get
hold of, with a view to ascertain if any of them had been prominent in
history.  However, I have been able to find it only once.

Pace was undersecretary to Henry Eighth, in his struggle with the Pope of
Rome for the establishment of the English Church.  Henry Eighth was a Tudor
from Wales which is in the southwest part of the British Isles.

My Grandfather told me that we were Welch and Welchmen tell me the name
Pace is as common in Wales and Smith is in this country, and as I never saw 
the name in either Scotch or Irish history, and it is not a French or German
name, I conclude we are of Welch Decent.

The name Pace means measure and it is a characteristic of the Paces to
measure everything, and everybody by our own standard.  Those whoo  fall
below we despise and thos above us we never adimit.  That is our peculiar
trait, as a people.  Those below us can't help us and those above us won't
on account of our distrustful, cold and distant dispositions.   For that
reason we have never sunk to th depths of the criminality or risen to high
position in life.  The tow extremes have made us a hardy, self-reliant,
mediocre people.  This is the Paces in a nut shell.

Your Grandfathers Grandfather, William Pace, settled in Virginia, previous
to the Revolutionary War and was a soldier under General Washington and was
wounded at the battle of Monmouth.

He had six sons – the youngest was named Edward, who was my Grandfather.

The names of his brothers were Henry, Thomas, William, Elish, George

But I do not know the order in which they came.  Grandfather, has some
sisters but the youngest Margaret is the only one, that I know anything
about.  She married a man by the name of Wineinger.  They emigrated to the
state of Indiana with my Grandfather Pace.

Father (Charles Wesley Pace) was the 6th son of Edward Pace and was born on
the 7th day of April, 1827, in Scott County, Virginia near the border of
Tennessee.  Grandfather Pace was married twice.  The first  time to a lady
by the name of Pots.  Of here people I know nothing, except her sons John,
Daniel, George (who died) in infancy) and Cynthia.

Cynthia married a man by the name of Wineger and as early as 1848 removed
to Linear, Linn county, Missouri.

Grandfather married a second time in the State of Virginia to Susannah
Foster.  Of her people I know nothing.  I have met some men of the name of
Foster that claimed that they were cousins of fathers, but at the time I
did not know, nor did father care whether they were related or not.

When father was about 9 years old or about 1836, and 1837, there was a
great exodus from the county in East Tennessee, bordering on Virginia and North
Carolina.  Grandfathers brothers, most of them going to Ohio and Kentucky
and lately to Illinois.  My Grandmothers people to Georgia and Alabama.

My Grandfather and his sister (Margaret) (pronounced by them – Margut) came
with all their families to Indiana in 1836.  During the 9 year residence in
Tennessee and Virginia.

I never heard father recall but one instance and that will show how
determined father was and what an early impression will do and how long it
may last and what effect it sometimes has.

Grandfathers father-in-law owned an old darkey called Charley.  Fathers
brothers teased him and said his name Charles was for old Charley the
negro.

   Father of course resented it and would never own that his name was
Charles Wesley.  He claimed it was just Wesley and he clung to that name. 
He was called Wes or Wesley until he went into the army.  All business 
matters were signed Wesley Pace – notes – bonds – deeds – and 
mortages made by him or given by him were in the name of Wesley Pace.

I did not know that his name was Charles Wesley until he had enlisted in
the Army.  After he returned from the Army he signed his name Charles W. 
Pace but more generally C. W. Pace.  This difference in the signing of the 
name has led to considerable legal vexation to prove that they are one 
and the same man.

Grandfather settled in Duboise County, Indiana, in the heavy timber and
commenced to and did clear out a farm.  Grandfather was a very pious
Methodist and believed the world was flat, that the sun and stars went
round the earth.  How it was done he left in the hands of God in whom 
he believed and worshiped with all the force of an unreasoning blind faith.

His library consisted of the Holy Bible and Foxes bood of Martyrs.  He
loved Methodism as the true church of God and hated Catholicism as the 
enemy of all that was good and pure.  Politically and religiously, and 
cristened his children at 8 days old without knowing that Methodism was 
the grand daughter of the Catholic Church and that in christening his 
children he was following in the footsteps of the Catholics whom he 
hated as the devil hates holywater.

He held family prayer night and morning and none chold sleep until prayer
at night nor lie in bed unless in case of sickness, after breckfast work
commensed immeadiatly.  The weather did not matter.  It was work either in
the clearing of the fields, cleaning the barn or out buildings.

He believed in prayer – he also believed in the rod and he had recourse to
the one about as often as the other.  Solomon said spare the rod and spoil
the child and he believed it.  He was a invalid and carried a cane and when
prompt remedy was required to administer disciplin he used his cane and if
it was handyer than a breech limb.  He was honest as the sun and never
contracted anything but that he knew he could preform and taught, yes,
instilled that principle into his children.  With the sweat of thy brow
shalt thou eat bread was brought constantly to their minds by the industry
that was forced upon them.  His children naturally attended religious
services there was no other means of rest and recreation.  That is where
the girls went and where the girls were gathered together will be found the
boys also.

There were no district or public schools in that country in those days.
Nothing but subscrition schools and they were few and far between.  Indeed
education was not thought necessry and the majority of men prided
themselves more on their markmanship than they did on their scholarship.

Father attended a subscription school for three months and that was all the
schoolin he ever had.  He had a book called Websters Elementary spelling
book.  I tore it up when I was bout 4 years old.

His brother John Pace taught him how to write and cipher, addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division and how to find interest.  That
was all the preparation he had for a business career.

In 1846 father, then 19 years old, married Mary Adams or Wineing, my
mother, and when he married Grandfather gave him a horse, saddle and bridle and
gave Grandmother(sic) a feather bed.

My mother had the bed clothing.  Their personal property consisted of these
items plus one cow, a rifle, axe, bed and bedding, kettle, skillett and
coffee pot.

Father went out into the heavy beech woods on "Congress Land" to make a
home.  It was in this lonely cabon on the first day of March 1847 that I
was born.  About a year after that Father was sick a long time with abcess on
the liver and after the doctors had given him up to die, Father prevailed
on his brother Daniel to cut it open with a razor and you have the evidence
before your eyes that he got well.  It was during this sickness that I
first recollect Father.  I yet wore dresses and father who was in bed scolded me
and I struck at him with the fire-board.

In the early fall of 1849, my mother died with Pueperal Fever and my little
sister was buried in the coffin with her.

Then we, Father and I, went to live with Grandfather Pace.

Early in the spring of 1850 Father with 4 other men whose names I do not
recollect fitted out a team of 5 yoke of Oxen and a wagon and loaded the
wgon with Flour, Bacon, Lard and dried fruit and other provisions and
started for California, the land of gold.

When you read this letter to Father, I think it will recall many things to
his mind and perhpas it will be a pleasure to hime.  As well as yourslef.

And if it should be so, then I will write my recollections of what he told
me of his trip to California ond return, but I shall write on one side of
the paper _________________

After his removal to town will be the third letter.  My recollection of his
army life will be the fourth letter.  Rember that in writing these letters
I am attempting anything but something to amuse Father and by which 
you can lean something of his liffe history.

Very affectionatly yours,

E. H. Pace

The writer of the letter is Edward Alexander Pace 1847-1925, eldest child of the senior Charles Wesley Pace and grandchild of Edward Pace.  Edward A. was a lawyer who lived most of his adult life in Taylor county Iowa.  His mother died in 1849 and Edward A. spent some time living with his grandfather in Orange county Indiana.

In his last years, the senior Charles Wesley went to live with his daughter Rausie "Rose" Pace Campbell.  It is to Rose's son Albert that the letter is written.

Jane