Letter from home

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s blog has an interesting article on a little piece of correspondence from George Westinghouse, Sr., to George Westinghouse, Jr. at the close of the Civil War. George Sr. was then a manufacturer of agricultural implements in Schenectady, with a factory along the Erie Canal at Dock Street. George Jr. was an operating engineer in the United States Navy, about to end his term. He already had a patent for a rotary steam engine, which in this letter his father confirms has been accepted. Before long he would create the railroad airbrake, which would revolutionize railroad safety. After more work on railroad mechanics, he would turn his attention to electricity, and through an on-and-off-again relationship with Nikola Tesla would create our modern electrical world.
So it’s especially touching to read here, before all this happens, a simple letter from father to son, talking about family and health (always a topic in 19th century letters), and encouraging him to come home.