Letter from François Frachon to Jean... (1840)

NRA-L-000615 / 1840

Letter from François Frachon to Jean Marie Frachon, 1840-05-04

François Frachon writes to his father about money, family news, military career prospects, a review and the regiment's expected departure from Saumur.

Neruda Archives
NRA-L-000615

NRA-L-000615 image 1 showing an unfolded French family letter combining handwritten letter text, the delivery address, postal marks, folds, sealing evidence and complete physical paper edges. — **Image 1**Address panel, postal evidence and letter text on the unfolded sheet.

NRA-L-000615 image 2 showing an unfolded French family letter with continuous handwritten text, visible folds, retained annotations and complete physical paper edges. — **Image 2**Letter text and closing on the unfolded sheet.

Archive Record

Identifier: NRA-L-000615
Date: 1840-05-04
Original date: Saumur le 4 mai 1840
Type: Family correspondence
Language: French / fr
Sender: François Frachon
Recipient: Jean Marie Frachon
Places: Saumur / Annonay, Ardèche
Extent: 2 documentary sides: Documentary page 1; Documentary page 2; 2 digital images.
Citation: Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000615.

Rights & reuse

Reuse is welcome. Publicly available images may be reused for non-commercial purposes with attribution, and automated machine use is permitted with provenance. Commercial republication requires prior written permission.

Full rights & reuse terms

Publicly available images, transcriptions, translations, metadata and descriptions may be copied, shared, reproduced and republished, in whole or in part, for non-commercial purposes, provided that Neruda Archives is clearly credited and the relevant item identifier and stable URL are preserved. This permission includes non-commercial scholarly, educational, editorial, exhibition, website and social-media use. Automated machine use, including crawling, indexing, text and data mining, retrieval, embeddings and AI training by commercial and non-commercial systems, is permitted, provided provenance is retained where technically feasible and the item identifier and stable URL are preserved in source records or associated documentation. Commercial publication, commercial reproduction, resale, advertising use, paid access to a database or dataset and bulk redistribution of images require prior written permission. For the avoidance of doubt, permission is not required merely because an AI system or its operator is commercial. The images displayed and downloadable on this page are public access copies, and the permissions above apply to those files. Access to non-public source scans (preservation masters) or files specially prepared for print, where available, requires prior written agreement. Attribution may not be removed or replaced by false or misleading attribution.

Transcript and English translation

working scholarly aid

Address panel

Original transcript

Monsieur Jean Marie Frachon
Annonay
Ardèche

Address panel

English translation

Mr Jean Marie Frachon
Annonay
Ardèche

Letter text - Image 1

Original transcript

Repondu 15 Mai

Saumur le 4 mai 1840

S. l. au 20. de Ligne 2 Bataillon 1re Comp[ag]nie

Mon cher père

J'ai reçu tes deux lettres la première me
remettant 40 f. et la 2me m'annonçant la faillite
Ch. Durand. Je te remercie bien de toutes les deux
J'ai été un peu long a te répondre, mais te
sachant a Voiron, et ayant écrit à mon oncle, j'ai
pensé que vous prefereriez tous recevoir des nouvelles
un peu plus tard.

Je pense que vous êtes de retour de votre grande
expédition de Voiron qui s'est faite à votre grande
satisfaction, et qui je l'espère bien t'aura fait du
bien ainsi qu'a ma pauvre sœur. Vous ne devriez
pas rester si longtemps sans faire de ces visites qui te
sont necessaires tu ne me disais pas dans ta derniere
lettre si vous étiez passé par lyon comme vous en aviez
le projet pour voir Charles.

J'ai recu aussi la lettre de mon oncle dans laquelle
tu me donnais de tes nouvelles. Le Capitaine pour
qui j'avais donné des renseignements, m'a chargé de
l'en remercier. Il est passé Chef de Bataillon au
51e de ligne a Lyon, les premiers jours du mois

Letter text - Image 1

English translation

Replied 15 May

Saumur the 4 May 1840

S. l. to the 20th of Line 2nd Battalion 1st Company

My dear father

I received your two letters the first one
remitting 40 fr. and the 2nd announcing the bankruptcy
of Ch. Durand. I thank you very much for both of them
I have been a little long in answering you, but
knowing you were in Voiron, and having written to my uncle, I
thought you would all prefer to receive news
a little later.

I think you are back from your great
expedition to Voiron which was made to your great
satisfaction, and which I hope well will have done you
good as well as to my poor sister. You should not
stay so long without making these visits which are
necessary for you you did not tell me in your last
letter if you had passed by Lyon as you had
planned in order to see Charles.

I also received my uncle's letter in which
you gave me your news. The Captain for
whom I had given some information, charged me
to thank him. He became Battalion Commander in the
51st of line in Lyon, the first days of the month

Documentary page 2

Original transcript

Toujours rien de nouveau, cela viendra
plus tard. et à parler franchement je ne m'y
attends pas de sitot, il y en a de plus anciens qui
de toute justice doivent passer avant le outefois j'espère
que la recommandation de Messieurs Sapey et
Croissy pourra m'être utile, et que ce ne durera
pas trop.
Tu me demandais dans ta dernière si c'était
dans ma compagnie que j'étais demandé, je ne l'ai
été nul part encore, mais j'ai été porté comme
je te disais précédement, sur le tableau supplementaire
d'avancement. On porte sur ce tableau ceux qui
sont susceptibles d'exercer le grade pour lequel ils
sont proposés, et au fur et mesure que l'on a besoin
d'hommes on les prends sur ce tableau, nul ne
pouvant être nommé à un grade s'il n'est pas
porté sur le tableau d'avancement.
Depuis ma dernière nous avons eu de
fortes chaleurs, et je ne me rapelle pas d'avoir
vu de mois d'avril aussi chaud, les vignes sont déjà
avancées, mais la saison s'annonce comme très
sêche, toujours les vents du nord.
Nous avons passé hier la revue. je n'avais
pas encore vu d'Etat major aussi nombreux
que celui du Général Braque.
Il y avait à sa suite plus de 150 officiers
de toutes armes et de tous pays. Anglais
espagnols Portugais, Russes, belges, polonais prussiens
Américains, etc. ça fesait un effet charmant
Ce sont de jeunes officiers qui sont envoyés
ici pour faire des cours d'équitation etc
Tu me demandais dans ta dernière si tu
pouvais m'envoyer des mandats sur Paris ou
Lyon et de voir M M.
correspondants
de M.r de M.rs Riboulet. j'ai perdu leur ad[ress]e
mais ce m'aurait été inutile vu qu'il est probable
que j'en'en recevrai plus ici à Saumur, nous
nous attendons à partir à la fin du mois pour
Beaupreau. et en quelque endroit que je sois
tu n'as qu'a me remettre sur paris dont
je me débarasserai toujours plus économiquement
que par la poste à moins de circonstance
imprévue Je vous embrasse tous
Frachon

Documentary page 2

English translation

Still nothing new, that will come
later. and frankly speaking I do not
expect it soon, there are older ones who
in all fairness must pass before however I hope
that the recommendation of Messrs Sapey and
Croissy will be useful to me, and that it will not last
too long.
You asked me in your last if it was
in my company that I was requested, I have not
been anywhere yet, but I was placed as
I was telling you previously, on the supplementary promotion roll.
They put on this roll those who
are capable of exercising the rank for which they
are proposed, and as they need
men they take them from this roll, no one
being able to be appointed to a rank if he is not
placed on the promotion roll.
Since my last we have had
strong heats, and I do not remember having
seen such a warm month of April, the vines are already
advanced, but the season announces itself as very
dry, always the north winds.
We passed the review yesterday. I had not
yet seen such a numerous general staff
as that of General Braque.
He had in his suite more than 150 officers
of all arms and all countries. English
Spanish Portuguese, Russians, belgians, poles prussians
Americans, etc. it made a charming effect
These are young officers who are sent
here to take courses in equitation etc
You asked me in your last if you
could send me money orders on Paris or
Lyon and to see M M.
correspondents
of Mr of Mrs Riboulet. I lost their address
but it would have been useless to me since it is probable
that I will receive no more here in Saumur, we
expect to leave at the end of the month for
Beaupreau. and wherever I may be
you only have to remit to me on paris of which
I will rid myself always more economically
than by the post except in unforeseen circumstance
I embrace you all
Frachon

Discovery Terms

Family correspondence
Military service
Military career
Finances
Travel
Frachon Family Correspondence

Transcriptions and English translations are provided as working scholarly aids, not as replacements for the images of the original documents. Some readings may remain uncertain, especially where handwriting, spelling, damage, abbreviations, names or places are difficult.

Some transcriptions and translations may be prepared with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by Neruda Archives before publication. Better readings, corrections and alternative translations are welcome when they are supported by the manuscript image, context or reliable sources.

When suggesting a correction, please include the item ID, the relevant line or image area, the proposed reading or translation, and the evidence for it.

Suggest a better reading or correction

Relevant line or image area Proposed reading or translation Evidence or reason

Your name Your email

Your name and email are optional. Personal data is used only to assess, document and, where possible, respond to this correction. See the Privacy Notice.