Otego Jan 1st ‘69

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Dear Brother

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I have made up my mind to write to you once a month. How my heart aches to think of you in such of an out of the world place so far from a P.O. and far from neighbors. Please tell us how much of a place is Kamloops and how far is it from the ocean. How I wish you had more books. You used to be so proud of reading. There is a story in the Tribune now that I know you would like. An old man has retired from business and he is unmarried for his love died in youth. His sister, and old maid, keeps house and they help and encourage the unfortunate and try to reclaim the sinful by being kind and showing them that they take an interest in their welfare and that is the way to go. It never does any good to turn the cold shoulder on our acquaintances because we think they are bad. Such treatment will never reform any one. Otego is being build up considerably. There has been two or three nice houses put up on Pickle street and there is a street goes across from Pickle street, comes out just below the Episcopal Church. There is as many as five or six houses on that street, then there is a street laid out above Mr. Newland’s back across the swamp. There is a large nice three storey school house on this street about half way from Main street to the swamp and they have laid out a street from this back of Newlands and Cunningham’s down on the old Hughston farm, then turns and intersects Main street a little below where old Mr. Baldwin used to live. Where Mr. Heliker used to live there is a new comer and he is rich and he has new modelled the house - raised the roof and made a very nice house of it. They have started a paper in Otego. I wish you would write something and send it home to be published. Mr. Reynolds lives in Oneonta yet. He has a very good paper but you know he has to talk just so saucy let the world go which way it will. They expect to get the Albany and Susquehanna railroad through to Binghamton this month so as to be running coal through from the Su coal beds then the people think it will be cheaper to burn coal than wood. Mr. Thrall lives there yet. Orrin Houghton and Harlow Crandall live where they used to near our folks. All the rest of our neighbors are new comers and not very nice folks at that. I have not heard from our sisters in a good while. I think they are real lazy about writing. Please send me a lock of your hair, you don’t know how I shall prize it.

Good bye my brother, may we meet at last where there is no sin nor sorrow.

yours

Tempe