Otego May 10th 1868

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Dear Brother,

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We were all very much rejoiced to hear from you once more, it had been such a long long time since we heard from you that we began to fear that the death angel had borne you away to your eternal home. It makes me very sad when I think of the days that are past never to return when we were happy children under our parents care. No thought for the morrow clouded the pleasure of to day. Now our home is broken up and our family scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific and whether we ever meet again God only knows. My dear dear brother I have at times such an intense longing to look upon your face once more that I think God will hear my prayer and you will sometime come home but you will find our old home in the hands of strangers and there is not a family excepting ours left in the neighborhood that was there when I was a child. Orrin Houghton(‘s) family are well so are Harlan Crandall’s. Otego is getting to be a big place in the estimation of the citizens. They think it is the hub of the universe but I think there is other places where the folks know most as much as they do in Otego. We have preaching in the presbyterian house, and the Methodist, Baptist and Episcopalians all have good preaching but ours is the smartest man of the four Dominies. The episcopalian unchurches all the rest of us but I don’t think the Lord will ask us what name we bore on earth but whether we have tried to live in love with God and our fellow men. Lucius has lost his oldest boy. He was a sweet child and he twined himself into our affections. It was hard parting with him but he is taken from the evils of this earth and is forever with the angels. Emily Birdsall was here last week. Poor Em, I feel very sorry for her. She has no home and her sisters don’t seem to help her as much as they might. Her boy is fourteen years old but he appears much younger and is not very smart and Emily can not get work as she could if she had a place for her boy. She talks some of going to Nevada to her brother’s. Warren has been dead two or three years. We have written it to you before but perhaps you never got our letters. I think you do not get near all the letters we send you. I think every time we get a letter from you that I will make a rule to write as often as once in two or three months. I will write a number of letters then I get discouraged because we don’t hear from you and neglect it for a long time. Do write a little oftener. You might write two letters a year. I should think every body that ever knew you is very glad when we hear from you. Our cousin Emily Kelly is dead. Kelly has been dead a number of years now. The children are left orphans. Her sister Ada took one of the boys soon after his father’s death and Helen Chase when she was married took one of the girls for a while. They want Lucius to take one of the other boys. He is nine or ten years old. There is a little girl seven years old. I don’t know what they want to do with her. Sarah has the care of the children at present. The railroad brings Maryland and Otego very near together. They have built a big schoolhouse in Otego. They have two or three departments. The house stands back of where esq. Abram Blakelee used to live. They have made two or three streets. One starts from Pickle street just below Corey’s and intersects Church street a little below the Episcopal church, then there is a street runs from this street intersects Main street just above Mr. Newlands and so runs back to the swamp and they talk of making a street running back of Mr. Goddard’s tanyard and down into Main between Mr. Goddard’s & Mike Birdsall’s old place.

We had a letter from brother George a short time ago. It is the same old story: want of money. He has bought a place and is in want of money to make his payments. Poor Barlow, he seems to be always unfortunate. He has a good wife and nice children. I wish he could manage to pay for his lot and not always be under the harrow. Mary talks of coming home this summer. I hope she will for ma is getting old and it can’t be expected she will live many years. I wish we could all meet together once more but that is altogether unlikely. There is too many and we are too widely scattered to be easily gathered together. It is now the 17th of May. It has been a very cold backward spring. It is warmer now and the trees are beginning to leave out. When you write again tell us what kind of a house you live in and whether you live alone or have somebody living with you. Do you have any fruit way up there or have you learned to do without. I suppose you have lots of wild game. Tell us what they are. You are in such a cold region - I should think there would be furred animals. Do you hunt and fish any. I wish sometimes I was with you but I want you in a warmer climate.

Good Bye

Tempe

Did you ever get my likeness. I sent mine and ma sent hers.