Mary, who seems to be a family friend of the Dickermans, tells Edward that a woman he was in contact with (her name is illegible) wishes he would write to her more. Mary notes that this woman and Albert (Mary [Russell] Payne's brother) have been sick. Mary goes on to discuss parties and dances, some of which were attended by recruitment officers who tried, with no success, to enlist young men in the military. She is worried that Jim (presumably Edward's brother James) will not survive the war (he dies in 1863 from battle wounds).
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