dear brother i again sit dwon to write afew lines to
you it seems a great while since i have wrote to
you betseyann got you letter to night we was
glad to hear that you was well and that william
was geting better we are all well i an afraid you
think by what betseyann wrote about coming here
that something is wrong
^ betseyann came here when i was sick and did all she
		        h
could for me i shul s^ould like to the same for her
and they is one more thing sarah has had it rather
hard this fall i talked to sarah it suited her
					      t
mother said that mary or delbert would s^ay
with sarah sarah and betseyann has got along very
well together betseyann sea [?] to think that
  a
i ^gain take up my pen to finish what i commensed on
^ you are not quite [?]		that she should come here
saturday night it is Thursday i am afraid i shall
^ you are not you [?] on a 
make bad work for thomas henry has to his shate and
is wr writing to you lots about the war and i have
the sweetests and best of baby on my lap betseyann has
				    i say so
not deceided wether she will come ^ here or not you need
not
^ borrow any troubble about her where ever she is she shale
be took care of we will do all for the best and sarah will not
be left alone i suppose you know that robert bennette was

[Upside down at top of letter] 
Dear Brother I feel as if I had got in
a [?] place that is not very pleasant for 
me for I am afraid you will feel hard towards me
I hapened in first now Mother give me Sarah
writeing to read I read to where she says I read
your paper to father and stop for I did not do it but
look at it you and father ask me a question or two about v							it
[End]

was drafted and run a way henry sen him today he is
seems to be skeedaddle round here william henry saes he
wishes he had gone along with you they say they is true be
but
^ more men in this town that they can draft and they
want eight out of them and they say they will draft
ever man but they will have they number if they can
get them sheldin and levi has got home sheldin looks
poor but is well levi is sick has got a bad coughf and
diarea and has got a sore on his face george they are most
 h
s^ure is dead one day while there was prisoners a man 
			     asked
came where they was and ^ them where they lived they
told him his name was tailor his father lived on the
openings a going to iona he help them out of prison they
	t					ed
had to s^ay and work for the rebels they cook^ it is hard
that you should be so far from home but if you 
was here we should be afard of the draft and
live in dredd of it all the time i do hope tha tyou
will return to us again we are glad that william
has got well we was afrad of him i am glad that
you can put you trust in god for he alone
can help us yes my brother let us cling close to 
him and it will all be well it seems as though

[Upside down at top of letter] 
Dec 23
Dear Thomas I am over home this morning &
				      ro
well I hope you are well & do not suffer f^m the cold
I sent a letter Wednesday with 5 dollars & hope you
Will not wait long before you get your likeness took
Sarah has gone up home mother wanted I should write
Lines so hers would be acceptable from your loved one B
[End]
	      ways			       us feel bad
they was all ^ something in this world to make ^ but
these triels and disappointments makes us think
best of earth and more of heaven that all ways see
			to me
ms a pleasant thought ^ they is reast for the weary
let us try with the help of god and belong to
that peculiar and chosen people of god that we
may at last have a reating place when i think
of my children i feel thankful that they have
gain that happy land where sorrow and troble
					recompence
can never come we shall be more then ^recomplce
for all our trials here so let [?] press forward i 
kno now that we have many prileges here that
 you have not got i am afraid it is a hard place
	h
to wors^ip god weh where you are but it is 
the heart that god looks at if we do the best we
			   think
can and all we can i do not ^ that god will require
one more but i hope we shall meet where partans is no
more though rough and thormy be the way our
strength proportion to our day till toil and
grief and pain shall cease where all is calm and
joy and peace	
						 
[Upside down on top of letter] 
and he felt work up about it and he came to see
me when I was alone and told me you had him
promise not to wrong your Child if it lived he felt 
that you was doing it yours sl self you may blame me
but I could not help it I do think it may be all for
the best if you could only think so I hope you will forgive
me for what I have done I hope you will send us a few times soon 
[End]
[On side of upside down writing at top of letter] 
Jane
[End]
we have had very cold weather here we have good
slie sleighing we oftens think of you and won
der how you get along robert say that ed
edward canright said some of the pickets had 
			  where you are take all the care of yoslef
beem been frose to death ^ laura bennette has
			 o
sold of evry thing she c^uld and gone home
every thing is very dear here we shall be dispoin
ted if we can not send you a box but i think
i will stop for you will have a hard job to make
out my writeing i have been bother by big
and little cherlotte
			Dec 26th
my dear son Charlotte has left a little room
i will write some we got your wellcome letter
        th
on 20^ and we were glad to hear from you and that
you were well and Will geting better to biet
we heard by betseyann letter that you
were parted we felt very sorrey i hope
it will not be for long father got very little
sleep the night he heard of it i was sick that
night and inclined to sleep but we ought to
					    will
be thankfull when we hear you are well i ^
not try to tell you how much miss you and
		           n		         es
talk about you and thi^k of the pleasant tim^
when you were with us i hope you will get
any thing you can for your comfort
and not think your are spending to much 
you lost your gloves have you got any if not
i will get a pair and send you i will put
4 letters stamps in this letter but we will wait
till we hear if you have got that wich betsyann
sent last week father has took betseyann
pork barrel down today and made the brine
	and put on it he dose everything as soon
			     as he can   your mother