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state men to stop and they had all the time more such to wait on than they well could care for -- We were the first family across the creek, and when they reached here he had been carried three miles in a lumber wagon across two ravines that are enough to make sound bones ache to say nothing of broken ones, -- If he was carried farther his chances for accommodations were even less than here -- our next neighbor (a worthy Quaker) lives in a house 10 by 12 with no chamber and had two sick men boarding with him -- Our next neighbors were three families in two tents and one family of eight in a rail house 10 by twenty with of course no chamber -- the next neighbor some two miles were undecided about staying in Kansas and friend David three miles beyond us had 19 in family one a sick man and no chamber, that comprises our neighborhood of free-state families - proslavery people were not called on for favors! - Could we do less than / divide our last mouthful with the poor sufferer & trust Providence when that was gone - 'Tis true we hardly knew how we were to get through the winter, and that we took him with no hope of renumeration at the time - but we could not have refused to do so had we wished to and had no wish to refuse -- As it is we now have some expectations of being paid for taking care of him -- He has been with us nearly 7 weeks and cannot leave probably for 4 or 5 weeks to come. -- John and Franky torn pagequite recovered from their torn page I did indeed have torn page up so I was obliged to go one day down to the river torn page wash out a large bundle of things for George, and bring water - Just think of walking up from Remsen with a three gallon pail of water in our hand, and a bundle of wet clothes nearly as heavy in the other - two of our neighbors came that day and dug our spring down some feet deeper and that night it rained so we have had plenty of water ever since - all the fruit we have this fall on our own place is grapes - there are no peaches to be had this fall in these parts --the trees were all killed by the hard winter - apples are very dear we sent for some for George by the mail two weeks ago and did not get more than 1/3 of a bushel for fifty cts. - Sugar is dear here this fall, common brown, six lbs. for a dollar -------- I must say a little to Jennie separately - her note was somewhat unchristian -- Now Jennie do you really think that we can do no good any where if we are sick, and if we can why not here? and if we cannot why not as well be here as anywhere? And why should we move to a less exposed place than this when we have been carefully shielded from harm here? Dont you think to do so would be to distrust Providence? Would it be less than Infidelity for us to leave here now when the free state cause is trembling between life and death, Every free state man that leaves now gives the Devil just so much more room to work in besides discouraging others Every free state man who firmly adheres to the cause and aids it by his presence encourages others who are wavering and timid, so you see that who ever influences his friends now to leave at this critical time are really the enemies of freedom and are directly helping Satan and the border Ruffians -- Yours for freedom and humanity now and forever

 Sarah