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Sarah Furber Cottage Grove Min.

Tuesday Oct 14 1851

My Dear Brother and Sister It is election day and I am all alone, and for the first time I have an opportunity of conversing with you upon the wants which have been transpiring in our midst - You have doubtless ere this received the sad tidings of the death of our dear Mother Furber - I had the comfort of being with her the last two or three days she lived, a comfort which you were deprived of and of which deprivation I know the sorrow Oh! how fervently I wished you could have been here, while we were standing around that dying bed you were remembered by all there and I doubt not many prayers ascended to heaven in your behalf I suppose Father has written you all the particulars and I need not go into detail but what a breach it has made in our circle! I was over there Friday evening = we were talking about the goods and Mother was saying that she thought it troubled Father very much I remarked to her that I thought all these things were sent for our good and that if we had no afflictions we should never be weaned from this world - she replied "no, we have not one too many" and Ive no doubt that all these things were preparing her for her last great trial the next day she was taken sick - on Tuesday I went over and spent the day with her - she told me that she thought she might as well die then as any time, that she had lived to see her children grow up - I said but little to her on the subject thinking it might injure her Thursday morning I went over and remained till all was over - I watched with er the night before she died, who roused up to take medicine or by pain - she always prayed - at first "Lord have mercy" and afterwards as her life seemed dragging to a close I noticed that she always associated the name of Jesus with that of God - : I saw towards night on Friday that she was failing fast and told Olive if she wished to say anything