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                                                                                                                                      Cottage Grove, June 23rd 1851.
   Dear brother Samuel,
              I intended to have written to you ere this, but have neglected it. I suppose though that father has kept you informed of our proceedings - we got here safe, but not very sound, two weeks ago yesterday, our journey across Illinois was very tiresome and very lengthy, the roads were horrible - the rest of the journey I enjoyed very much, we met Theodore and Hellen at Point Douglass, they were expecting us. I hardly knew Theodore at first, - he is as bald as you are. I have been trying to persuade him to get a scratch. Monday we all went over to Olive's - we found her with two babies, the youngest is now seven weeks old, I think - her oldest, Hellen is the dearest little creature you ever saw, looks very much like her mother and Mary E. I wish you could see her, she jabbers all the time but I cannot understand much she says. Olive looks just as she used to, only perhaps a little older, she seems very happy, but I do not think that I have heard her laugh - well I suppose there's no sense in laughing, but I do enjoy it vastly sometimes - but I cannot find anything here very often to laugh at - or else I'm so homesick that nothing will please me - however I feel quite as well contented on the whole as I expected to, but sometimes I have such longings for my home and native land - and when I think how widely we are separated - how can I help being homesick?

June 9th they had not got there then - we need them very much- we expect a cook-stove this week, soon as it comes we shall put it in the log house, cook and eat there, and have one room here to sit in - twill not be very convenient but better than to cook - over the same stove with Sarah, she is very kind but to have three noisy children under ones feet is not very pleasant. I should like for you to have the training of the two girls awhile, mother was over to Olive's three or four days last week they brought her home yesterday. Theodore and Emily were here, we had