Annals of our ancestors; one hundred and fifty years of history in the ...

62 ANNALS OF OUR ANCESTORS
married life she told father, if he desired to travel in the inter-
ests of the church, to go forth with her full consent, and she
would look after the things at home. For years mother, with
the aid of a tenant or hired man, looked after the farm and all
the interests of home. In this way, while our father preached
we had a fixed place of abode, undisturbed by the frequent
movings which kept the homes of other itinerant ministers in
a state of constant upheaval.
As I look over the long years that have passed, I see how
much of good judgment she showed; she kept her boys at home
and they were taught to work and to be self-reliant. We were
near to the city and to good educational advantages; there
was no better institution than Farmers' College for the boys,
and that was in easy reach of our home. Father's trips abroad
were short, and we were happy and content. To illustrate
how freely she sent our father to his work, and that she was indeed
a colaborer at home, I will here insert a precious letter she
wrote to father in 1849, and which has been for years in my
possession. The paper upon which this letter is written is
folded to form a wrapping, and it was sealed with a red seal.
There is no stamp, but "5" is written in the stamp corner,
indicating that the postage was five cents. It is addressed to
our father at Salem, Ohio, and reads as follows:
Saturday, Sept. 22d, 1849.
Dearly Beloved: I this day received your kind letter at
Lloydsville. The difficulty in our correspondence arose from my
not receiving your first letter in time to know where to address you
and also misunderstanding your first place of address. I suppose
however, that you have heard from me at Lloydsville before this
date, as I sent one to the office on last Monday.
I am truly glad to hear of the prosperity of the church in Morgan
County. Union is strength and Knowledge is power and Zeal gives
energy. Sureiy much good might be done where the churches had
on all the armor.
We are getting along very well living on sweet potatoes. Beans
all in the barn ripe and dry; hogs getting fat on apples; another
increase of pigs; Ann is washing; Ida, William and Joseph shelling
beans. Ann says you will almost shout for joy when you get this
letter. William takes my butter to Carthage, he rises early and goes
to milking, so you see we have not brought him up for nothing.