Outside: Mr.
William Brogue Nassau Hoags
Corner Rensselaer Co. NY
Dear Children with
pleasure I take my pen in hand to write a few lines to you in answer to your
kind letter which found us all enjoying as good health as usual and was
rejoiced to hear that you all enjoy as comfortable health as you do but we found by reading your letter that you
had not received the letter that we directed to you which we wrote all the
particulars about the children and to know your mind about coming out here to
live so that we could make caculations for you
we often searched the post office for a letter but found none until now
on the 13 of Feb we was very much
disappointed to think you never received that letter so that we could be a
making calclitions for you if you concluded to come we
think it would be a better place here for your business than it is there
according as we can find out if you
conclude to come we want you to fetch the children we calculate to have Mary Jane and Cyrenius
to live with us and if you do not
conclude to come we shall have to contrive some way to get Cyrenius out here
but not without some particular friend to come with him I shall
not write the particulars about our place for we wrote the particulars in our
others letters we are very much
pleased with it we calculate to move on
the first of April we wrot in our other
letter concerning a cabinet shop that is about three miles from where we bought
and we think it would be a good place to set up the chair business near ther if
you want to work at that business I
will write a little something about the weather
we have had a great snow storm here with a heavy wind but has not done
any damage as we can hear of the snow
fell about two foot deep and has been very cold
we have heard that you have had
a great freshot(freezeout?) down their
by the way of news papers and has done a great deal of damage I do not know as I have any knews to write I
must soon draw my letter to a close requesting you to write as soon as you
receive this and let us know wether you come or not James I have not wrote in particular to
you to come but I want you to come with William I will now close my letter and sign myself
your affectionate Mother until death
Sally Harger Ephraim Harger [ Charity and Wm Brogue]
A few lines to Sally
I have thought a great deal about you and your little children Charity wrote that your children had sick
turns this winter but had got better I
feell a great deal better about your living with your parents which I make no
doubt will assist…(hole in paper)…in taking care of your little ones Sally I feel ……(hole in paper)….assist you
if you should kneed assistance I expect …(hole in paper)….. would be more
agreeable to live with your parents than any other way I hope you will bare up under your
afflictions with fortitude for he that is able to afflict is able to sooth
every sorrow I often apply to the sayings
of Jobe the Lord giveth and the Lord
taketh away and blessed be the name of the Lord but
let us put our trust in him who is able to support us in the trying hour of
death but I hope our afflictions in this
world will work for our good we may
calculate many ways but God will cut us short if they are not the ways of him. After I left you I had a very fatiguing
journey home I was on the road two weeks
before I reached home I had to ride one
hundred miles in the stage which was very fatigueing on the account I had to
ride night and day and the road was very rough
my fatiegue and trouble with the disappointment in not reaching their
soon enough wore upon me and made me quite feeble for some weeks but I
commensed taking my syrup the bottle of liverwort syrup and I think it has
helped me verry much my cough has not
been so well in some years as it is now and I think I shall take the other
bottle Sally I think Eliza’s things
ought to be divided betwixt Ann Eliza and Mary Jane and I think it would be
best to send them out by William if he comes
I shall stand in kneed of another bed if I take the two children Sally there is one request I want to make
that is I want Cyreniuses large Bible as it contains the record of all our
Family but I do not want to take any
thing that is not rite I want you
should write me a letter and let me know how you get along I should be glad if you would come and make
us a visit and see the country my paper
is filled and I must bring my letter to a close and sign myself your
affectionate Mother, Sally Harger
Dear Sister Charity
as the paper is not filled and I can write without costing any thing I
will improve it in writing to you for I prize it as a privilege as we are now
deprived of conversing any other way but I have anticipated a great …(hole in paper)…we wrote our other letter
that the ??? nows we…(hole in paper)… from you we should hear that you was a
comeing…(hole in paper).. here to live I can tell you I should prize your
company very highly if you would come and I dare say it would be a great
comfort to our dear parents in their old age to have their children settle near
them I am sure that it is a great consolation to me
that I can have them so near me that I can visit them once in a while but alas I soon expect to be deprived of
their company yesterday I had the privilege of visiting
them which is the first time since last fall
but Mother has made me two visits
since she came from the east and Father has one besides Father and Leonidas has called a number of
times I some expect to live near
neighour to our folks next summer which I shall prize very highly we think some of going to the Michigan in
the spring but we cannot tell for
certain wether we shall go in a year
it will be according what wages he gets here he sent out money by his brother to purchase
another half lot and he wants to get money now to buy a yoke of cattle and other
things to go on and settle with I shall
not expect to enjoy your company long here unless you would consent to go the
Michigan but it would be a consolation
to think our dear parents had some one
to comfort them in their old age I
dare say you feel as though you ware left quite alone since the death of our
dear brother and I some times think you feel the loss more than I as I did not
witness the scene myself but I can tell you I am not without my
feelings or thoughts for many a day through this dreary winter and I might say
every day my mind has ben led to the day that I parted with my dear
Brother I can tell you it was a solum
day to me and never shall I forget the day while I live I have often had it to reflect up on that I
did not stay their longer and I should if I had thought of staying so long as I
did. Oh Charity never shall I forget my
dear brother one that has been so kind to me and set such good examples that we
might follow. Oh that we might follow
his examples and meet him in heaven ware parting sounds are herd no more I must stop writing my paper is filled and I
can write no more and I will sign myself your affectionate sister until
death Caroline Mead [ Charity Brogue Wm. Brogue]
