Moses S. Colton to Andrew and Ruth Fletcher Otsego Sept 13th 1861Respected Brother and Sister

Page 1

I now take this opportunity of writing to you to Let you know that I am still in the land of the living but do not enjoy verry good health hoping these lines will find you and yours in good health and prosperity I calculated when I last saw you to have come and see you again before this time but it has been so that I could not And now I am getting old and lame I dont much expect to ever come Since I saw you I have built a house which cost about $600, dollars similar to yours and a barn 36 by 48 feet with a shed the whole length of it Just finished a well close to the house and do not owe over twenty dollars in fact I have more due me than I owe Seth and Verona live with me he has half the stock and crops We have 3 horses 21 cattle of all kinds 24 sheep 27 Hogs and pigs L. has 40 acres of Land I have 120. Have about 40 Bushels of old corn We raised 127 Bushels wheat We have 8 acres corn planted 25 or 30 tons hay Our crops all promise to be good Wheat is worth 75 cts Corn 31 cts Hogs live weight 2 1/2 to 3 cts per lb. Butter 6 1/4 cts so you see it is rather hard times Common 50 cent [Feed] is 1.00 now Our young men have most of them gone to the war hope our country will be preserved and rebellion put down and the oppressed go free so that there shall be no more Slavery in all our land and then will our Country prosper and not untill then

Brother L. and family were as well as usual about 2 Weeks ago he is not verry he lives about 10 miles from us he has 80 acres Land Wild Land is worth from 8 to 10 or 12 per acre all around here improved from 20 to 30 and Over We have all the apples we want and some to spare Mostly grafted fruit Give my respects to Brother D. Willey and Sister Lydia tell them to write to me Give my respects to Craig Like wise to your Other children Give my respects to all of my old neighbors and enquiring friends Write all you know of our relatives and where Mary lives We have sowed 3 3/4 acres wheat 4 more to sow Crops of all kinds are good here Write how times are with you We had a Letter from Harry Dwinnell Last Spring he did not write a word about Sally write whether she is alive It is quite healthy here this summer. No frost yet Direct your Letters to Alvarado Post Office Stuben County Ind.. We often hear from Cornelius Pratt he writes to Brother L. often Write particularly about Levi Pratt and Carlos and Ellen Colton I often think of my friends and should be glad to see them all once more do not expect to at present unless some of them come and see me I must now draw to a close hoping if we never more see each other in this world we may so live and act that we may meet in Heaven to part no more Remember me at the throne of Grace

This from your affectionate Brother untill DeathMoses S. Colton

Page 3

Betsey V. Jagua to Ruth Fletcher Dear Aunt

I now sit down to comply with your request of writing to you on the reception of your kind and truly welcome letter it was handed to me by a neighbor this morning I need not tell you how glad I was to hear from you how happy I should be to see you ere we go hence to be here no more years have come and gone one after another since we left Vermont but still your form and features are still enshrined on memorys page child hood has given place to maturer years and I am no longer the little Verona you parted with long years ago have grown to the highth of 5 feet four inches weigh 120 lbs Lyman is taller than I am he is married and has a boy a year old last march they live in Jay County 120 miles south of here he is a Free mission Baptist preacher so you see he is not the Lyman you had so much trouble with in years gone by he is trying to do some good in the world it is almost a year since we have seen him we are looking for them home this fall he is taller that I am Carseldana was small like aunt Lydia the girl that uncles Lemuels buried was [herr] Mary Woodworth they have but one his name is Lemuel they buried one by

the name of Carlos. I have one of Carseldanas children living with me he is eleven years old last August he is small of his age the other one lives with his Grandmother my little girl which we call Sarah Eveline is three years old last February we think she is about right she has blue eyes red hair which hangs in curls all around her head how glad we should be to see our friends once more but do not think we ever shall without you come out here for my health is poor times are getting hard on acount of the war Give my love to your family one and all and tell Craig to write to cousin Verona any communication from any of our relatives will be truly welcome How often think of my old school mates if you see any of them give my respects to them Give my love to aunt Lydia tell her to write to us it is time to go to bed and I must draw to a close requesting you to remember us at the hour of prayer and if we meet no more on earth we may meet in heaven above where all is love there is no sorrow there you must write soon

Yours in the lands of loveBetsey V Jagua