March 3, 1876

Dear Aunt and Uncle

Dear Uncle and Aunt. I thought I would write you to let you know that I am still in the land of the living through the mercys of Christ with a hope of eternal life. My husband is the class leader here. We have had a revivel hire this winter and about 40 wer convertist, and yet there are those we gratily dizire to give their hearts to the savyors, we pray for them daley that we yet see them coming to the savyour. We wer married and came west five weeks after it will be eight years next August we have two boys and one little girl. We have two cows, two horses, two yearlings. We cannot get ahead enough to get much stock. Small grain is raised so much and last year the wet weather damaged [end of page]

so much of it and we no payed all expenses. There was not much left out of our small grain. We had 35 acres of corn and twenty acres of the best stood in water do as [thorll] put [diap] and it spoiled a good deal of it. Corn now is only twenty five cents a bushel and it must be shield do get that [pos] it the weather has been very pleasant. This winter we have had no snow still this week and then it was about eight inches, it is thawing fast today. There is a great deal of sickness here of late more than we ever new here before. I can remember when you came to visit our folks when we [xxxx] I think at Doctors Hun place I know that I combed your hair and that you used to carry me from the barn to the house in the bushel basket and I would sometimes hold [other] lantern in there it was of that place where I took so much comfort [end of page]

preaching in the grave yard I would like to have your and ants picters and we would like to see you both. I should like to have you come and we are very much. I do not know one of my father's relations and I would like to see them now I could remember more about them. It would be along journey for you to take, but if you and we five still we can spare the money I am earning to see you. I have then to see mothers once since we have been out hire and they were out hire this fall I intended to write to you along time ago but going to meeting every afternoon and evening and waiting on the sick in our neighborhood, my work has got all behind. If you have got that hundred dollars to spare that you promised to me once I do not think that it would ever be more useful to us that this [end of page]

spring as we have some notes to pay this spring out of our corn and it will take the most of it to pay them. We bought some more land last fall for our farm has no hay on it and some grass we cannot rase yet some hay the soil is to wild yet and some says it winter kills so we could get eighty joining acres for 10 dollars an acre it is what they call rail road land and they are sold by eighty. Some time you can get so there is plenty of good hay on the land I've bought. I will close for this time I have written all you will have pations today to make out, so fare well for this time hoping to hear from you soon. I hope this will find you and yours better than when we past hurd from you. I will close with love to you both and god bless you from your nease Elizabeth Reeves