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Letter from Mary Carpenter, July 19, 1870

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Letters of Mary Carpenter
Minnesota Historical Society Manuscripts Collection P1487
Page 1
Rochester, Minnesota
July19.1870.My dear cousin Laura,
It is not yet four o'clock A.M. and I am up before the rest are awake so will now fulfill my intention of writing to you. Please excuse pencil as our ink is poor, and I can write much easier this way under the circumstances. I wrote to Aunt Laura a short time since, but have been anxious to write again since the arrival of the box, a week ago last Friday. I "felt it in my bones" as old ladies say that it had got here so took the team and went down town towards night. Sure enough it came to hand that very afternoon. Cousin Leander expressed it through, and sent ten dollars to pay the expressage. It took $9.60 Frank said. I can scarcely express my pleasure and gratitude for all the nice things it contained for us as a family, and me personally.
Page 2
That great coat is so nice. My husband is very much pleased with it. You may know we appreciate it for it is the first one he has had for twelve years. He did not get one when he was married and has not been able to since. He thinks it will last him twenty years for a nice one. When he first put it on he walked around the room and said "folks won't know me now". It is quite a good fit and becoming. Everything you sent was "just the thing". That beautiful little lace hat is very becoming to me. I don't put my hair up behind to wear it though. I just curl it very full and let it all hang behind the lace strings or ties. It looks very nicely. The blue lace puts the finishing touches to with it & Aunt Laura's handsome handkerchief completes the whole. What a pretty white apron that is, it is just what I needed.
Page 3
And the winter cloak I had nothing of the kind. My cloaks I brought West with me were just all gone. It will be a great comfort. The brown dress is very pretty, also the French calico for Mamie. She is much pleased with her presents. The little white sack will be nice. Please tell Aunt Martha the pants were just what Georgie needed. I shall not make them till winter and then for best ones. They are very acceptable. The little stockings too are just the thing. The children appreciated the cornucopias from Aunt Laura and the little vase and pitcher, also the cakes of soap and whips from Aunt Martha. Tell them that Henry Lincoln uses his whip quite lustily for a little fellow sixteen months old. Tell Aunt Martha that the "little things" she sent were "just in time" and will doubtless be appreciated by little "Laura Sophia" or "Lorenzo Lowell" Carpenter it may be.
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We have decided on the name beforehand you see. The books were very acceptable and will be valued highly, both on account of their intrinsic merits and their authorship. I read "Three Little Sunbeams" aloud to the children. Mamie listened with close attention as she always does and said after the first story of the little girl who gave up the silk dress for her doll to make a hood "I know I never could have done that." When I told her that "Fanny Ann" was Aunt Martha herself, she was much surprised and pleased. Thought she waited for her dishes a good while, Mamie has a set I got her last Christmas, she has taken good care of them and very often sets the table and has China, like a grown person.
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I am much pleased with the old fashioned cup and saucer and shall value it highly as a relic. Please thank Aunt Laura for it from me. I like the dress cousin Lucy Brown sent me very much. If you are writing to her please tender my acknowledgment and thanks. George was saying the other day that the things in the box would be doubly valuable now. I shall tell you why. You already know that our farm is gone and we must leave here in Sept. We had about seventy-five acres in to grain, mostly oats. This was all our dependence except what little butter we could sell. The grain we expected would help clear our farming torts, reaper &c. and one horse from mortgage but last Thursday night this region was visited with a storm of wind, hail, thunder and lightning unprecedented in July.
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Your affectionate cousin,
Mary E. L Carpenter