January the 8 1865

 

                                                                                                kind Father and Mother

Sisters and Brothers I once more take my pen in hand to let you all no we air all well but I am all most trobled to deth we hav got three of poor Williams Hubbard children to take care of that woman has moved back to Salem and she put charlott and nancy and Ema on the cars and sent them to [?] to go to John Martins and for him to hunt them homes for she could not keep them any longer So he fetched them here last thursday for us to do the best we could the report is that poor bill is ded I cant tell any thing abot it charlott says they ant hurd any thing from him since for nine weeks and we cant hear any thing from any of the boys that / went from around here. well Mother I no it will hurt your feelings when I tell you the condition of those poor children they two last ons was allmost starved and almost naked poor little Ema only waid 26 pounds when she come here I asked her what she had to eat and she sed she had corn bred and charlott says they ant had any thing els to eat for two weeks and they look like it Mother I never saw as mutch change in one body as they is in charlott she is turned like a woman and she is amother to there litte little children she dont seam like the same girl she says that she has bin at work in town and as fast as she gets any money that woman took from her /

 

well Mother I guess I have told you anuf about that well Mother if the draft dont take Sol of the 15 of nex month you nead not look for us out there for we are agoing to the Illinois clost to springfield but if the draft taks Sol fo I cant tell what will become of me they have bin making up money to clear this township of a draft I guess they will find out this week what it will do and if Sol ant drafted we will make sale and sell of what we have got and bid this poor contry adiew well anuf of that for I guess you will say it is all gass any how but if Sol ant drafted you will see if you dont see you will hear of it well I guess I will quit for I have riten more now than you will want to read I dont want / any of you to think hard of me riting this letter for I have wated for aletter from you untill I have got tird and I though I would rite agane but if it hadant bin for my drestress I would not rote untill I had got aletter if that had bin six months it looks like you dont care any thing for me you have bin gon almost three months and have olny riten us one letter sins you have bin gon and as for sisters it looks like I have got none in this world or they dont care any thing for we in this world well I will quit for this time by asking you all to rite if you want I would love to see

 

[upside down]             you all the best in the word

                        write soon and often

 

I forgot to tell you that Jane lost her babe it was born ded it was a girl

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