Belinda Iowa Apr 14 1863

 

My Dear Husband

                                                            I will write you a few lines this evening thinking that you would ratherer hear a little bad news from home than none at all. do not be frightened before you read farther! We are not all dead! but in rather a bad situation at the present time Harv has been down sick with the mumps for over a week and is just begining to walk about. Harv was up at Paps a week and every thing was going wrong at home and we concluded that we had both better come home and try what we could do. We came home day before yesterday and I have been trying to do what cannot be left undone out of doors and attend to the baby and cook enough to keep us from starving. If Harv does not get better this week we will have to hire some work done. French got into the branch a week ago last monday. They did not find her until next day and it took eight men and two horses to get her out. she was pretty badly hurt but she is about as well as ever / now. Pa brought me home and when he started to go home he noticed that French was up and Queen was not with her. He thought prehaps she had a colt. he went to look for her and found her fast in the slough. she had laid down and rolled over into the gutter. They got her out and washed the mud off her and kept her in the stable that night. The next day Jenny and Melissa came over and led her and French over to Pas, they are going to take care of them until Harv is able to attend to them. I received the letter that you sent with Brown. he was at home over a week before he was able to bring it over. Apr 16 Pa has just come over and brought a letter for Harv and Satan in Columbias dominions for me. he says that Queen and French are getting along very well Harv is some better he is able to do the feeding now I want to send this letter over by Pa and he is in a hurry to go back. I am not in the habit of makeing poor ink and pen an excuse for bad writeing but I beg leave to do so this time

                                                                                                your loving wife

                                                                                                                        L. A. Reed

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