Box 1

Crops were good, and he had 18 balks of cotton. Corn was the best crop since the war; his father is now staying with them, as is Schaffer who is fat and smart. He would like to hear from them in Texas.

She has recovered from a sickness of five weeks. She will resume teaching now. Her husband has sold his business and after Christmans will look for a new location. Her baby Schaffer was weaned while she was sick but stays with his grandmother and is doing well. She notes other family news, deaths, and marriages of local persons.

She is now in Lafayette with her husband. She will teach for the next ten months. Now there are 116 students, with two male teachers and two female teachers. She and her husband are boarding with a family who moved to Lafayette to send their children to school.

He is mailing pictures of Schaffer, Imogene, and himself. Schaffer is 19 months old and beginning to make sentences. Crops are good, and cotton is selling well. He hopes his legal office will make a good living. Imogene is teaching.

Nathan died Jan. 4th of consumption and was buried Jan. 5th at Pleasant Grove Church. People have helped the family as much as possible with land, housing, rent, and food. He gave the widow a hog weighing 160 pounds. They also have a milk cow. Mrs. Sorrell has had to take over teaching at a local school. He thinks the local people are in the best economic shape since the war.

Since school resumed, she has been busy preparing each day for the next. Nathan's children are going to school with Miss Zera, and neighbors are helping his widow, Celia. A blizzard has hit, and her husband is at Circuit Court and did not get home.

Her husband has been in bad health since April 5, when he was cut in the nose and face by another man. It has affected his hearing in one ear, and he has constant pain in the head. He has spells, and did so at Alliances meeting in Dadeville. He wants to go for help to a medical institute in Atlanta. She gives news of local deaths, births, marriages, and persons.

She is sorry to hear Alice has been in feeble health and is anxious to hear an update. She has been unwell for several months but is now better while visiting her husband's sister Alline. Ina is helping her mother teach school, and "Puss" Phillips is helping her with cooking and housework. Schaffer is growing fast and talking well.

Imogene and husband are now living in a house in Lafayette across the road from where she teaches. A cook was hired, and Mr. Hood's mother helps take care of the baby. All are hoping John and Alice will move back to Alabama.

The excessive rains have done much damage to the crops. He will look after the grave and put a load of sand to prevent washing; Smallpox had been raging near Douglasville. Baseball games are going on. His brother adds a note to little Otis and wishes he could see him.