Yellow Springs, Oct. 30th/64
Dear Husband
I received your letter of the 20th last Friday and was truly glad to hear from you and to hear that you was safe. Had I known for certain that you were with your reg’t, I should have a great deal more uneasy than I was. You must have been in very great danger. I am very thankful that you escaped unhurt. Yours is the only letter that I have heard of coming since the fight. No one had heard of the death of John Baker until I told it. Jobs have not heard from Thos. Job [1] for a month, and not from Emmet [2] in two months. They want you to write if you have anything more about Emmet, or of the particulars of his capture and to tell Thos. to write and let them know what he is about. They are very glad that you spoke of the boys. Rachel Job is very sick. She has the bilious fever. I was in to see her this morn. They think she is some better today. Job came over last eve and got your shop stove to put in her room upstairs. Their house is very damp from having just been plastered. They don’t expect to use the stove very much. Job thinks he can sell the sleigh to a good advantage if there come a snow. Mary Lece was here today. They have had no word from Wm Richardson since the battle and they were very uneasy until I told her what you had written that none of the Yellow Springs boys were hurt.
Mary is living with her mother. Old Mr. Kershner has traded his property here to Birch for Tennessee land. He is to get one hundred and twenty acres for his property. Johnathon Kershner gets the same amount of land for his property. I expect that Birch has salted them. Kershners are in high spirits about their trade. Johnathan talks of moving out this winter. They have not seen the land yet. I saw Peirce [3] the other day. He asked about you, and said he was going to write soon to you. He seems to think a great deal of you. Jack, I didn’t know I had so many friends. All the neighbors let on to be very sorry that I am going to move away. I don’t know exactly how soon I will move and if this letter is long on the way, you had better direct your letter to Clifton. I have not seen any of Father since Monday. I have not seen Reed since Monday. I don’t expect he would give me the money on what you wrote in your last letter. I believe he would have give me the money if it had not been for Leonard. He was in the store at the time and he told Reed he had better not give it up without an order from you. The children are all well except that Mary has a bad cold. I have had a very bad headache for two days. It is some better today.
Well I must quit and get dinner. I am going to have beans for dinner.
Monday eve
Well, Jack, I got up this morn intending to finish this letter and mail it today, but father came by seven o’clock to move me, so I had to pitch in and get ready to go. He took the cabbage and beets and turnips and a lot of barrels and a few things out of the house. He will be over in the morn to get some more. I expect to go tomorrow. Father said when he came to dig his potatoes, they were very good. He said he would have more than he wanted, and that I might as well sell mine. So, he took them down to the store. They sorted them. They took six bushels of them. I got seventy five cents a bushel. Potatoes are very plenty I sent down what lard I had and rags and some butter. They all come to twenty one dollars and nine cents. Jack, don’t laugh at my crooked lines. I can’t see the marks. I am writing by candlelight. I was afraid I would not have time in the morn to finish it. You must excuse me this time. Your long letter deserved one in return, but I have not time at present. I hope that you may be preserved in future danger as in those past.
With love from all, I remain your wife as ever,
Rachel Smith
A. J. Smith
write soon and often
[1] Thomas Jobe of Yellow Springs was a bugler in the 8th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry
[2] Emmet Jobe served in the 94th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and later in the 8th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry.
[3] Peirce Folkerth was a friend of the Smiths who had served with Jack in the 154th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
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