Davie County NcArchives History - Letters .....Letter Written By Mary Jane Clifford To Her Sister, Susannah Clementine Clifford Jones Prior To Her Marriage To William A. Grubbs July 5, 188?
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Karen Patrick klspatrick@comcast.net November 28, 2008, 8:19 pm

July the 5th of 188?

Dearest Sister,
		I will now write you a few lines to let you hear from us all 
again for I know you are very anxious to hear or will be before you get this. 
but I hope you will excuse me for not writing sooner. I was so busy helping 
cook for harvest hands last week and serving.  [4 words illegible] not get to 
[?] and I am sorry to say I cannot get to [?] but little more on account of 
having a sore eye. I got something in it Saturday evening suffered pretty 
badly with it for about two days and nights but it better now but very sore 
and weak yet so that I cannot write much. I wanted for Pa write you and Henry 
this week but the grape got such a short [?] his corn and tobacco while they 
were harvesting that it seems like he cannot stop for anything now. So I hope 
Henry you too will excuse him a while longer for it is not because he does not 
want to write. Clem you ought to have been here in harvest time to eat 
dewberry and cherry pies and to have seen [?] cut wheat. he never [?] but one 
day [?] harvest that was meeting Saturday he had the [?] all the time never 
gave out at all. he stood it better than he has for several years. he never 
hired any cradleres only the other hands he had. Billie Joe and pa cut it all. 
Billie held out much better than he ever did before. It never seemed to hurt 
him any. he never wiped an hour out of harvest. You know he used to give out 
most always in harvest. Pa says he has got the best wheat crop he has had for 
several years.  Tell Henry Pa will write to him soon as he can and tell him 
all about his crop. Well Clem we have commenced drying berries and apples. We 
have a good many Vanderbelt and June apples. They are about ripe now. We have 
dried a good many cherries to sell. They sell at ten cts per pound. Do not 
sell for as much as they used to but other things are cheaper I recon is the 
reason. I preserved a few and canned some for you to have when you come. So 
you see we are preparing for when I read your letter about you [?] to Cana. I 
felt both glad and sorry. I was glad that you were aiming to come but so sorry 
that Henry thinks he cannot come with you.  We were helped up so much with the 
hope of seeing you all this fall and besides it is such a risk for you to come 
alone but other women do travel alone sometimes I think. Caroline has got used 
to travelling by herself. I do so hope her and uncle A. P. will come with you 
and I do hope that Henry will take a notion yet to come too. He must come if 
he can.  Ma says tell him she wants him to come with you if he can for she is 
uneasy for you to come by yourself but says tell if cannot come she wants him 
to let you come and stay a while and see if you cannot get your health better 
and get rid of the chills.  we are all so uneasy about your health. do you [?] 
that cough yet or not. Ma says tell Henry she wants him to come after you if 
you come by yourself. for he must not forget that we want to see him too and 
we do want to see him too and do want to see sweet little Lawrence so bad and 
Frank also for they seem like your children to me now and I shall be so 
disappointed not to get to see them. I want you to come as soon as you can and 
see if you cannot get your health better. I want you to come when peaches get 
ripe if you cannot come before. and if Henry cannot leave his crop to come he 
can come after you when his crop is over.  Mrs. Etchesen colored a yard of 
blue for ma to knit you apair of hoes. Her and Susan came to see us the other 
day and ma asked her what she charged for it and she said nothing only to tell 
Clem she colored that yard of blue for her. She wanted you to know she colored 
it for you. ma is preparing the [?] to knit  them. We have a white pair all so 
knitting for you. Clem pa swapped my little [?] cow to George Booe for their 
milk cow. She is such a jumping cow they could not turn her out and had no 
close pasture for her to run in. Pa keeps her in the orchard and keeps a high 
fence around it. She gives about five gallons of milk per day but she has a 
calf and we don't take it all.  She gives more milk when we feed her plenty 
meal but she feeds mostly on grap now. Clem when I think of you coming home my 
heart feels like it will jump into my throught. I don't know how it would feel 
if I was to see you. I hope it would not jump out but I think it would raise 
farelly high. ma says tell you she wants to see Lawrence most bad as any of 
you. I hope we will not be disappointed this time let us hope and pray for 
better. Well Henry I don't know what to say to you for ai have written to you 
so much and get no reply. perhaps I have insulted you in some of my absurd 
writings. if so come in here this fall and I will make you in a good humer 
with me. you need not think to get around coming this fall for you have got 
to. if you do not come with Clem you have got to come after her as I shall not 
let Clem go back at all.  you shurly think noe of us want to see you but that 
is a mistake. we all want to see you too. In your letter to Frank you said 
that you were living in a land flowing with milk and honey. so I will tell you 
we are living in a land flowing with milk honey wheat and fruits of all kinds 
this year. we have about 180 lbs from our [?] this year and I think could get 
several lbs more now. We have 13 stands 6 of them are young [?]. we have not 
roled them yet. ma was [8 words ?] when we got your that you had written. Clem 
I  hope you are well [2 words ?]. we are all well as usual except [4 words ?]. 
Aunt Ann has a very sore eye also thats been sore a good while. good bye your 
Sis Mary   Uncle Cullen has heard from Josiah (?) but I do not know where he 
is.  Excuse this badly writen letter. I did not think I could write but little 
when I commenced do not expect you can read all of it. may the lord bless you 
and yours my Sister	


Additional Comments:
The handwriting and lack of punctuation made this letter fairly difficult to 
decipher and transcribe.  Words that I was unsure of are replaced with 
question marks.

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