Wayne County, NC - Anna Maria (Rhodes) Hill Letters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Page 44 Anna Maria HILL Letters April 27, 1855 Vernon My dearest Anna Your letter came to hand last Saturday and was read with grate pleasur & gratitude & thankfulness of hart to our Heavenly Father. It was Doubly gratifying as bringing such good news of your self & Sister. I had been relieved of suspense on Bettys account by a kind letter from Dr. BARDEN written a few hours after the birth of her Child. He spoake in the highest termes of you & sayes for coolness, energa & desission & self denial he knows not your equal. I will not repeat all he said about you, sufficient to say he declared you grew daily in his esteem as he had opportunity to see more of you. He seemed to give me the credit in past, but I disclaimed any shear in it & told him it all belonged to God. It was all owing to his grace shed abroad in your hart. How I wish you could drop in hear the Friday befor the fourth Sabath in every month. We have one of the most intelligent & pious Ministers in the Methodist Church, Profeser Deemes to preach hear for our Servants on that day. I know you would enjoy it so much. I expect him & his wife to morrow. She will likely spend a weake or more with me. She is a nice lady raised in Phiidelpha. Her Father was once a vary wealthy Merchant thair, but through misfortunes failed, is now in business in Peatersburge. I am glad you staid with dear Betty till her trial was softly passed & so fare from thinking you staid too long, I am enclined to think you will never regret it. I often feal when in discharge of a duty, let what may come that my Heavenly Father knows what is best & will evetuly caus all to worke for the best. I should feal sorry for the trial you had to encounter so soon as you reached home, but I know every one of us have to encounter trials in this life. Our bisiness is to pray for Grace to enable us to bare them without sining befor God, & if we loock to God he will enable us to overcome every limitation & trial. Perhaps they awere sent to try our faith. I think I can see the goodness of God in this. It was kept back til you return & perhaps to keep you from buying Betsy. Oh I am so thankful you did not buy her. Mr. John GREEN died three weeks ago in the Assilum in Baltimore. His family are in a good deal of distress, but I think will feal gratly relieved after a little as it will be better to feal he is beyond the troubles of this life in the peaceful grave then to think of him as an inmate of the Assilum & no hope of his recover & he expressed him self befor his sever affliction to have made his peace with God & said he was not afraid to die & that you know is a grate comfort to his wife. How I want to see you all & esposly you & the dear Children. I enjoyed your delight when restored to them in imagination. I know they looked seet to you & that you felt thankful to your Hevenly Father for the blessing. Indeed we should consecrate our selfs & all we have daily to him in Faith, but this I am Perswaded you do. How dose the Dr. feal on the subject of religion. How I wish he could feal the importance of the subject, but tell us there is still hope and pray believing God will hear our prairs & anser them. His Children would be much happier as well as you & him if he felt the importance of early Christian instruction. Remember me affectionately to him & tell him I still hope to see him a true Christian & kiss all the dear little ones for me & tell them Granma always remembers them in her prairs & they must pray for me & that God loves to listen to the prairs of little innocent children. You spoake of Mr. SHELDON taken Conna & Ann out. I hope they will embrace the opertunity. I should be so glad to have them with me this summer & could not you contrive to come eather this fall or next spring. That is a long time to look forward to, but it is something to keep hope a live in the hart & the love of God & love for our dear relations & preparation for our eternal home is all that is worth living for, take that away & the world is a Blank & I have no Doubt but the trials & troubles of life are all for our good & sent in mercy by the wise & all seeing eye, though we can not see it at the time. May he give us grace to triumph over every traial & come forth as pure gold. The Dr. has gout, came in & desires his love to you & the children & the Dr. sayes you must come soon. Hi is a gain upon his feet, but how long he will be depends on his self denial. Sister HATCH is a gain restored to her usial health & sends a good deal of love to you all. Dr. SMITH speakes of moving this fall, has not desided whair. Now Dearest I have given you all the news & as I have no garden to brag on & Mrs. DEEMES is with me, I will conclude & write more lenthy next time. Give my love to all my relations that you may see & keep a large shair for your self. The hous servants all desire to be kindly remembered to you & Carolin in particular sends a heap of love to Miss Anna & all the children. Now Dearest may God bless & keep you in all your wayes & lead you to the waters of life is the prair of your affectionat Aunty. Anna M. HILL ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Sloan Spence Mason ___________________________________________________________________