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English text

Albersloh. February 20, 1876

Dear brother, sister-in-law and children,

I wish you all a very happy and blessed New Year. Your letter arrived here on February 13 and found us in the best of health. and I hope that the same holds true for you. You write that times for the farmer are not very good – the same goes for over here.

[There follows a long list of prices. wages for hired hands, cattle prices etc.]

You asked me to tell you all the news. But the news is very seldom good. Tina Horstmann’s husband Anton Friethof was drunk in the early [evening?] and fell from his shed and was killed. May the Good Lord grant him eternal peace. [illegible] [Piekling?] slipped and fell in front of a thresher and died after a few days. Bernard Niehoff became a contractor and wanted to build a new house. He had bought trees near Roehr in the Lodden Heath area. He felled a tree and wanted to inspect it. While he was doing this, a branch fell down on him from another tree and hit his right leg, crushing his foot. They took. him immediately to the hospital 1n Mauritz where they amputated his foot. They then operated a second time, – but now he is dead. His funeral will be on February 22. Everybody is very sad about this. His body will be brought from Mauritz and he will be buried in Albersloh with great ceremonies. He was in the hospital for 6 weeks. That’s the way it goes in this world.

Two weeks ago I was at Steinhorsts and asked sister whether you had not written as yet. and she told me she wanted to write you right away. Whether she has done so I don’t know. We are all healthy. Dear Brother, l ask you: when will you ever come back home? When will you visit with us? I would have visited you a long time ago but I don’t know the way! Come over here, please! We will take care of you, and there is so much to discuss. I will bring this to a close, hoping that you will for sure visit us this spring. So what if it costs a few hundred dollars…

We have seven children, one boy, 10 years old. I wish he were 20! I still have to do a lot of work. Pretty soon you’ll have lots of Catholic Fathers and Jesuits – we don’t have any anymore.

With many regards, your loving brother, his wife and children. Please write again.

H. Husam

Translated by Joan Schell