ADDRESSED TO: Mr. A.J. Stage, Lawrenceville, Tioga Co., Pa.
FROM: Cousin, Elmer and Nancy Stage, psotmarked L.S. Kibler, Nov 26, 1894, Orient, Ohio
Direct to ridpath, franklin Co., Ohio
November 18th
Dear Cousin. I got your letter last night. I was glad to hear from you. it found us as well as comin. I am feling as well as I ever did now. I am dad now. maby that makes me fel better. we have got a girl that weighed 9 pounds. She was a week old friday night.1 we have had an ofel dry sumer out hear. the corn crop is short. I am about half done husking. I will have about 2000 bushles of corn this year. it is worth 40 cts a bushel now. wheat is worth 47 cts a bushel. I have got about 900 bushels to sel but i hat(e) to take that for it. I have got 16 head of fat hogs and 35 heard of pigs and sows. hogs is only worth 4c now. harrison and Em2 was over Sunday. thay are well. harrison is going to move on old billies darests place on the bolding farm next spring. I supose you heard about the riot at Washington ch dident you? that was bad about killing them men on acount of that n---r (misspelled), wasent it? I say the solgers that morning when thay come from thar. I went to grandrapeds that day. well birt3 I supose you blame me about that deat not being fixed but I am not to blame. I have done all I Could to get them to go. I told them that I would go eny day that they cold go. I told them to let me no but thay never went so then I sent them the deead and told them to go whenever thay could and leave the deed and I would go and get it. thay havent done that yet. thay have had a way to go all sumer. pa4 let them have his buggy and thay had harpers horse whenever thay wanted it. she was down to paws 2 or 3 times a weeak.5 you neadent get oneasy about the deed. I will see that you get it allright. I dident get one cent of the rent that you pade wes for us. I dident no enything about her sending for it untill she had got it and pade it to darling. she never sed a word to me and I saw her evry day to. she sed she wold pay me but she hasent yet. goodby for this time rite soon. from Elmer and nancy stage. love to all. to Bert and Helen Stage.
Notes from the peanut gallery:
1) Doing a little calendar math, courtesy of
http://emr.cs.uiuc.edu/home/reingold/calendar-book/index.shtml
November 18, 1894 was a Sunday. So the unnamed baby girl was born on Friday, November 9, 1894.
2) Harrison Redding and Emma (Stage) Redding, Elmer's cousin, Bert's sister.
3) I think the consistently inconsistent spelling of Bert/Birt is a transcription problem. I could be wrong (witness the multiple spellings of "write" within a single letter).
4) Elmer's parents are Ed and Thank Stage.
5) "Them" and "thay" are Henry and Lib (from recent John A. Stage letter).