ADDRESSED TO:    Mr. A.J. Stage, Mt. Sterling, Madison Co., Ohio

FROM:    Mother M.E. Wood, postmarked Mansfield, Pa., 1890

January the 10

Dear Childern

I will wright you a fiew lines to lett you no that I am well and am glad to hear that you all ar   I reseived your welcome letter last night   Was glad to hear from you   I stayed in Yorke State three weeks   Came home New years day   This week sewed 4 days for Mrs Decker on Poverty Hill   Mate thinks that she will come out hear some time in March   I am going to gett rooms down stairs if I can   Mate got the letter that you wrote her   Thay sent mine to Mitchels Creek and Ede sente it to Havana so I havent it yet   You dident say enything about the clippers   Mr Reece has got the kinds that Birte wanted now   Thay come just a day or to before I came home so I thought we hadent better send them untill I wrote you for I dident no whether you would wante them or not   I you do lett me know right away  Thay will make them at to dolars if you wante them   You donte say enything about Freed¹   Is he dead   His poor mother is dead   She was dead yesterday when I came home   I gess the lice killed her   It is awful lonesome without her   I met Lutie the other day²   She said that she had a letter from you the day before I wente up on the hill to _____ Cogsmiers   Did I tell you that Edy was maried   She said that she would give a goodeal to see you   She took your address and said that she would wright to you   Lutie is well   O dear I wish I could see you   I could tell you a goodeal more than I can wright   Thay ar having a grate revivals of meatings hear   Thair has been lotts of folks got religion   All the drunkards in town  Mell Strait   John Bixley   Fent Allen   Bill Willson   Wellt Smith   Bill Lorenc   Gill Welch   Thair hainte no youse for me to right eny more names for it would take to or three sheats of paper.  Kate Smith and Dan Wood to   O dear how I wish I could see you all but I donte no as I ever shal   it is real sickley hear now   Thay are having a diseas that thay call the grippe or influenzy   If it wasent for Mate I would come out thair   Freem and Cary was hear today   He is coming after me tomorow to stay over Sunday with them   Mrs Dike is thair now   I cante wright enymore now so goodby

from your Mother

I am afraid that Will is dead or we should hear from him and I should think that we would if he was enyway unless someone has murdered him³  

Love to you all   Kiss Tess forty times for me.

Donte neglect to write about the clippers   I will send you a pice off Edy Cogswell weding dress and a little pice of mine that Mate gave me and a pice of my polnais   I havent got them made yet   I cante think of Edy husbands name   The silk was the front and the back blew cashimer.

Notes from the peanut gallery:

1) Fred the bird.

2) Loutie Thetge.

3) William H. Wood moved to Sheridan, Wyoming.  At the time of this writing he was alive and well.