HTML: 6D 1890-1892
August Schlomann, W.H. N.J.
Oct. 18, 1890.
Dear children, Are you still alive, and how are you doing? Have you forgotten how to write? Must I always remind you to do it? We are still alive and quite healthy.
We had very dry, cold weather in May, and in June thunder and rain every day, then such a hot spell that the horses fell down dead while working in the fields. The last part of the summer and the fall were excellent, and we had a pretty good crop. However, the good weather seems to have come to an end; today there is rain mixed with snowflakes.
How is your business doing? How are Emma and the children? Write soon. Many greetings to all. Your Grandf.
Mr. Ferd. Kaiser, Eisleben, Germany.
[Oct. 18, 1890].
Dear Sir! About your seeds: ...
A neighbor returning from Germany says <T313> that the summer there was very wet and cold. Here May was cold and dry, June brought hard thunderstorms and rain every day, then we had a very hot spell so that horses dropped dead while working in the fields. The last part of the summer and the fall were excellent, and we still had a good crop. But now the good weather seems to have come to an end. Today we had hard rain mixed with snowflakes. When it clears up, we will surely have frost.
Emma Schlomann, W.H. N.J.
[1890]
We received your letter of Oct. 27. We are glad to hear that you and the children are quite well. There is always someone sick, if only it does not get too bad. But where is August? Is he on a trip? Or is he mad at me? I could not imagine why. We feel so sorry for poor Anna. She looked so healthy in the picture. Please write and tell us how she is doing. Greetings. Your Grandf.
<Written in English.> To: Ernest and Martha
2 Nov 1890 [excerpt].
… We … got a letter … written by Loretta in bed. She says: as they had all been down sick and no one to take care of them they had to move to Grants Pass … when Adolf [sic] gets able to, he will go out and put the windows and doors in the house he has built on his claim and they will move out again. They are very poor.
<T313, cont.> Mr. Ferd. Kaiser, Eisleben, Pro. S.
Nov. 23, 1890.
Dear Sir, I have received your reply of Oct. 31 to my letter of the 18th. I cannot possibly believe that you dictated it, but I find it impertinent of your writer to accuse an old man of lying. Today I received late cauliflower instead of early ones; it can’t be due to a mistake. Such things don’t happen in a well managed seed store. Therefore I take it to be fraud. I won’t try to convince you by further reasoning; if you could not understand my letter of the 18th, I have to accept that I have forgotten how to express myself in my mother tongue, German.
Miss Anna Gerstenberg, care of H. Beckmann, 218 East 6th Street, N.Y. City, N.Y.
Dec 9, 1890.
Dear Anna. Yesterday I received your letter dated Nov 20 and mailed Dec. 5. I have not received the two letters that you wrote earlier. On Oct. 27 I got a letter from Emma saying that you had cramps.
Early in August I got a letter from your mother saying that she also planned to write to you. Maybe she does not have your correct address. I am enclosing her letter. I also received a letter <T314> in Sept. from Hermann Meyer. He wanted to know where your brother Ernst is, but unfortunately I could not tell him.
Fruit and potatoes were bad here too, but otherwise we had quite a good crop. Wheat, barley, and oats are bringing good prices. Pigs and cattle are worth almost nothing at all. We farmers here have enough to eat, but money is very short.
We are all very sorry to hear of your ill health. Maybe city life does not agree with you. Like the Schlomanns did, you should get on the train and come to visit us. A summer in the country might make you well again. My wife and your aunt Dora, who is only a few years older than you, will welcome you with love, and I also will be happy to meet my little—or better, big—granddaughter.
I am still quite well, but my wife is not. Dora and Carl are still at home and do most of the work. We had beautiful fall weather until Dec. 1; the cattle had plenty to eat [from the pasture]. Now there is two feet of snow and it is rather cold.
My wife, Aunt Dora, and Uncle Carl send their regards, and we all wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you will write us again soon. Your Grandfather.
Karoline Gerstenberg, Kummerf.
Dec. 9 [1890].
Dear Daughter. Yesterday I received a letter from Anna. She write: "I was very sick at times this summer. Three weeks ago I was sick for two weeks. I kept getting weaker, and I had cramps, but now I am feeling better. Have you heard anything from Kum.? I have not received any letters for a year." In the letter that I got this summer, you told me that you were intending to write to Anna too, so she must not have received your letter. Her present address is: Miss A.G., care of H. Beckmann, 218 East 6th St., N.Y.
We had an especially nice autumn. Up to Dec. 1, the cows had plenty to eat from the pasture, but now there is two feet of snow and a light frost. The price of wheat, barley, and rye, as well as butter and eggs, is high; but cattle and pigs are very cheap. A good cow that will bear a calf in spring costs only $12.
<T315> We are still the same as always, and hope that you may enter the New Year with new hopes. We still have not heard or found out anything about Ernst.
<Written in English.>
18 Dec 1890. To: Adolph at McAllister
<T315>, cont. Mr. Karl G Wünsche, Schönbach near L. in S.
Dec. 21, 1890.
Old friend. You never answered my last, very long letter of Dec. 16, 1888. If you are still alive—if not, then you are in heaven, a place I never intend to visit—I will try once again to converse with you. I will be 86 years old in a few days, and still what people call vigorous. But life has little to offer me. I have enjoyed all its pleasures, and have fought against many obstacles. But I expect no reward after my death, either for the one or for the other.
The Meissner tree has blossomed again through me, and now has many branches. A daughter by my first wife, who is still living near Hamburg and is 64 years old, has nine children: a son in Berlin, two sons in Hamburg, two sons in Altona, one in America, an unmarried daughter in England, a married daughter near N.Y., and another daughter in N.Y. I have five children by my second wife [Note—no mention of Doris Sennewald or of "George Henry Sennewald Meißner"—LPM] : two sons, who with their families are both in Oregon near the Pacific Ocean, and two sons and a daughter still at home.
I could say a lot about weather, crops, and politics, but I only wanted to knock, and now I want to see whether the door is opened to me.—
Gas. Hauschild, Topeka, Kans.
Dec. 22, 1890.
In an old issue of the "Field and Garden Paper," I found your ad for a weed cutter that can be attached to cultivators. Please send me your circulars. Respectfully ...
Miss Anna Gerstenberg, care of H. Beckmann, 218 East 6th Street, N.Y. City, N.Y.
Jan. 7, 1891.
Dear Anna. On Jan. 5 I received your letter of Jan. 2. It tells me that you got my letter, but not much else. You completely ignored my freindly invitation to improve your health next summer <T316> in the fresh country air and to keep Dora company. I also got a letter from your mother a few days ago, but I haven’t heard from Schlomanns. Did you visit them on Christmas? Judging from his name, your employer must be German. What kind of business does he have, and what are your duties? Dora has asked me to thank you for the pretty New Year’s card, and we all send our regards and wish you good health and a rich husband. Your Grandf.
Karoline Gerstenberg, Kummerf. n. P. n. H.
Jan. 7, 1891.
Dear Daughter. I received your letter of Dec. 14. I want to thank you for all your good wishes. I also got a letter from Anna a few days ago, and she said she also got a letter from you. I suppose you also got my letter of Dec. 9. We are having very mild winter weather, and hardly any snow at all. We are all quite well. Give my regards to your husband and children. Your father.
Aug. Schlomann, W.H. N.J., R.A., corner of E St.
Febr. 4, 1891.
Dear A. & Emma. I received your short letter of Jan. 9, and was glad to hear that you are still alive. I had quite an attack of influenza, but am getting better now. Grandmother has the same disease too. We hope and wish that these lines may reach you in good health. Give my regards to the children. Your Grandf.
Today is the first wintry day with four feet of snow and good sledding tracks.
Hague & Schmidt, Erfurt.
Febr. 7, 1891.
Thank you for sending me your summer catalog. I enclose $1, so that according to your bill of June 5, 1890 I still have 96 pf [?] in my favor. Please send me by mail as "samples without value" the following seeds ...
Mr. A. Wünsche, Schönb. near L. in S.
Febr. 14, 1891.
Dear Sir! I received your letter of Jan. 18 and read it with great interest. I sincerely regret what happened to your dear father. It is nearly impossible <T317> for me to believe that such a learned man has passed away. All I can imagine is that reason and faith fought together, and both lost the battle. You write that you belong to the German Freethinkers in political matters; why not also in religious matters? It seems to me that the two cannot easily be separated.
It is true that we live in a so-called free country. But there are many clerics in high places, supported by the stupidity of the immigrants, such as Poles, Hungarians, and Russians, from the lowest classes. Native Americans are free-thinkers.
You seem to have a very interesting family, but I have cannot actually expect your son to visit me. It is 1500 Eng. miles from N.Y. to Wisc—express mail takes three days—and from here to Oregon (where two of my boys live) is another 2500 miles and letters require six days. I live close to the road.
What factories have been built in Schönbach; and where does the railroad lead, to or from there?
Last year our potatoes here were also spoiled. We had a bad spring, but a good summer and a very good autumn. Crops were good around here, but in some other states it was so dry that nothing grew. But the whole country is crossed by so many railroads that it is easy to ship produce anywhere. We are having a very mild winter and not much snow. So far we have had only two cold days. Wheat costs 1-1/2 cts. per lb, barley two cts, rye and oats one ct., eggs 1-1/2 cts. each, butter 12 cts. per lb. Current prices are (for 50 kg of each) [Bad arithmetic—LPM]: wheat $10 (6 Mk), rye $8.75 (4 Mk), oats $7.95 (4 Mk), barley $6.80 (8 Mk), corn [?] (2.40 Mk), <T318> potatoes $2.20 (4 Mk), hay $2.80 (1.60 Mk). Also one kg butter $1.80 (1.20 Mk), 1000 kg straw $30.00 (20 Mk). For 12 ckickens 0.72 Mk; 50 kg live pigs 12.50 Mk, 50 kg live cattle eight Mk, one kg pork 0.64 Mk, one kg roast 0.64 Mk, one kg stew meat 0.40 Mk.
Now I have lived in Wisconsin for 35 years. When I came here it was still a wilderness—the wolves howled, the foxes in the hills barked at night, deer crossed [?] our horses. Now there are no wolves, foxes, or deer. The country is known to all [cleared?—LPM]. Good farms with good houses are located along good roads. We have good soil, good spring water, and enough oak wood to make the winters bearable. But fruit trees don’t thrive—they die off after a few years.
Schönbach has surely changed a lot too; now it looks more like a town than a village.
Henry H. Cremer, Esq.
March 12, 1891.
My 40 in Jefferson N.A. of S.W. Sept. 19 [What is this?—LPM] is probably due. I will probably come to Sparta next week to pay it; you don’t have to advertise it. With friendly wishes, F.A.M.
Mrs. Fritz Lindelman, Bangor.
April 7 [1891].
I lost the seeds of the dipper gourds, so I am returning your 10 cts. F.A.M.
Aug. Schlomann, W.H. N.J.
Aug 20, 1891.
Dear Aug. & Emma. These lines may tell you that we are all still alive and quite well. Mother is still having a lot of trouble with her leg. Carl is sick all the time, and August has been sick alot this summer. Dora is Mother’s best helper. We are having a very pleasant summer. My garden looks especially beautiful and the crops are quite good. We would be glad to hear how you are doing. Please write soon to F.A.M.
<T319> Karoline Gerstenberg, Kummerf. n. P. n. H., Germ.
Aug. 20, 1891.
Dear Daughter. These lines are to tell you that I am still alive and feeling quite well. I can say the same for the other members of my family.
We had a very beautiful summer. My garden looks especially nice, and the crops are quite good.
I have kept hoping—but in vain—to hear something about Ernest G. I would be glad to hear from you again soon. Your father.
Anna Gerstenberg, care of H. Beckmann, 218 E 6th Str, N.Y.
Aug. 20, 1891.
Dear Anna. I apologize for not having answered your letter of Febr. 6 sooner. You have not written again, either. If you are still living at the same place, you will get this letter and you will see that I have not forgotten you and that we are all quite well.
We had a very beautiful summer, and the flowers in my garden are blooming wonderfully. Also the crops are quite good.
I also wrote to Kummerf. today. I would enjoy hearing from you soon, and knowing that you are well and doing fine. Your Grandfather.
Karol. Gerstenberg, Kumm. near P. n. H., Germ.
Nov 4, 1891.
Dear Daughter. I suppose that you have received my letter of Aug. 20, and I would hav been happy to hear from you in return.
I just read in the paper that you have had a lot of snow in Hamburg and that the temperature is seven degrees [?] below freezing. We have not had any snow yet this fal, and our cows and horses are still on pasture. But the weather is very dry and the grass is very short. There was not much hay this summer. We had a crop of 100 bu. wheat. one bu or 60 lb[?] now costs three Mk 20 p [?] ; 60 lb potatoes cost one Mk. We have not yet harvested our corn. We have hardly enough barley for the horses, so we have been feeding them corn too. Corn makes very good millet; cooked in milk it tastes like rice. We have two working horses and two young ones, one 1-1/2 year old and the other 1/2 year old. As we have so little feed for them, we want to keep only three cows and two calves through the winter, and butcher the rest. But cattle are so cheap. Eggs now cost 72 p [?] per dozen; one lb butter costs the same.
<T320> Threshing is done by steam powered machines that are driven from one farm to another. My threshing was finished in two hours. It cost me $5 plus the labor. This machine can thresh 1000 bu per day. There are also harvester machines, pulled by two or three horses, that mow wheat and bind it immediately. Wheat, rye, and barley are stacked up in the fields and threshed there.
If you don’t have time, tell Frieda or Otto to write a long letter to me some time and tell me what your crops were and how much they amounted to, and how you manage it all.
On the same day when I wrote my last letter to you, I also wrote to Anna in N.Y., but her letter was returned to me unopened, with a note that she could not be found. Also we have not received any letters from Emma and Schlomann since spring.
== Nov 13, 1891.
Winter came suddendly today, with a little snow and severe frost.
It is my hope and wish that these lines may reach you in good health, and that you will write a long letter soon. Your father, F.A.M.
Aug. Schlomann, W.H. N.J.—R.A. Corn. or E. Str.
Nov 15 [1891].
Dear August. You must have received my letter of Aug. 20, but you haven’t answered it. So I will ask once again whether you are still alive. If you had died I would surely have heard about it. How are you and Emma and the children? How is business coming along? You have certainly become rich! In Hoboken you only have to pay $300 for $3000 [?].
We had a good, but very dry, autumn. On Nov. 13 we had our first snow and hard frost; today it is raining. We are all still alive. August and Carl are both always ill. Give my regards to Emma and the children, and write soon. Your Grandfather, F.A.M.
<Written in English.>
27 Nov 1991. To: Loretta Meissner at Merlin, near Grants Pass
<T320>, cont. Aug. Schlomann, W.H. N.J.—R.A. Cor E. Str.
[1891].
Dear August & Emma! I wrote a letter to you on Nov. 15, and have been expecting an answer every day since then. <T321> Last week a car with N.Y. mail was burned between Chicago and Milwaukee, so your letter might have burned too. So I am writing to you once more, hoping to get an answer soon.
Do you know where Anna is? A letter that I sent to her was returned unopened. Your Grandf.
Mr. A. Wünsche, Schönb. near L. in Saxony.
Dec. 15, 1891.
Dear Sir. It’s true that I have left your letter of March 18 unanswered; nevertheless I have thought of you often. I am very sorry about your father’s final affliction; I hope my last days won’t be so hard for me. So far, my mind is still clear and my bones haven’t failed me.
So far we have had some frost, but no snow yet, and it has been raining for the past few days. Overall, summer and fall were dry; the wheat crop was good but we didn’t get much hay. As a result, beef prices are very low. A fat cow won’t sell for more than 12 or 15 dollars. Pigs are cheap too; they sell live for $3 per 100 lb. Wheat is 1-1/2 cts per lb (6 p [?]), ryke the same, barley one ct per lb, potatoes 1/4 ct = one p [?], hay $10 per 1000 kg (1 ton).
We are looking forward to a new Presidential election next year, so political groups are quite excited. Besides the two main parties (Republicans and Democrats), a third one has been formed: the Farmers’ Alliance. But I don’t believe that this one has much of a following. The current President is Republican, but the Democrats hope to win next time. Soon there will be only rich people and poor people here. By poor people I don’t mean beggars but those who earn a living by hard labor, and by rich people I mean millionaires. The Machine Age has changed everything. Just as a poor weaver in Germany cannot compete with the factories, so also a small farmer is unable to compete with the big landowners. Harvesting machines cut the wheat and bind it, steam powered threshing machines thresh 1000 bu a day, and so on.
I don’t know what else might interest you. I would be glad to hear that you and your dear family are well.
<T322> With my best regards, Your F.A.M.
P.S. Is Volkmar Jähnich[er] still alive? Nobody there remembers me, except him. Your father sent me his picture. Maybe you would delight me with one of yours.
Aug. Schlomann, W.H. N.J.—R.A. Cor E. Str.
Jan. 3, 1892
Dear Children! It must be a difficult chore for you to write a letter. If August doesn’t have time, why can’t Emma write? We were beginning to get worried. Yesterday I received your letter of Dec. 28 and I see that you are all well. The children must have grown quite a bit. I surely would like to see all of them together for once.
We haven’t had much winter so far. On the day before New Year we were still still pasturing our cows. It started to rain that evening, and the next day we had two inches of snow. Today August sledded for the first time. The crops were quite good, but summer and fall were very dry, causing the winter hay crop to be very scanty. We still have our two horses and the two colts, one is a yearling and the other is a two-year-old. We slaughtered or sold all our cattle except three cows and three calves. But cattle were very cheap this autumn, as none of the farmers had enough feed and had to sell them.
We are all a bit unhealthy. We all have colds; Mother’s leg is still bothering her; August was sick all summer long and did hardly any work; Carl is always ailing, too; and I am getting old. This summer we hired one of the Hansen boys, but at harvest time he got sick too.
A big steam mill has been built in Cashton, as well as several new stores. Kissel sold his house and store and repurchased the "Cashton House" for $800.
We haven’t heard anything from Ernst G., and have not received any letter from Kummerf. recently either.
Everything the farmers have for sale is very cheap and eggs cost 22 cts. per dozen. Tomorrow we want to slaughter another fat cow.
Fe wish you good health and good fortune for the new year, and hope to receive a letter from you before the next New Year.
Anna Gerstenberg, 149 W 12 Street, N.Y.
Jan. 3 [1892].
Dear Anna. I just found out your address from Schlomanns. I wrote a letter to you in August, but it was returned as the mailman was unable <T323> to locate you. If you change your address, you should write and tell me. We are all quite well and hope the same is true for you. We wish you a Happy New Year and hope to hear from you soon. Greetings—your Grandfather.
Hague & Schmidt in Erfurt, Prussia.
Jan. 4, 1892.
I enclose $1 and I want you to send me some cauliflower seeds ... . Numbers and prices are based on last year’s seed list. If the prices have changed this year, send more or less. Respectfully, F.A.M.
Anna Gerstenberg, 149 W 12 Street, N.Y.
Jan. 7, 1892.
Dear Anna. I received your letter of Dec. 30 ‘91 just after I mailed a letter to you. We were glad to hear that you have been thinking of us, and that you are well and doing fine. On the same day, I got a letter from your mother and a short one from Otto. They wrote that they all are well. Also Scholomanns sent me a letter, so I shall be satisfied for the time being. Thanking you for your good wishes for the new year, I remain—your Grandfather.
Karol. Gerstenberg
Jan 7, 1892.
Dear Daughter. Yesterday I received your letter, and enclosed I found a short letter from Otto, but he forgot to sign it. I have read both with interest.
I wish we could get the same good prices here that you get at home. The wages for workers are high and farmers don’t get much for what they sell. I just slaughtered another fat cow and sold the back parts for four cts per lb. We can raise hardly any fruit at all in Wis. The trees all die, but we have good soil for wheat. There are feilds that have been bearing good crops for 20 years without any fertilizer.
My farm is quite hilly, but I have good spring water, enough fire wood, and also enough land. What I need is more workers. I am still well, but my strength is decreasing. My wife is always unwell too, but with Dora’s help she manages the household. Carl is 27 years old, but he can only do light work; and August who is 24 was sick all <T324> summer long. He was not confined to his bed, but he was unable to work. At harvest time I had to pay $1.50 = six Mk wages per day.
You have Otto and Frieda still at home and I conclude from your letters that they are both good workers. I also got a letter just now from Anna. She says she is well and has found a good job with a German doctor. I also had a letter from Schlomanns. They are all well.
We have had only a few cold days so far and only a few inches of snow, not enough to make good sledding tracks. Greetings to all.
Mr. August Gebhardt, Quedlinburg in Prussia.
Jan 12, 1892.
Please send the seeds listed below at once as samples without value. You will have to make several parcels. The No. and prices are from your seed list of last year, 1891. I received it too late to order anything. Send it as soon as possible. Address: F.A.M.; Cashton, M.C. Wis. U.S.A.
Mr. August Gebhardt, Quedlinburg in Prussia.
Jan 20, 1892.
I mailed you a letter containing an order list and a bill of exchange for 18 Mk on Jan 12. Afterwards I could no longer remember whether I endorsed the bill correctly so that you can collect it. I am therefore sending you a duplicate bill, endorsed correctly, together with a copy of the list of seeds, so that you can send me the seeds right away even if my first letter has been lost.
Ernst hartse, Care of Hermann Ostermann, Big Sandy, Montana.
Jan 20, 1892.
This morning I received your letter addressed to my daughter’s son, Ernest G., and I see from it that you know as little about him as we do. The last time we heard from him was in Dec 1887 [Mar 1888?—LPM] from Eldred, Cass Co, D[akota]. Since that time we tried in vain to get an answer or a letter from him. He has not written to his mother either, nor to his brother-in-law Aug. Schlomann in W[est]H[oboken], N.J. We are therefore very much afraid that he was killed in the big snowstorm that was in Dakota during the winter of 1887-1888.
<Written in English.> To: ?
Jan 1892.
[Ernest’s oldest boy has gone to Utah. (Ernest Richard MEISSNER b: 24 Jul 1884 in Beaver, Beaver, UT)]
<Written in English.> To: ?
Jan 1892.
[Ernest’s little boy has died in Utah. (Franklin Joram MEISSNER b: 12 Mar 1890 in Kerby, Josephine, OR d: 10 Dec 1891 in UT)]
<Written in English.>
6 Mar 1892. To: Martha Meissner c/o Jerome H. Bradshaw, Beaver, Utah [Martha’s brother?]
<T325> Henry H. Cremer, Sparta, Wis.
[1892]
Dear friend. The enclosed Application is to be signed by two county officers. I therefore ask you to complete it with your signature, and maybe the Treasurer’s, and then to deliver it. I oblige myself to any friendly service for you. Your devoted F.A.M.
Mr. Casper Bedenk, Sparta.
June 23, 1892.
My note is due today. But as you probably don’t need the money, I will send you the interest for another three months. If the weather and the roads had not been so terrible, I would have come down personally. Give my regards to your wife and daughters. Your devoted F.A.M.
P.S. Be so kind as to acknowledge the arrival of this letter.
Anna Gerstenberg, 149 W 12 Street, N.Y.
July 17, 1892.
Dear Anna. I received your letter of June 20, and I see from it that you are still alive and doing well, and that you have not completely forgotten about me. We all had the influenza this spring and were sick for three weeks, but now we are quite well. May was cold and wet, June very warm with thunderstorms every day, so that the farmers could hardly ever go to work in the fields. Apples and plums bloomed—a true joy for the eye—but too much rain destroyed the blossoms, so there will be no fruit. Everything is very late and the grass is growing well. We have had good weather for the past week and our hay is already in the barn.
I have not received any letter from Kum. since New Year, but I just read in the papers that Anna Brinkmann, a 20 year old girl from Kum. was condemned to death by a jury in Altona, because she murdered her child and set her house on fire to hide the deed.
We would be glad to hear from you again soon. Give our regards to the pretty Swiss girl, and tell her that many Swiss live around here and all of them own big farms.
Harvest time has not started yet, but the wheat is standing well.
<T326> Karoline Gerstenberg
July 17, 1892.
Dear daughter. Since I have not heard from you again since New Year, I can only hope and wish that all of you are still alive and well. Anna wrote me that she has not received another letter from you since her birthday. This spring we all had influenza and were very sick in bed for three weeks. But now we are quite well again, only still weak. May was cold and wet, June hot with thunderstorms every day and a lot of rain, so that the farmers could hardly ever go to work in the fields. Apples and plums blossomed wonderfully, but too much rain destroyed the blossoms. That means we will have no fruit this year. Everything is verylate, but the grass is growing very well. We have had good weather for the past week and our hay is in the barn. Harvest time has not started yet, but the wheat is standing quite well. Today we had our first peas, three weeks later than in other years.
I just read in the papers that Anna Brinkmann, a 20 year old girl from Kummerfeld, was condemned to death by a jury in Altona, because she murdered her child and set her house on fire to hide the deed.
My regards to all. Your father, F.A.M.
P.S. July 18. It’s raining again today.
North Western Post, 84 Mason Str., Milwaukee, Wis.
Dec. 6, 1892.
Please send me a sample issue of the NW Post, for which I want to thank you in advance. F.A.M.
Mrs. Karoline Gerstenb., Kumm. n. P. n. Hamburg, Ger.
[Dec. 1892.]
Dear daughter. I received a letter from you during the summer and from it I saw that all of you were well at that time. But since then there has been a lot of disease in Hamburg, from which your children living in Hamburg and Altona might have suffered.
We are quite well at present, but times are hard, because prices are low for everything we have to sell. However, we have elected a Democrat president and we hope that things will get better. With you the <T327> army costs a lot of money, but here the pensions cost still much more. There are many people who murdered and robbed during the last war in the South who now receive $75 (or 10 Mk Engl.) monthly pension.
As you now have quite a lot of land, you surely won’t be able to store all of your crops in the house. Have you built a barn? Do you still thresh your rye by hand or do you have a machine? How big was your crop? How many cows do you have? How much milk do you sell every day, and how much do you get paid for it? Let Otto write me a long letter and answer all these questions. It will be good for him to learn to write letters.
We are having an unusually early winter, and for several weeks already we have sledding tracks, and today quite a snowstorm.
Mr. Casper Bedenk, Sparta.
Dec. 27 [1892].
Dear friend. As I know you don’t need the money, I am sending you in advance the interest for another three months. Around New Year I will slaughter four fat young pigs from last spring. They each weigh about 100 lb. Let us know if you happen to want one, and the price. Greeting your wife and daughters, I remain your F.A.M.
North Western Post, 84 Mason Str., Milwaukee, Wis.
Dec. 27, 1892.
To the Editor. Enclosed you will find a money order for $2.00, for which I ask you to send me the NW Post and the Sunday Journal for a year, beginning today. As a premium, I would like you to send me the great "Germania. F.A.M., Cashton, M.C., Wis.
Aug. Schlomann, W.H., Corner of Sp. and Elm Str., N.J.
Dec. 31, 1892
Dear Children. From your letter of the 25th, I see that you have not completely forgotten about us. Every morning while we drink our coffee we are reminded of you by the pretty teaspoons, Emma’s gift. We are glad that you are all well and doing fine. We are also quite well. Last spring we all had influenza and lay sick in bed for nearly four weeks, and we did not fully recover our strength until fall.
The whear, barley, and corn crops are good, about 3/4 of the [expected] yield. Potatoes and onions are completely spoiled. <T328> May was cold and wet, June hot with thunderstorms and rain every day, so that our field work was delayed considerably. The farmers are suffering very much from low prices, but pork, butter, and eggs are quite good.
I hope we will get some better laws under a Democrat government. Nowadays the pensioners are eating us alive. We have to feed so many lazy bums, just because they murdered and robbed in the South during the last war.
Dora, Carl, and August are still at home, but August is not working at home. Mother’s leg still troubles her.
For the past three weeks we have had nice sledding tracks, and for the last 8 days it has been very cold..
Wishing you much success for the New Year, I remain Your grandfather.
HTML: 6D 1890-1892
WELCOME page