[A few paragraph breaks were added for ease of reading]Shelburne, Mass. U.S.A., Oct. 22, 1874
My dear Sister Martha,
I expect you will be expecting to hear from home before this but some how or other I do not find time to write although I have been trying for the last two or three days. I mean weeks. We received your letter last week Wednesday the fourteenth and was glad to hear of your safe arrival in the old world. I wonder how many times I have answered the question "Have you heard from your sister yet." Everybody has asked me every time they have seen me and I have answered it and answered it till I was so tired of it, and I was glad when your letter came so I could have something different to tell them.
Delia has gone at last she went last week Thursday. We did not have any real nice pleasant weather while she was here but it commenced the day she went away, and since then we have had some of October's most perfect days and Octobers perfect days cannot be surpassed by any days in the year. Thursday Friday and Saturday of last week were pleasant and Sunday Monday were cloudy Tuesday was pleasant and yesterday and today are perfect. They finished picking their apples last Saturday the 17th. but Mother and I had to go out and help them in order to enable them to do it. Sam Fisk is here to work he helped pick the apples and now Thornton and he are drawing out the maveric. [?] John has sold some of his apples to Dr Little [?] the landlord of the Mansion [?] house at Greenfield for two dollars a barrel, apples are not very high this year. John and Jerry are digging the corn and beets today. Have I told you that Frank Barnard has another boy, it was born the 2nd of Oct and they say it is a very nice baby. I want to go up and see it but don't know as I shall ever get time to do so. We have somebody or something to hinder us all the time and we cannot get along with our work at all.
I have not got but one place in the house cleaned and that is the buttery and I am glad that is done. I cleaned that last week Friday I dont [sic] know as I shall ever get any more done. I suppose I shall not need to tell you any only the house news and the papers which you take will tell you the county state and Country news that is the political and other news I will keep you as well posted as I can on the Shelburne news. We have got the things all ready to send to our home missionary and I expect they will be sent pretty soon.
Gow Wright stayed here night before last. I expected he would stay longer but I guess he thought we were not very glad to see him and so he left. I told Mother I expected that Mr Lake would be here next for I could not think of any thing else that would be awful enough. Aunt Prudence is here with Clarinda and has been for over a week and I guess Clarinda is glad to have her for she helps her about her work.
A wasp has just crept up and looked onto my ink bottle but I expect that you will have worse looking things than that looking at you when you answer it, but wasps are as bad as I want to see I have just set the ink bottle down hard onto him I guess you will see I have changed my pen the other was so sharp that it cut holes in the paper.
Lenas Bardwell and his wife and Mr. Marsh went up to the meeting of the American Board at Rutland Vt. I should have liked to have gone if I could have had the money to have gone with Mrs. Marsh had a ticket to go with but she was not able to go she told me I might have her ticket (it was not a car ticket but a ticket for the place to stay nights) but as I suppose it went with Mr. Marshes I am afraid it would not answer for me.
Have they told you that the folks here in town gave Mr and Mrs. Elishe Alvord a surprise party on the annaversary [sic] of their wedding they have been married fifteen years and so they called it a esptal [?] wedding. Those who went were mostly her Sabbath school sholars [sic] and their parents that is those that were in the infant classes when she had it. The house was filled from garret to cellar and I expect they had a good time there did not anyone go from here but Thornton Clarinda would have gone if John had been at home but John had to go down to Easthampton with some cattle for Ed. Gole. he had promised to go before he knew any thing about the party and so he had to go.
Amelia Dole has got ousted out of her school The one whose place she took did not stay in Europe as she expected but came back and wanted her place and so Amelia had to go I have not seen Amelia to hear the particulars. Lissa has been sick with a fever and lost her school so they are both out of their schools. Amelia has I believe had a chance to teach school in Ashfield and is I suppose agoing to do it. Amelia is in town but has not been up here yet.
Tyler Thompson is agoing to work here this winter. Ada D. expected to and I guess he would if he had not been sick but I rather think that he and Jerry would not have got along together very well for Jerry is rather slow and Asa
isis quick and is not gifted with a very large stock of patience. Our apples are pretty good this year but are not quite as nice as they were two years ago. I wish I could hand you some of the ripe ones. Lafayette is agoing to sell out and go west he has been out there to look around and is clear carried away with the west wished he was all ready to start now. Georgie wants to go with him but I dont [sic] know whether he will [or] not Mary is not going at present she expects to go another summer she wants to fit herself for a drawing teacher. Robbie goes with them of course and I am glad for I dont [sic] like that boy one bit. I should like to go west to see the place and get flowers but I dont [sic] care to ever go west to live[.] Give me the East to live in here in New EnglandThe folks send love and Mother will write when she can and so will the rest[.]
with much love I am your affectionate Sister
Susan E. Anderson