[Some paragraph marks added for ease of reading.]Monroe Walton Co. Ga.
May 3rd 1884.My dear sister,
It is Saturday morning and such a morning as we would have at home in the middle of June. What is so rare as a day in June?" &c Mr W. has gone off ten miles to make an address at a S. School celebration. He wanted me to go with him but the ride would be rather long for me on such a warm day. You have heard from others of my coming home and the reasons long before this I know. It is too bad that I have not written to you myself. I planned to do my writing on board ship and have a letter for each of the family to mail in San Francisco. My plan was all upset however by sea-sickness and there has been no time since we landed until now when I could do any satisfactory writing. My husband is getting better every day and I hope this summer may restore him completely. He works in the field most of the day and it seems to be the very thing for him.
I am as comfortable and happy as I could hope to be anywhere. The whole family seem [sic] to make it their business to see that my every want is supplied. Mama is especially kind. I have nothing to do but sew and read and do little things for mama occasionally when I feel like it. We have a colored cook and another woman to keep the house in order. Our washing is done out and comes home all ironed ready for use. Am I not fortunate to be that waited on? It will only be for the summer though; if all is well, we want to have a home of our own next year.
There are two boys in the family one sixteen and the other eighteen and both of them are gentlemanly and attentive to me all the time. You know southern gentlemen are more polite and attentive to ladies than northerners and that is no doubt the reason I notice it.
The people here are shamefully ignorant and indifferent on the subject of missions though and there is plenty of room for me to work among them. The pastor they have now is a wide-awake energetic man and I hope he will succeed in getting the people roused to a sense of their duty both to foreign missions and to home work. There are a number of rich men in the church, but they are all so fond of their money and so busy taking care of it that they have to interest hardly in the advancement of the cause of Christ.
I wonder how you are these spring days and what you are doing? It was such a disappointment not to be able to go and see you all in Wooster but I knew my first duty was to my husband[.] If I live till next summer I hope to go north and if I have a home next winter I hope my northern friends can come and see me. I cannot count on that though for we must commence at the bottom of the ladder and make our own living.
I was so sorry to find Anna in such a critical condition. I think it uncertain whether she will live many months. Willie, too, is quite broken down and I fear if he loses Anna he will go much faster. It will be hard for Lloyd to get along without the tender care he has always had from his Mama. Mother has failed mentally since I left home. I fear the year she spent with John has done a good deal to break her down. Poor John! It makes me sad to think about him. Horrie is in Wooster now I believe. I do hope he may succeed in getting a practice and make some money. He is no doubt really worried about Lulu. It is too bad that she does not get well, but I hope he will not marry her while he is so poor and she so delicate. John's experience ought to be a warning.
I pray that my health may be spared until we get a little start in the world. It must be so hard to feel that one is a burden to those around and you have doubtless had that feeling many times. Shaw! I want to see you this evening [?]. Some how I am growing a little nearer to you as I grow older and see a little more of the prose of life. I hope you may never know all I have gone through within the last three or four months, but it has made me much more appreciative of those who have suffered. I have the advantage of a hopeful, cheerful disposition though and I cannot help thinking that we have a bright useful future ahead of us yet. How are the children getting along? It seems so long since I have seen them. Hope I may yet see the girls before they marry[.] Give all a great deal of love and tell them they must come south sometime and visit me.
Now I must go and bake a cake for Sunday. I will look for a letter from you soon and hope you will not disappoint me. Your letters are always such a treat to me. Give my love to Dr K. and keep a double portion for your own dear self.
Yours Affectionately,
Lillian M. Walker.