Sarah Ann Camfield, April 1881

[April 1881 - no date, no salutation]

we are as well as usual I am doing my work and takeing care of lambs I have had 3 in the house that died and 1 is alive that I shall have to keep fro apet the pet I raised last winter is anice one it is 4 months old and weighs 37 and 3 quarters poun I have been offered $2 for it we have had 4 Calves and 10 lambs in 3 weeks you will know we have plenty of business Father just brought in another lamb it is so cold they chill so soon
we have a hired man ever since the 24th of march the oats is up and they are plowing for corn I fear it will be apoor year for crops as it is so late and cold

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our wheat is killed agooddeal if we have half a crop we will do pretty wel we refused $100 for our 2 year old Colt last friday I dont think we would take 50 for last falls colt
I am not having much luck with Chickens yet have only 7 little ones if you want to make an ornament for your center table or mantle shelf pick up little stones of different colors and put them in abig mouth bottle or a can and fill it with water if you never saw one you cannot think how pretty they are if the stones are not very pretty I wish you could see mine I think them very pretty
now when your time is out then we want to all to come and make us a good visit before

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you do any thing more I have had a letter from Wm Hall and Mary Ett since you send Marthies I wrote to them and reived an answer he said he has put that property in probate court it may be two year before it is settled and it may not be so long
now he is ready to go to the office so I must close

write soon good bye

S A Camfield



I guess I'll be filling a jar with little stones to display in memory of Sarah Ann. I bet I can get the grandkids to help and maybe get them to listen to me talk a little about their 4th great-grandmother.

William Hall was Mary Ett's husband and therefore Sarah Ann's brother-in-law. Both of Sarah Ann's parents died in Lake County, IL in 1879. The estimate of two years to settle the estate was right on. One of Sarah Ann's nephews, George H Wisner, had entered into an agreemnet with his grandparents to care for them in exchange for a deed to their property. This sounds opportunist but George had been raised by his grandparents and had always lived them. William Wisner was bedridden for at least a year and his wife, Elizabeth, also required a great deal of care in her final years.
More details of the lawsuit that ensued can be found here. I'm am guessing that "Marthies letter" was the letter Anna received from Martha J Hall, dated 21 March 1880.

For more see:
Camfield Family Letters
Descendants of Sarah Ann Wisner
Michael Camfield
Hall Family Letters


Camfield, Sarah Ann Wisner. (Noble Center, MI) to [no date, no salutation] [Anna Camfield Carlisle]. Letter. April 1881. Digital Images 1-4. Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Snowville, New York. 2008. [Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, 1881, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]