Norwich
21.st April 1767
My dear Husband
I received your Letter dated
Feby
23d
&
28, last Thurſday
& rejoice to hear of your Welfare & in Gods kindeſs to you in taking Care of you in the continual Change of Scenes thro' which you have been & are yet daily paſsing — may God continue to preſerve you in all your ways —
Thro' the manifold Goodneſs of God we are all well & have been so since I wrote you laſt —
you want
^in this Letter^ to know what I think
of
a Letter which you wrote in
Nov.r
laſt — I have
received no such Letter nor have I received
any
from you ('till that laſt Week) since one dated
Oct.r
11.th
^from Exeter^ in which
one you gave an account of some
Briſtol-Beer &C which you had ship'd from
Briſtol for me & which I received laſt fall — You alſo
in the Same Letter tell me that you was
about to ship a
[illegible][guess: p.s] of superfine Broadcloth &C
for me
^in another Ship^ — which I never have
heard of Since
& if you did ship them as you propoſed, I
conclude they were loſt in Some Ships which
were caſt away laſt Winter in their Way
from
Briſtol to
Boſton.
(verte)
You deſire
M.r
Lothrop's Acco.
t for what I
have had of him which is £90..
s5
Lawfull
beſides
which, I
^have^ received £30
Sterling of
M.r Smith of
Boſton
laſt spring, & £35 Sterling this Spring; of the £30
Sterling laſt Spring, I improved £20 lawfull to
pay Houſe Rent; &
what I have now by me
will the £35 this Spring (I expect) will laſt me
'till Fall — I don't know but you will
think me extravagant; but I think I uſe
the beſt
Aconomy I am capable of; & if you
do, I would have
^you^ return as soon as poſsable
& instruct me how to be more frugal. I have
got no Cloaths for myself or Family better than
what you have sent; nor indeed any that
I
could do without — I have neither
^got^ my Chairs
for which you sent Bottoms. nor the Pictures
which you sent me; put into Frames
—
^nor do I chuſe to have them done before you come home^
becauſe of the talk it would make among People
You write to me (you say in earneſt) that
you would be glad to see me at
Briſtol; but I
can take it no
t other way than in Jest, you
mention
that you Wrote to me in a former Letter about it
& now deſire my thoughts upon it which Letter I
never received & so am uncapable of giving an
Anſwer only this much I can say I can't con
ceive how
you think it poſsable for me to leave
my Family (one of which is a Child of but a year
old)
to go to
Briſtol — I think if I should do it, all
the world would say I
had not any Senſes —
but
but had it
been no more difficult for me to go
Briſtol than
it is for you to come Home I should have embraced
your
Invitation at firſt Sight & with all my Heart; and
why then will you not accept of my frequent; my
con
tinual Invitations to come home; which I have
often
made to you — I want to see you very much & have
a great deal more to say than I can say by way
of Letters or than
it would anſwer to say in them
for I understand they are all open'd before they
come to your hand — but this I deſire of you
that you would in your next Letters tell me
when you deſign to come home, & I
^alſo^ requ
[gap: stain][guess: eſt] that it may be no longer than the Fall
[gap: stain]
before I
^may^ see you here — Children send much
[gap: stain]
tho' they have almoſt forgot that they ever had
a Father — you d
ieſire
^me^ to inform you what
Things I want in Family — they
are as follows
(viz) some dark colour'd thing for your two Daugh
ters & little Son's every
[illegible]Day, common, Gowns
[illegible] Winter — 5 Yards of red Baize — a Winter
Gown
for myself to wear to Meeting — a silk Handkerch
ief for myself & 9 Small D
o for the Children
^& a Sack of Pins^ — and
Hannah will want some courſething for a Winter
Gown to wear to meeting next Winter —
M.r Woodward has been gone from
Norwich five
Months (& is now keeping
M.r Wheelocks School)
& as we had no school here for a long time §
§ I sent
Jamey to that School where he continues yet —
M.r Woodward send his
Regards &
Reſpects to you &
^also^ to
M.r Occom
&
wiſhes you much more Succeſs — M.
r
Occom's Family are all well — pray for Me & our Family —
& accept of moſt sincere Love &
Reſpects from