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July 24, 1881 |
Fahrlander Family | ||
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Siegelau, 24 July 1881 Dear Hermann! We received your estimable letter of the 4th of July on the 22nd. We enjoyed it very much to hear from you again. I would have wanted to write you again a long time ago, however, I did not know whether the same address could still be used. We enjoyed it just as much to see the photograph of you. You really have become a little stronger in America. Now all of us want to have a picture of us taken too, in order to send it to you, but you do have to write us again soon so that if we do want to send the picture, we can be sure that the address is still correct. Now to the news, which is not all that pleasant. Above all, I want to report to you that your Grandfather Jacob Hummel died on the 7th of July. You will recall that I informed you in an earlier letter that he was sickly and weakening. That continued. He did get up every day, lay down again, until Sunday the 3rd of this month, when in the afternoon he weakened to the point that he was unable to leave his bed. He then died on Thursday, the 7th, at 4:30 in the morning. Marie Hummel fell sick on the 4th too, so that she could not attend the funeral, but she feels better now. Another piece of new which is not any more pleasant here. On Easter Sunday, the 17th of April, about 8:45 in the morning, the house of Franz Anton Resch, the son of the Adler innkeeper, on the little mountain, burned down. The fire was set by a shepherd boy, 11 years old. This boy was born in Jach and had been hired only four days before. All of the livestock was saved, but not much else. However, they had insurance. The house has been rebuilt again with great effort to be sure, Particularly the draft animals worked hard to get the material, particularly wood, up the mountain. They will soon be able to live in the new house. We experienced a very dry, warm summer. The heat was 28 (degrees) C. (82.4 degrees F.) in the shade. Results of the hay harvest have been good, relative to quality and quantity. We did not have any cherries. Now we are completely occupied with the grain harvest and we will probably be finished this week with the corn.* There are quite a lot of sheaves and they are heavy so that there could perhaps be quite a lot of grain. Oats has stayed fairly short as a consequence of the dry weather. It will be ripe soon, so that the harvest will not be interrupted. Prospects for _________ are not very good. The price of cattle which has not been high until now, will probably fall even more if the dry weather continues, which causes a bit of damage here. My brother Fidal wrote last spring that he was about to return and ready to leave, has not however, arrived yet. Did you never write him from America? I do not know what additional news of importance to write you. The teacher Hertrich is supposed to leave by late in the year. We have had a sub-teacher since Easter. Thank God all of us are well and working hard in our harvest. Little Victoria is well and fat. Well, dear Hermann, I want to conclude now. We all wish you health and happiness and hope you will do well. Trust in God and do not forget Him, even though things may not go all that well in the beginning. You must not lose your courage. Remember that you are still young. Just think of the fact that if you were here everything could not go the way you wish either. You would be a soldier soon and therefore do not despair. I trust you know that if the worst comes to worst, you still have a father who is ready to help if necessary. Best wishes from all members of your family. Please write us again soon. Your Father, Fr. Anton Fahrlander |
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