Brimscombe Mills
Sept. 12, 1861
My dear Sister

My dear Thanks for the magazine which I received from you a few days since. It is very kind of you to think of us whom you have never seen over here in England. We should be very glad to see you & my brother tells me that in a few years he hopes to come over. Well then I hope you will stay here & not return to that far off land again. You have one advantage in having no children that you can move about almost as you like. If you had such a family as I have you would not be able to think even of going out.

I should like you to see my children. They are all, I am thankful to say, strong & healthy, full of life and energy. I did hope to send you their likenesses but Mr. Pacheco went off without coming to see me; so I was disappointed, but I must manage it somehow. I have such a dear little baby, she just begins to talk & is so interesting. Somehow they all get their share of love, no matter how many there are. I hope, if it be the will of God, I shall have no more for I have as many as I can manage.

Alex's pet, Elijah, of whom you have I dare say heard, is a great boy now & will soon leave school but he is still a favourite with all who know him & I am sure Alex would like him quite as much now as he did once. He is so full of fun & so good natured. Now he is at school some miles off - his brothers & sisters are always lamenting his absence & wishing for the holidays. He is a great singer & we miss his voice very much.

I have not yet bought a sewing machine - they cost too much money. In England we look a good many times at a dollar before we spend it. I and my daughters do all our plain work in the winter - in the summer we take our pleasure in the fields & woods. Sometimes we say if we had a sewing machine we should not have enough to do, but that is a mistake - we could read more, write more & do a variety of things we have no time for now. I wish you could see us on a winter's evening with all our children about us. You would laugh to see the fun & noise we make. You would like to hear the music too, for we are great singers.

My older daughters are women now & they are a great help to me, but I must expect to lose them before very long. I shall be glad, for I like to see the girls marry off as soon as they are old enough.

Now I must stop as my time is nearly done. I hope, my dear sister, if it be the will of God we shall meet on earth, but if not I trust we shall meet in Heaven & this we certainly shall if we are looking to Jesus. If we are trusting in His blood & righteousness we are safe forever - we belong to the family of God & they shall meet before the throne of God.

Believe me

Your affectionate sister

Anne

Love to Walter, his wife and children.

Does Alex know a gentleman named Devonport in California? He is coming to England soon; we know his brother well & hope to know him too & to send to you by him.