Letter 18941028

Leroy, Iowa
Oct. 28, 1894

Dear Brother & Sister,

We received a letter from you two weeks ago. Was very glad to hear from you & that you all were well. We are all well & all the friends as far as we know. But were surprised to hear of another baby so soon. The last letter we had from you was when little Frank was a week or two old. I answered that & have not heard from you since only through sister Sill. Yes we got little Frank’s picture & many thanks for it. The little darling how I would like to see him & all the rest of you. I think the children’s names are very nice. I like for a man to have a good big name. Elmer it does not seem possible that you are married & have two children any more that it does that we have a boy taller than his mother. Orace is very tall for his age. Charlie is not nearly so tall but is heavier build. Clarenc & Ray are the same as the older boys. Clarence is very slender & Ray heavy. Otto is the smallest for his age of any of the children. Our little girls are different. Lina has always been very poor & bony, dark eyes & not fair skin. Baby Lena is fleshy with dark eyes too. But fair skin.She is as you say about little Frank, good as a baby can be. But we know what it is to have a cross baby & I hope you never will. Yes, you have enough boys if you can get along without having any more. It is a very large task to raise a large family. We are having same experience. We send five to school sso it is nice & quiet during the day. But I can’t tell you what is is other times. Martha when will your baby be in short dresses & will he wear anything but white. The boys will send him a dress after while. Well I don’t know as I can tell you anything about hard times & poor crops as you can see in the papers. Every week this year come the nearest being a failure I ever saw. We had some garden stuff & some grainbut nothing what we had ought to have had. We had about seventeen acres of  new ground in corn that raised a few bu. but it is all fed & gone. Our oats & rye were pretty good. Bart has sowed a nice piece of wheat & rye this fall & has a nice strip of ploughing done. Fruit was a very good crop. We have no tame fruit but are close to the timber. We picked a hundred & 2 qt. of goosberries. I canned 38 qt & sold the rest. Part at 8 ½ cts. part at 10 cts. a qt. Then we got two bu. or more plums & about 4 bu. wild crabs. Father Davises have give us several bushels apples that I have canned & dried. I wish you could have had some of the apples that have gone to waste in this country. The very best (?) only 50cts & they are few. But lots at 30 cts. & lots more that won’t sell at all. Corn is from 40 to 50, oats 28, rye 60, butter 17, eggs 14.
Well I guess my letter is long enough for this time & I have forgotten to tell you we had to weddings lately. Fannie was married the 2 of Oct & will was Mar-- the 10. He lives at home and expects to run the farm next year. He & his girl went to Leon was married at the Ministers house. Fannie was mar-- at home at 10 o”clock. Left at 2 a clock for her home in Colorado. I am sorry we have no picture to send you & don’t know when we will have. Not untill (?) term is out any way. Write soon. My love to all. Kiss the babies for me. From your sister & family

Lillie Davis

When you write tell us about all the friends, uncles, aunts & cousins. My love to all of them.  Lillie