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TO ANN BOSWELL GRATZ
My Dear Ann
I hope you have not suffered uneasiness from my unusual silence tho I acknowledge it mortifies me to think I have been neglectful of your last kind letter- I believe I have been more busy- more lazy and a little annoyed by a cold which in this damp warm weather I have found it hard to get rid of- Horace has kept me prisoner at home, and so I have been looking over domestic omissions which having recently changed our man servant, have been staring me in the face- Well, we have changed for the better, got an industrious, colored man in place of an idle white one. My cold is better, and I only wait a change in the weather to be well again-
I hope My dear Brother returned from Frankfort in good health and accomplished his mission to his satisfaction, without too great a tax on his patience, and that Kentucky is quiet- The changes and chances and mischances that reach us from the Political world do not seem to advance our progress through this terrible war. I hear so rarely from Washington that I fear Lizzie has nothing pleasant or hopeful to communicate, and that she devotes herself to private friendship, in taking care of Sara's husband, who is still at Silver Spring- I believe I wrote to you that his physician thinking a few months' absence from home would expedite his recovery- Sara went home from here, that he might be satisfied the children were well cared for in his absence.
Tell the dear loyal girls, their soldier cousin Charles, is recovering but not deemed well enough by his Drs to return to duty at the expiration of his furlough, this has been extended, and we hope both health & spirits will be recruited before he goes back. The family are all doing well- Theodore keeps a good standing at Newport, and their mother exerts wonderful energy in her new cares & responsibilities
At last I have received a very interesting letter from Mary Riggs full of love for all her friends here- and of Patriotism to her beloved country- she says Bozzie beg'd her to bring him home, that he might see Uncle Ben & Aunts Lizzie & Becky- Mary is proud of Kentucky her native state and seems to feel her separation more than ever. I think it not impossible her husband will be obliged to return on business- it must be difficult for Americans to live abroad unless they have funds invested there- Mr Riggs was just recovering from gout when she wrote- ....
God Bless you all according to his Holy will prays your affectionate
- Rebecca Gratz
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