Thursday afternoon
My dear sister
Your letter came yesterday – two or three
calls in the course of the afternoon prevented my
answering it – Clara is still here I do not think she
will leave in a week or ten days yet – McClallen is
going to New York and expects to be gone a week – The
house is all cleaned and one load of furniture has
gone over – I believe she and McClallen both are sorry
the house is so far off – I wish it was near here
I should not miss Clara so much if I could see her
once a day – It rained constantly while she and
Mary were cleaning the house and both nights Clara
came home through the rain – she did take cold but
was not as sick as I feared she might be –
I am glad to hear that your Irish girl runs over
herself instead of running over you – I doubt whether
she or any other would suit you as well as a
colored girl – they work in a manner so entirely

different from ours – I have engaged a fat Irish girl to
come next week – she says she can cook but in that
I have no faith – Maria is desperate lazy and
so untidy about her person that I am ashamed
to have her open the street door – Clara and
I went to make calls Tuesday it being a fine
day – We called at the American when we saw
Debby and Mr Tom Wood who had just returned
from Mrs Wm. Woods funeral – Have you heard any of the
particulars of Mrs Wood's illness – her disease seems to
have been of a singular character – she was seized
with a violent pain in th her thumb which gradually
extended all over her system attended with swelling
and inflammation – she suffered intense pain and
died the eighth day – All manner of reports are
in circulation among others that she died of the plague
Mary Wood says the physicians called it “inflammatory
Erysipelas” but they seemed to hit upon this name
some time after her death as Seneca Wood said they
told him they were unacquainted with the disease

Mrs Fosgate was here yesterday and asked me with a doleful
accent how I felt about the plague having made its
appearance in the country – I could not avoid smiling
which she seemed to consider very irreverent – She
said this said plague was prevailing to an alarming ex-
tent about Utica – there the patients were seized with
the disease in their tongues which are black and swollen
and produce death some by mortification – I hear nothing
of this from any other quarter – Mary Wood communicated
the additional information that fifty persons had died in
Tompkins county of a disease similar to Mrs Woods –
There I have now given you all the terrible news which
are at present in circulation – You can draw your
own conclusions — I presume this much is is true that
the season is more than usually sickly — May God protect us
from a renewal of the Cholera horrors – – We called
upon Mrs Lucas who is living alone with Georgiana, very
much pleased apparently to be without boarders – Mrs
Richard Smith, where we saw Henry's wife & child –
Mrs Pitney, who was not at home – and Mrs Eleazer
Hills who entertained me an hour with her trials with
the inhabitants of the Emerald Isle – The two
latter places Clara declined going thinking the present
a very good time to drop those acquaintances – Mrs
Wright and Maryanna were here before we went out but
seeing me prepared to go made a very short visit –
Maryanna has grown large — looks very much as she
did a year ago otherwise — Mrs Wright of
course made many enquiries about you — I told her
we expected you about the 4^th – If you will come
then and stay until the cherries are ripe we will
have a good visit – Maryanna inquired particularly
about Frances – I hear every day from Henry – do not
think he is coming home at present – he seems to have the
usual amount of visitors from N. York – Jenny the deer is
running about the yard again – Abbey's brother has written
home that he is well and doing well – Augustus has been
sick with a cold two or three days – Mr Kinsley informed
us – Gus says nothing of it in his Sundays letter

[left Margin] I enclose $5 —

Clarence writes that he is pleased with his school – he does not have
to study much from his account – His letter was very
characteristic – he wished to be remembered to you and Frances
said he should write to you soon –
Did you read Kent's charge to the jury on the trial of Edmunds
and his sentence of the murderer Topping – Willie sings
"Jim Crow" with great eclat – He is going tonight to Mr
Comptons to get a kitten ours being all dead –
Your own Sister
Mrs Alvah Worden
Canandaigua
AUBURN
JUN
17
N.Y.