Dear little Friend Hellen
    Your welcome letter reed Jany 1   Am ever so glad to hear from you and

your Mother

Mary Elizabeth (GANOUNG) WOOD.

   When I reed your the Old Gentleman I am staying with was very sick   He has the asthma   Some nights sits up most of the night   He tried to put wood on his fire one night and fell in the fire   Burnt one of his feet very badly   You can imagine what a time I had pulling him out of the fire   That was about the middle of Dec   He is now just getting able to walk on that foot   Has been helpless as a baby all winter   I thought I'd try once more to

find Harry

William Henry "Harry" WOOD, Helen's brother.
Mary E. had a rough stretch between her husband, Samuel WOOD, passing in 1866 and her daughter, Ida, dying of scarlet fever in 1870.
She sent her children to live with various relative and neighbors. Will went to the Frosts.
He moved with them to Missouri and later, on his own, to Wyoming where became a butcher.
He was among the founders of Sheridan, Wyoming.

before I wrote to you   2 weeks ago I wrote to the Post Master at Sheridan, Wyoming and this morning reed his answer saying that Harry lived in Sheridan was in a butcher shop in business for himself   You cant think how glad I am to know that he is well and doing well   I have been very uneasy about him for a long time   While

Mr. FROST

Stillman FROST, b. 1819 Tioga, NY, d. 1888 Tioga, PA.
Good chance he died in MO and was buried in PA (as his wife makes specific request to be buried in Cherry Flats in her will.)

lived he came home every other winter and made us a good long visit but now he feels as if he had no home to come to in Missouri and Pa. is so far off   I cannot bear the thought of comeing back East without seeing him   My business is settled at last and yet I dread the thought of leaving Mo.   I have lived here so many years I fear I shall not be contented when I get back among the hills after living in a level prairie country   This is a beautiful country   We have had as nice a winter as I ever saw while in Pa. they are snowbound, last winter it was rain and for the past to (2) years very sickly.  I havent had a cold this winter for all I have been up more or less every night with the old man here   He is my

husband's oldest brother, 85 years old

Lyman Luke FROST Sr., b. 1805 MA, d. 1896 Mirabile, MO.

   Well what shall we do to Harry to make him write to us   We ought to give him a good scolding   I am now going to send him Mr. FROSTs picture then perhaps he will write me but boys when they get so far away from their friends get very careless about writing and I sometimes think he gets homesick when he hears from his friends very often but I know you will write to him when you receive this as well as to let your Mother know where he is   I know she will be glad to hear that he is well and doing well   So not that we have found him he will hear from us all   Its possible I may come East sometime the comeing Spring but as yet I am not sure but if I do your Mother will be apt to see me if she lives in Mansfield   I would think you would be lonesome so far from your friends and your husband gone so much but then you have

two little ones

The little ones in Feb 1891 are:
    Tessie Viola (STAGE) DARCY (b. Oct 1888), and
    Nellie Avis (STAGE) RUPPEL (b. Oct 1890).

Nellie was my maternal grandmother. She lived with us until just after my brothers came along; the 1-bath house got crowded. She taught me to read and the basics of math when I was ~3 years old. Yeah, I become THAT kid thanks to my grandmother. 😁
One of my earliest memories is of me asking if she could stay and they could go. 😆

which are worlds of company and comfort   But must close hopeing to hear from you again   With love to yourself and family as ever your friend

Harrys Address is Sheridan    Johnson Co.   Wyoming.