George discusses the letter he got from Almon dated December 14, 1856; similar to the letter Almon sent Mother on that date

George recieved a letter from Almon; Almon took a claim last winter and sold it the week before he wrote

George is disappointed in Kansas, there is a great lack of timber and water

George has been hired out for three months haying and harvesting; in IL there is neither houses, fences, trees, nor anything else to be seen, but that is not the case in WI

George reassures his mother he does not drink and carouse when he travels; he has not recieved any letter from Almon

George is working on a farm this summer, and it will be impossible for him to come home

George has not enlisted for the war and does not think he shall, unless necessary; there is considerable excitement there for the war; a great many banks in the area have failed this summer

Di [his wife] has met with a serious accident and has been semi-conscious ever since and has taken no nourishment; she has hallucinations of Albert and George being killed and screaming for help; she jumped out a window and fell 12 feet to the ground; she is now back in bed with fractured wrists and right limb paralysis; she is gradually failing

Aunt Mary Ann is dead from heart failure

A boy was hurt by a street car, George ran to telephone a doctor, fell and hit his right shoulder and side of his face

George talks of going up on the Chippeway River to a town called Clare to work this winter

George had a letter from Almon before he was to leave for PA, wants Almon to write from his new location, so George knows where to write back; a few of George's relatives are being lanced for pus; George's winter has been mild

Shubil talks about his journey to Whitewater

Shubil discusses how things are going on his farm; Joseph has been back east once since he was hired in WI; Maryann is confined to the house but is much better

They have recieved news from Almon and George; Almon has not made up his mind whether to go to Whitewater or Kansas; George is to work in a tin shop; S.D. and M.A. are having a cold winter but not much snow

They are grateful they are among the living when so many of their fellows in Kansas are being killed in the most brutal manner

S.D. hopes that the Republican Party, as the party that wanted Fremont and that has a majority in Congress, will try to keep Kansas from coming in as a slave state; he thinks blood will be shed in greater quantities than has been yet; sometimes thinks the United States must have a revolution before it can have good times

S.D. has taken a small job of building a shed; he discusses his crops

S.D.C. writes about his crops; Mary Ann is going to school this summer; Brown plans to move out to Palmyra next Tuesday

S.D. sometimes thinks he has lived too long; also he might be losing his place for want of a small sum of money; perhaps he looks to the time when he shall be an inmate of the County house when he cannot work enough to pay his living

A fire burned up over 200 dollars worth of their property in sheep and grain and hay

S.D. discusses his travels to see various family members

M.A. asks William and Betsy Graham how much they would charge for one barrel of fruit; S.D. thinks he has done well for his labor this season for a man that is almost 69 years old

They are having a fine Fall; they expect that their son-in-law will take care of them and then have the place for his trouble, though he may get sick of his job

S.D. thinks he could use some of the Grahams' apples to make a Christmas pie, apples have been cheap but the times are hard