Lucinda (Morse) Bowditch to her son Joseph Henry Bowditch and his wife Elizabeth (Abbot) Bowditch, 3 May 1856

[From Lucinda (Morse) Bowditch in Beverly, Massachusetts, to her son Joseph Henry Bowditch and his wife Elizabeth in Tarboro, North Carolina. She talks about Joseph and Elizabeth's new baby Johnny, along with their other children Nat and Georgy, and the impending birth of the first child of George William Abbot (Elizabeth’s brother) and Sarah Morse Bowditch (Joseph’s sister).]

Beverly May 3rd 56

My dear children,

I am thankful to hear you are all well and have got a dear little Johnny.1 May he live and thrive, and the other children Nat,2 and Georgy.3 Tell Georgy I like her letters very much. I hope she will write me again and tell me about her new brother, who he looks like.

I am daily in hopes of telling you some news of the kind from Sarah.4 I am in hopes dayly to have it happen.

I heard from Helen's5 family a day or two since. They are all well.

My hands tremble so much, it is dificult for me to write [__?__] so I shan't write much. I will write as soon as I have news from Sarah.

You must excuse me now. I shall be glad to hear from you often.

from Mother

  1. John Abbot Bowditch (1856-1933), Lucinda's grandson, Joseph and Elizabeth's son
  2. Nathaniel Ingersoll Bowditch (1846-1913), Lucinda's grandson, Joseph and Elizabeth's son
  3. Georgiana Abbot Bowditch (1848-1927), Lucinda's granddaughter, Joseph and Elizabeth's daughter
  4. Sarah Morse Bowditch (1816-1856), Lucinda's daughter, Joseph's sister. She was pregnant with her first child, and died in childbirth less than two weeks after this letter was written.
  5. Helen Maria Bowditch (1814-1889), Lucinda's daughter, Joseph's sister