Transcription:
1 Portage 8th April 1881 Dear John Your letter of 27th March has been duly received and I hasten to congratulate you
on the birth of a daughter and to receive her into my family of grand children, she being the 20th, I pray Gods blessing will
ever rest upon her, and hope she will be spared to be a blessing to her parents and to all around her Three days ago I wrote
a letter to to you because I thought you were longer in writing than usual So I felt glad to hear from you and hope your wife
will have a speedy recovery. I have just had a letter from Mary telling me that she intends being in Portage with her baby
which is nine months old about the middle or end of May God has dealt very tenderly and kindly with me in many ways, but he
has especially blessed me in sparing all of my children to grow up to be usefull members of society