Lawrence Apr 28th [ ]61 Dear Parents,

It seems like a very long time since I heard any thing from you. I dont know how long it is but we live in such times that a short time seems long. Important events crowd so fast upon each other that we live years in a few weeks. I believe it is two weeks since I wrote to you last. Then I was making preparation to go to St Louis. Now all is changed. I did not go partly because we have a war on hand. Only think, did you think that you would ever live to see it—a , the most horrible of all wars. But the reality is upon us and there is no use talking. We here dont know what we may have to do. We may have to fight our way to the Mississippi through the state of Missouri to get our eatables, but if Mo. does not secede we shall let her alone. If she does we shall be in a bad fix if she pitches in, for there are no arms and ammunition here at all hardly. All the arms in Kansas have been drained off by the Pikes Peak folks. There are lots of arms at Fort Leavenworth and we expect to get them after a while but the Officers there have had no orders to give them out yet. The Military are organising in large numbers here. Here in Lawrence we have 5 Companies, four of them newly organised and without arms as yet. The other is the famous Stubbs with their Sharps Rifles. One company is Cavalry, and one Artillery, that I belong to. We are in hopes to get our cannon and small arms within two or three weeks. At any rate the companies drill every night at their armories.

I am very anxious to hear from Hopkinton to know who have volunteered from there. I suppose the old Hopkinton Company is defunct but there ought to be fifty volunteers from there. I suppose Elijah cant go because he must take care of the farm as Father cannot. We may have some trouble with the Indians on our South & West Border. The troops have been taken away, so many of them there has been a little trouble. Now the Cherokees & Choctaws will fight with and for the South when it comes to general war and they have no special love for us here. The Delaware and Pottawatomies will fight for us but there are but few of them, but a great many Cherokees.

George started from here to the East last Thurs. morning. I suppose about this time he is in Cincinnati. He is going right thru to Attleboro except a stop of a few days in New York. He will only stay there a short time, that is a few weeks. I want you to write to him and tell him what time in May, if any time, Calvin will be home because he would come up to Hopkinton to see you when Calvin was there if he was going to be there any time while he was East. You had better wait three or four days after you get this and then if you dont hear from him, write to him and find out if he has any time in view to come and see you and arrange it with him when he will come. His address will be Geo. O. Wilmarth, East Attleboro, Mass. He expects to come back in June early. Any things that you may have to send me he will contrive to get here I suppose. If he can bring a grape vine I would like to have you send one or two but I dont know whether he will or not be able to. Dried apple he can (you tell him) take to New York or even send it from there by Express and have it packed in some of our boxes.

Charlie sits here on the floor beside me crowing and laughing away. He is a fat nice baby ( Geo. has his picture for you), almost eleven months old. He can almost stand alone. He has been quite sick this last week with croup but he has got over it now, I believe, entirely. He was just sick for two nights. We had to be up with him considerable. Julia is a great girl. Her picture that Geo. has for you is a good picture only she was a little afraid when it was taken. It was the first one that was taken and she did not know what to make of it. We are all pretty well, as usual. Father is at Topeka taking Geo’s place and so I am pretty much alone. I have a boy with me to stay at the store while I am away for my meals but I have to be there early and late and all the time. I have just been out looking at my garden. I find that I have a good chance for two bunches of currants and two or three of gooseberries this year. I have got six or seven apple trees and four peach trees, 3 of them are alive at any rate. We have got several locust and mulberry trees set out this spring but they dont seem to grow much yet. I have not any grape vines yet, all those that I brot with me from Hopkinton died. I have a lot of rhubarb growing finely, not big enough to use yet, tho we had a pie of that kind last week.

I wish I could get some news from Hopkinton in some shape or other. I cant hear any thing from any one there I might as well have never known where the place was. Write soon please.

Your aff son Edward

[ ] If you have got any Hubbard Squash seeds or can get any I want you to send me a few by George. Don’t forget it.