Cappel Altendeich, May 8, 1857

Beloved Children,

We received your letter and the one written by Peter Wienholtz’s wife in due time, and we were glad to hear that both Peter and his wife and their three children are in good health. However, you never let us know that you received the shipment I sent to you about 2 years ago containing a plow with a plow beam, 14 feet of [illegible][1], and seed-corn of all kinds. I also send 2 [illegible] of beans and 2 pairs of Wollkratzen.[2] You did not mention the good arrival of this shipment. Heinrich[3] told us that the Wollkratzen are at the Wienholtz’s and the other stuff, too. Please let us know why you gave all these goods to the Wienholtz family.

Dear children, I learned from your letter that the Wienholtz family moved into their new house. We liked to read that, because [illegible] mentioned that the old houses are really too bad. We are sorry to have heard that your good horse died and that the harvest was not as good as the year before. It was similar here. The wheat harvest was not as plentiful as last year’s. Many kernels were beaten out by strong winds and heavy rainfalls, meaning the wheat reseeded itself at the wrong time. Wheat costs 6.5 Thaler,[4] rye 5 Thaler, barley 4 Thaler, and beans also 5 Thaler. Horses are very expensive. We sold our cow for 55 Thaler and bought another one for 49. Young Vierden[5] are 4-5 Thaler. Eide Luebs died recently. Fried Wohlert is building a new house. That’s easy for him now since his brother Eduwardt is dead.

Beloved children, I read in your letter that Heinrich told you about his plans to emigrate to Australia this Spring. He did not tell us that he wrote you a letter. I think he just wants to get his inheritance money. He wants to get rich; that is my only explanation. You may think that we don’t get along well, but that is not the case. Don’t think that we are quarreling. We did not quarrel once after he returned home. He has plenty of work to do and is helped by an apprentice. They work in the other chamber. When we are ready to eat, we invite them over. Later we serve them coffee in their chamber.

Dear children, from the 150 Thaler I borrowed from Heinrich, I paid him back 80 Thaler so far. Now I only owe him 70 Thaler. Mother and I could not save the money during Heinrich’s absence. Since he is back, we are not in a position anymore to save money. Heinrich never mentions that he wants to return to America. He is welcome to stay with us, but we will not hand over our estate to him now. You will certainly know that Heinrich is very tight-fisted. It may also happen that he will marry a woman who is even worse. Then, being of age, we would have a hard life. We will certainly not consider this, especially since we don’t waste the money. As soon as we are dead, they may have it. Believe me, since Heinrich has returned, we two old people have to work much harder than we had to before. Heinrich wants everything completed instantly.

I and Mother and Heinrich are still in good health. Christ’s[6] parents and his brothers send their best regards. They are in good health as well. However, Johann’s wife[7] is very ill. She has 2 very capable sons, Heinrich and August. Your daughter Wilhelmine must have grown up as well in the meantime. May she always be healthy. Christ’s father and mother visit frequently with us. We have become good friends and are having a good time when we are together.

We received your letter that you sent together with the letter from Peter Wienholtz’s wife. The money you sent for Heinrich was paid to him correctly. He wants to write you himself about it. Hannah Meier sends her greetings. Her father was very ill during the last winter, but now he is well again. Dear children, once we have handed over our estate, then it is too late, and what happened to others might happen to us—namely, as you write, there are people who have become more famous because of this than they would like to be.[8]

Farewell, all of you. We remain your father, mother and brother.

Johann Hillmann

Notes:

[1] The word is illegible but is meant to be a measurement of volume. At the time, the common measurements varied widely in different parts of the country.

[2] Wollkratzen are a kind of wool comb to smoothen lambswool by preparing it for spinning.

[3] Heinrich is the commonly used name of Christian Heinrich Hillman, Tiede’s brother.

[4] In the 19th century, the Thaler was the coin of the highest value in Germany, at times compatible with the dollar.

[5] The word “Vierden” could not be identified, which may be due to poor spelling. It is most likely a dialect word for young pigs.

[6] Chriss or Christ is the commonly used name of Johann Christopher von Lehe, Tiede’s husband.

[7] Johann’s wife is the wife of Johann Heinrich von Lehe, Tiede’s brother-in-law.

[8] Because of poor grammar and spelling the second part of this sentence doesn’t make sense. It was attempted to give the sentence its probable meaning by making use of the given words and context.