Dear Sister and Brother-in-law

My answer to your last letter is very late, don't be angry, but I did not want to write before our brother Heinrich's wedding, which was on 1 April, 1859. He married Johanna Weserling of Mascherode, and we celebrated this occasion with music, accompanying them to church. It was also a very sad moment for my brother and myself as it was 4 weeks the past year that we walked behind our mother's casket to the church yard. And now [?] at the wedding [/?] we both were here. Dear sister we did not have much joy since you left here, we had to bear a lot of grief, Pastor Hanke said, a mother dies too. I have had many a bad days going to Mascherode, I was often upset, it was my duty and I also loved to do it too. She had a nice funeral, they sang at her graveside hymn #238 "Awake, a Voice is Calling." In his eulogy Pastor Hanke
preached from the pulpit, that she was so worried. In her last days she did not speak much about you, but it was terrible to hear her screaming during the night. But she was good to all of us too. Little August is in Mascherode, looks like he will turn out to be a good boy.

Now dear sister I want to tell you, that on 1 April we had the brothers wedding and on the 12 April 1859 our youngest child, a little girl, name Minna, died at the age of 23 weeks. She had pneumonia and a brain infection, she was sick for 14 long days, which was so very hard on me, dear sister. I have had 9 children, 7 of them are alive and I pray the Lord may let them live. The oldest is confirmed and will become a miller, August will be confirmed this coming Whitsunday, God's willing, Christel, whose Godfather you are, dear brother-in-law, had the terrible [?] angina [/?], she still has not quite recovered from it. And I became sick too after I gave birth to my last little girl who died. All in all we don't have any need of anything. All these tragedies brought us closer to God. We are  remodeling our mill (expanding it), which will cost us a lot of money 600 [?] Thalers [/?], but if one does not want to go out into the world one must do, to get ahead in life, trusting in our God.

I will close for now, dear sister write to us soon. With our regards and our love from your two sisters and sister-in-law and your brother-in-law

Juliane

Christoph Schalkmeier

and from all 7 children

Wilhelm, August, Christel, Heinrich, Auguste, Conradine, Mariechen

Klein Beltheim, 24 June 1859