Forests, Fields and the Falls Home
We arrived here a week ago last Monday after a journey of two weeks. George and the children drove the stock on foot while I drove the load. George did not ride ten miles of the whole distance, 200 miles. The older children took turns riding and driving.
excepting (preposition): With the exception of.
shanty (noun): A roughly-built hut or cabin.
salt pork (noun): Pork cured in salt; white bacon.
I know a young lady here, a neighbor of ours, Miss Ticknor, who took a claim of 160 acres.
homestead (noun): A house together with surrounding land and buildings, especially on a farm.
claim (noun): A demand of ownership for previously unowned land (e.g. in the gold rush, oil rush).
sod house (noun): A house made from the top layer of soil which is filled with the roots of grass.
printing press (noun): A mechanical device used for printing text or images repeatedly.
Your affectionate neice,
Mary, E. L. Carpenter
Dear Cousin Lucy,
The children are all well and hearty and all send love. Mamie, Georgie, and Henry have helped their father plant and they have our cows to watch.
hearty (adjective): Exhibiting strength; sound; healthy; firm; not weak.
harness (verb): To place a harness on animals; to tie up or restrain.
commenced (verb): Began, started.
creep (verb): To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground, crawl.
skimmed milk (verb): Removed the cream from the milk.
churned (verb): Agitated the cream rapidly and repetitively with a rocking motion to make butter.
lame (adjective): Moving with pain or difficulty on account of injury or sickness.
threshed (adjective): Separated the grain from the straw or husks(chaff) by mechanical beating, with a flail or machinery.
endowed (adjective): To be furnished with something naturally.
With love from the children and myself to all and hoping to hear again from you before long. I am
Your affectionate cousin,
Mary E. L. Carpenter
exhausted (adjective): Depleted; used up.