Letter from Asahel Hart Woodruff, 24 November 1837
Terre Haute
Dear brother
Your letter dated Vinal haven. Oct 20th is before
me and has been perused over and over with much satisfaction
I thank you sincerely for this token of your regard, and am the more
gratified with the favor from the indications which it manifests
that you desire my correspondence. In responding to your wishes
in this respect permit me to assure you I anticipate great pleasure.
I believe that a well regulated correspondence may be both interesting
and profitable and, situated as we are I can perceive no reason
why we should decline its advantages. And indeed when we consider
the relation we sustain to each other what reason can we find to justify
such neglect? An unreserved correspondence with you has for a
long time been an object of desire with me. I embrace then
thwith pleasure the priviledge (which I think the Spirit of your
letter warrants me in inferring you will grant) and hope I shall
hereafter be permitted to consider you a regular correspondent.
I hope you will write me often, and without regard to order in
refference to my answers for we are both so situated that we
cannot at all times observe regularity in our communication
We must write, then, whenever we are in the "mood" trusting
to circumstances for matter.
There is much in your letter I should like to nanswer, but must content
myself with noticing a part only. Could a brothers heart find any
thing more prominent in your letter than that which relates to his
only sister? You strike a tender chord when you allude to this
object of my first regard and when you speak of the change, time
has wrought in her—you bewilder my brain—you excite within
me a struggle between my imagination and my judgment, which
shows me too plainly my weakness—Confound it!! will you
believe that just as I ^was^ expressing the last sentence a pretty faced
girl of 14 years, of "undoubled character" who is in the habit of
visiting every body came plump in upon ^me^ and took her seat close
by me poking her head right into my face, exciting pretty
sensations? to mix with those ^sentiments^ I was just indulging in. It would
be a sin to resume the sacred subject. So while the fair one (?)
is looking at the picture books I will only nadd that sister
is at home in Farmington, attending the Academy, that
I long to see her and if I don't forget where I left off I will
resume to the sentimental again, and render the passage
complete and the idea intelligible.
