Simsbury Respected Cousin, With feelings of gratitude I take my pen in to acknowledge the receipt of a few lines from you on this the 27th of April directed to me & addressed to "my friend." I aem much rejoiced to hear from you & your family that you are all alive in the land of the living & enjoying the inestimable blessing of good health. and, it is with pleasure that I embrace the opportunity of answering your letter, ecp^ect^ing to be able to give you some information, which you earnestly desire & which may be some consolation while far away in a distant land. I have both good & bad news to communicate, but nothing so bad as I think you have apprehended. We your friends are all alive, some enjoying comfortable health while others still partake of the cup of affliction, with many comforts mingled. I will give you an account of each & any one agreeable to your request, inasmuch as I have received intelli- gence myself. I will commence with our family who are among the number of the afflicted There has been no very material change with us. Mother remains about the same if any differance in her situation it is for the worse—It appears to me that her ease is a peculiar one. she seems to have all reason & yet no reason, knows evry^thing^ & knows nothing. I do not know what to think about her, sometimes I have a good degree of confidence to believe that she will recover & sometimes I doubt, at all times I place much dependance on the faith of my friends. If it can be consistant will the will of God & his purposes concerning us. I earnestly desire that my mother may be restored to health & to the right use of her reason. If such a blessing is ever mine know assur^e^dly that I am happy. My health is about the same as when I wrote. Sister Ann is about par with me she has been much afflicted during the past winter with a nervous tooth-ache which has reduced her strength very much, but we have been ennabled by the help of God to bear all that has been laid upon us & are still able to do our necessary housework, but I think my health has been poorer since you left than ever before, as has been the case with Sister Ann. Brother Cyrus is well & doing well. I have not seen Aunt Bulah since late in the fall, but understand her health has been poor through the winter. we are expecting her here daily. I have heard nothing particular from Uncle Ozem's family, they are living in Lovely street, & I conclude well. I have learned by the bye that Mr Herd is dead, no other connexions. I have had somwhat recent intelligence ^both^ from Richland & Nauvoo, by way of a letter from Aunt Woodruff your Mother, directed to us & dated March 30 from which I will make some extracts, by so doing give you all the information I am in possession of respecting those distant friends. "We have been some disappointed in our earthly expectations the year past but tho we were some cast down for a time yet we have not been forsaken, we have enjoyed ourselves notwithstanding as well as formerly, we have a plenty of house room tolerably convenient & enough to eat & drink & we have been favored with having good news from our children at Nauvoo. We received a letter short time since under Date of Feb 9th & March 16th. the greatest part being dictated by Eunice. Mr Webster being scribe & addressed