Notwithstanding I sent you a long letter about
twenty days since; I feel disposed to address you at this time; & could I
but read a letter from you half as often as I write to you I should feel
exceding thankful: but I make allowances for Sickness & miscarriage
of letters &c. I have recieved one letter from you & that was great consola-
tion to my feelings. This is the fifth letter I have written to you & I
do hope that you have obtained them, the last letter I wrote Nov 24th which
I truly hope you will get. When you write to me please be particular to
tell me how many of my letters you have received & the dates of them. I
am in great hopes that I shall have a letter from you before I leave the
City for the CityEngland. I never more highly prised the worth of letter writ
ing than since I left home. I suppose of course that you wish to know how
matters & times are with me & have been since I last wrote &c. I continued
preaching in New Jersey, had full congregations, many were believing, some
were embracing, & a warm & friendly feeling manifest by almost the whole
country whare I was. Elder P. P. Pratt called to see us, preached one, &
informed me that a conference was appointed in New York City on the
12thinst & wished me to attend I have done so & am now in the City.
“thefollowingIcopyfrommyJournal. Dec 11th I took the parting hand with Elder James
& Brother Ivins & left them at 1 o'clock at night & rode 16 miles to Freehold. I
there took Stage at daylight & rode 12 miles to Middletown point, there took
Steem Boat Wane sailed 30 miles to N. Y. City arived at 12 oclok. I entered the city
“& found it full of armed Soldiers spedily preparing for war thee Steem Boats
were chartered to conveyed them to Albany to fight several thousand Du-
Dutchman that ware citizens near Albany that had strongly fortified themselves
with canon & small arms, it is said they will not pay their tokens or depts or
sumthing or other of that kind, & so they are going to fight about it, how much
“Blood will be shed I dont know. at any rate it is beginning to be war & sum
“our through America & Europe & all things are in commotion. After dining
in King stret, I called upon Elder P. P. Pratt in Mott street No 58 found him & fam-
ily well. Elders P. P. Pratt & J. Ball accompayed me to the post office. I received
two letters one from Eunice all well in Farmington. one from MiltonHolmes
he had been quite sick, lost $70 dollars, was very poor, had no decent
clothes, could not go to England, hardest times he ever saw, could not get
a dollar in money, but was gaining in health, was strong, in faith, urged me
to remember him to Phebe&c.&c. I did not get a letter from Phebe but took
one out for Orson Pratt from his wife in Montrose I gave the letter to
Notwithstanding I sent you a long letter about
twenty days since; I feel disposed to address you at this time; & could I
but read a letter from you half as often as I write to you I should feel
exceding thankful: but I make allowances for Sickness & miscarriage
of letters &c. I have recieved one letter from you & that was great consolation to my feelings. This is the fifth letter I have written to you & I
do hope that you have obtained them, the last letter I wrote Nov 24th which
I truly hope you will get. When you write to me please be particular to
tell me how many of my letters you have received & the dates of them. I
am in great hopes that I shall have a letter from you before I leave the
City for England. I never more highly prised the worth of letter writ
ing than since I left home. I suppose of course that you wish to know how
matters & times are with me & have been since I last wrote &c. I continued
preaching in New Jersey, had full congregations, many were believing, some
were embracing, & a warm & friendly feeling manifest by almost the whole
country whare I was. Elder P. P. Pratt called to see us, preached one, &
informed me that a conference was appointed in New York City on the
12th inst & wished me to attend I have done so & am now in the City.
“thefollowingIcopyfrommyJournal. Dec 11th I took the parting hand with Elder James
& Brother Ivins & left them at 1 o'clock at night & rode 16 miles to Freehold. I
there took Stage at daylight & rode 12 miles to Middletown point, there took
Steem Boat Wane sailed 30 miles to N. Y. City arived at 12 oclok. I entered the city
“& found it full of armed Soldiers spedily preparing for war thee Steem Boats
were chartered to conveyed them to Albany to fight several thousand
Dutchman that ware citizens near Albany that had strongly fortified themselves
with canon & small arms, it is said they will not pay their tokens or depts or
sumthing or other of that kind, & so they are going to fight about it, how much
“Blood will be shed I dont know. at any rate it is beginning to be war & sum
“our through America & Europe & all things are in commotion. After dining
in King stret, I called upon Elder P. P. Pratt in Mott street No 58 found him & family well. Elders P. P. Pratt & J. Ball accompayed me to the post office. I received
two letters one from Eunice all well in Farmington. one from MiltonHolmes
he had been quite sick, lost $70 dollars, was very poor, had no decent
clothes, could not go to England, hardest times he ever saw, could not get
a dollar in money, but was gaining in health, was strong, in faith, urged me
to remember him to Phebe&c.&c. I did not get a letter from Phebe but took
one out for Orson Pratt from his wife in Montrose I gave the letter to
"Letter to Phebe Whittemore Carter Woodruff, 13 December 1839," p. 1, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, accessed April 24, 2024, https://wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/p/5y0q