Cathrine Marie FRIMANN

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Translated from Danish by Eleanor Freeman.

(The letter was written before Paul Freeman left Stenderup).

Dear little Paul,

Once again goodbye, and I wish our Lord may be with you on the long journey. In the foreign land where you have no friends, remember that you have Him, and He is the best attendant you can have in life. You will have plenty to see when you come to that big harbor, nothing but strangers; then you must remember that it is up to you to get on in the world. You have so long been close to your parents who could advise you that you did not realize it so much. Now you must stand on your own legs, and may God go with you. I pray our Lord will hold His hand over you that disappointments may not be too great and that you will learn to meet them as the will of God.

Many, many good wishes, and when you have time, write, but remember The Truth. Greet them all over there from us. I would like to be with you if only to hear how it will be... telling and asking questions about the old country.

Rasmus thinks you should go in and exchange your overcoat for a bigger size, for that one will be too small after you grow. Should the arms be too long, they can, I dare say, take a little off.

Now a last greeting, and goodbye till we see each other again. Remember us to the old ones from little Peter and Rasmus.

Your affectionate sister, Cathrine.

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Translated from Danish by Eleanor Freeman.

(The letter is incomplete).

Dear Brother,

For some time I had a letter ready for you, and I could not remember the address. So I had to write home and wait for an answer. Mother has now sent me one of yours and asked me to write a little about how they are. She wrote you in January and March so you must have had them.

You wrote that Jesse had a little daughter the first of March. We had one the 18th of March. We now have three, Peter and Anna Maria and Bolette Maria, called Maria. Dorthea was with me then. She was home last winter, and she has no place this summer. She can certainly do something, but she does handle things in a strange way.

Mother was sick a few days but is now better, she wrote. This winter she has not been very well. I mean influenza, which comes again so frequently. We have had a long hard winter, but now in the last few days we have had spring. I have set potatoes and sowed seeds and attacked molehills, of which you remember I had many. Then Rasmus has so much to do with the horses. He is never home, but in May he will not take the milk any longer, but keep the horses alle the same. (Incomplete).

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Translated from Danish by Eleanor Freeman.

Dear Brother,

It was my intention that these lines should bring you a Glaedelig Jul, but perhaps it will come late; but a Godt Nytaar I wish from my heart to you and all of you out there. It is a long time since I should have written, and I meant to. I hope you are well, all of you. We are well, and everything is going on about the same with us. My husband now takes the butter to Kolding. He gets 500 kr. a year, and it is only for a year's time, but he will try anything to get through the world.

Now we will soon have the blessed Christmas, which we can rejoice in from the heart. The old people at home are well. Thea is still in Bjert. Morbroder is well and looks fine, and so does Vrang. They were at our place... a full load... in the fall with Uldall's wagon.

How are things going with Jesse this winter? I think you wrote they had a little girl again. That is certainly a flock of children, but the last one died. She was the age of our little girl. The children are happy about Christmas since they will go down to their old grandma's to get peppernuts. The Christmas tree is also a joy.

Dear Paul, let us know how you are. Are you still at Jesse's? You have a new president, but perhaps you don't pay much notice to that. It was in the papers the other day. It is not so good for Jesse that the bank is closed, but it will open again. That is to be hoped for, for he has a big family.

We are doing well here with grain and pigs and butter for our fellow countrymen. Our one horse is sick now. We have to borrow and hire, which we can't well afford from the earnings, but we cannot always have prosperity. Both prosperity and adversity are for our benefit, and when we take them the right way, they are both blessings.

Now best wishes from the old folks and from us. If you have the opportunity, greet Tante Maria and Iver. I wonder whether he is married. I should write to him. You are the only one who replies to us; therefore, you get the most, and that is too little. You will write for Mother's birthday; she is counting on it. It is her only pleasure, letters from you and visits from us.

Goodbye and I wish you a happy Christmas and a good new year from my whole heart.

Your affectionate sister and brother-in-law and children, Cathine Aagaard.

Dear little Paul - goodbye till we see each other again.

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Extract of the letter:

'We are well, thank God. Those in Hejls are well except that Cathrine has a sore hand. She has trouble doing her work. She now has three children. Dorthea was there a while in the summer, but they could not get along well at all.'

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Extract of the letter:

'We are fairly well; some have colds. It is a hard winter here. Dorthea is not well. Cathrine wrote that they also have colds, and she had been to the doctor.'

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Translated from Danish by Eleanor Freeman.

Dear Brother,

Sunday we were in Stenderup and there read your letter and got your address and will now write a little news to you. Our parents are fairly well in health, which is a good and wonderful gift for us. Thea is at home this winter and has been sick a long time. She is better now. It is not so easy, but she must be content with the old people as long as they live. She is really odd. She cannot understand that she is doing well, but it must be that some have more to bear than others.

You will now be a grown man who can succeed. That can yield money, and it costs a great deal to learn it, too. Be careful about printing your letter so that the old folks can read it.

Regards from Morbroder H. C. Hald. He is well. He is now out at Vrang's place. Marie and Johanne were also. Johanne is a big plump girl - like Hanne Vrang - but she is big, you know. She studied with the curate and learned French. Hans Holm teases her that she wants a missionary. She is still going to Agtrup school.

Now us, yes, we are well, too, except for little colds. Influenza is raging here, however, among the grownups, and scarlet fever among children, but we have avoided both. Peter was not in school a while, but now he is in school again. In March Anna will be in school. She was 7 in July. Little Mia was 5 last Sunday.

We have had a long hard winter since last November, but now things are greening; it is still cold with night frost. Rasmus still has the milk route. It yields a little money, but it is a nuisance.

You can be sure Stenderup Kro is now elegant. Joergen Bruhn lives there. Over the door at the top peak it says Gammelhjem, though the house is not so old. Peter Bogh is again at his farm and is the same. Fruen has become so terribly efficient and thrifty, looking after everything. I don't know any more news.

F. Skyt is still not married. Rasmus' brother Mikael, whom you probably remember, is married and they have a little girl. He became exempt from military service. He volunteered when he was 19 years old and was discharged.

If only you can now get the benefit of your learning with the telegraph, but you are still in that place. Let us hear from you, and I will write. It is as if you were all dead. Neither Iver nor Jesse write to us. You are far from them where you are now. I read in the paper that the biggest creamery in the world is in Sioux City. They make 21,000 lbs butter daily. That must be close to where you are. It is from a Wisconsin paper. I think also our famous wrestler, Bryder Beck-Olsen, is going to Wisconsin.

Many good wishes from my husband and our three chicks, who know their uncle Paul well by name though they have never seen him. Of the others we must not think. Many come home who say things are better in America. There was a man home from Agtrup who is learning to paint and will go back there again this spring.

Regards from the old people - many many times - you can be sure it is a pleasant Sunday to go home to the old home. You can imagine how happy Mother is. In the summer we like to go to the churchyard and see the many fine grave stones that have been erected there and the dear ones who have gone before us.

Let us hear from you, tell us how you are. Many loving wishes from us.

Your affectionate sister, Cathrine Aagaard.

Goodbye and keep well.

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Extract of the letter:

'Cathrine and family were here two weeks ago. She promised she would write to you. They were all well.'

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Extract of the letter:

'I must tell you some sad news. Your sister Cathrine died June 8th. It was very sad for her husband and especially for her children... they have no mother now. There are three: one 9 years, one 7 years, and one 5 years. You may be sure we will miss her very much. It was a great pleasure when they came a few times a year. We didn't go there often - it is too far.'

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Extract of the letter:

'We are pretty well, thank God. You can imagine how I miss Cathrine now at Christmas. They usually came home. I don't know how they are. He never writes.

Rasmus Aagaard will have to get a housekeeper. I have not been there since Cathrine died. I cannot go so far and stay away from home. Your father cannot be alone. He is not exactly sick, but he is very old.'