The following is a re-type of the transcription of a letter written by Julia (Roberts) Thatcher on November 6, 1893. The letter was originally transcribed by Candace (Roberts) Lauber of New Haven, Indiana. I made some changes to this transcription based on my interpretation of a copy of the original hand-written letter. The line numbers are for this document, not the original letter.

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1. Ed and Sarah
2. Arroyo Grande CA
3. Nov 6, '93
4. Dear Brother and sister
6. I guess you will think I have forgotten you all but that is not so for I
7. think of you every day this leave us all well I have ben very buisey
8. evr since I cam home I had Just got straitend up when Nettie came
9. home sick her health was so poor in Iowa the Dockters told her she
10. would have to have a change of climate or she would not live long so
11. she came to Cal she stayd 3 month hear. She was very much better
12. when she left she has gon down to Los angles to visit katie then She
13. expects to go home katie was marid the 16 of august in Los angles
14. and came home on a weding tour and staid hear a bout 3 weeaks and
15. went back She has Marid a farmer they live a bout 4 miles out of Los
16. angles her Husbands name is George W. Dryden we had never seen
17. him but we like him very much what we have seen of him. Our
18. Children are all marid off of now but Willie our babey I have put up a
19. bout 4 hundred quarts of fruit and peaced and tacked 5 comforts and
20. maid 9 sheats and pillow cases table cloths 4 and one dozen napkins
21. beelds shirts and dresses and lots of other sewing so you see I have not
22. had aney idel time on my hands Now I am through caning I am going
23. to make over some of my old dresses I maid the beding for katie I
24. want to make some more beding for my self this fall we had our first
25. rain a bout a weeak ago the first cince last March 19 things are
26. beginning to look a little grean how is mother and family I wrote to
27. them som time a go but have not recived aney answer how is george
28. and Leizzie did he have good crops on Mothers land give My love to
29. Jake and Calistia dos little george and Miley still live on the farm
30. give them my Love I am looking for Nora and famley out in January
31. they will spend the winter in California well how is my little hazel
32. has she seen her other aunt Julie yet auntey would like very much to
33. see her I have not recived aney of those pictures of yours I think it
34. is a bout time I rote to Frank and Mira since I came home but they
35. never condsnded to answer my letter much less sending their picture
36. is I suppose they think out of sight out of mind well that all right if
37. they think so I want you to wright and tell me all of the news when
38. you write how is your health this summer Sarah are you having the
39. Lagrip out their this season we are having it this fall I hop I shal
40. miss it for it nearley uses me up. Well I must close for this time give
41. my love to all and Mother and famly and to kep a good shair for your
42. self and Sarah and a kiss for my little girl from your loving sister J.
43. F. Thatcher
45. J Thatcher
47. PS did aney of you folks go the worlds fair

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• Line 1 - "Ed" is Julia's youngest brother Edward Roberts, b. 1852 in Indiana, and "Sarah" is his wife Sarah Rice, b. 1857 in Indiana
• Line 8 - Nettie is Julia's daughter, Henrietta F. Thatcher, b. 1858 in Indiana.
• Line 12 - "Katie" is Julia's daughter Katerine Cornelia Thatcher, b. 1868 in Iowa.
• Line 16 - "George W. Dryden", b. 1864 in California, married Katherine Thatcher on August 16, 1893 in Los Angeles, California.
• Line 18 - "Willie" is Julia's youngest son, William Selden Thatcher, b. 1872 in Iowa
• Line 26 - "Mother" is Julia's mother, Elizabeth Smith b. 1811 in New Hampshire, who has survived her husband, Josiah Roberts b. 1808 in New York d. 1899 in Indiana, and is living in Indiana.
• Lines 27 & 28 - "George and Leizzie" are Julia's brother George W. Roberts, b. 1845 in Ohio, and his wife Elizabeth Ann Taylor, b. 1848 in Indiana.
• Line 29 - "Calistia and Jake" are Julia's sister Calista, b. 1833 in Ohio and Calista's son Jacob C. Hollopeter, b. 1869 in Indiana. Calista's husband, Jacob Hollopeter, b. 1820 in Ohio, had died in 1870.
• Line 29 - "George and Miley" are Julia's nephew George F. Roberts, b. 1869 in Indiana, and his wife Mildred, b. 1874 in Indiana. George is the son of Julia's brother Franklin B. Roberts, b. 1838 in Ohio.
• Line 30 - "Nora" is Julia's daughter Leonora (Thatcher) Ward, b. 1861 in Indiana, who is likely living in Iowa at this time.
• Lines 31 & 32 - "Hazel" is Julia's niece, the daughter of her brother Edward and Sarah (see above). Hazel Roberts was born in November 1890 in Indiana, 3 years to the month before the date of this letter. Julia's question "has she seen her other aunt Julie yet" is very interesting. To be a true biological "Aunt" the female would have to be a sibling of either Hazel's father Edward Roberts, or her mother Sarah Rice. It isn't known if Sarah had any sisters names Julie. On Edward's side, there is an unidentified oldest sister who was born before Julia Roberts, around 1829, who could have had a middle name of Julia and may have been in Ohio. The only known Julia Roberts (besides the author of this letter) is a daughter of Franklin Roberts, but that would be a cousin to Hazel. Besides, Hazel and her cousin Julia were living next door in Indiana, and would surely have seen each other within the past 3 years, making this a trivial question. The identification of this "aunt Julie" is not resolved.
• Line 34 - "Frank and Mira" are Julia's brother Franklin B. Roberts, b. 1838 in Ohio, and his wife Elmira Sweet, b. 1834 in New York.
• Line 35 - The word "condsnded" in the letter may be "condescended".
• Line 39 - The word "Lagrip" would likely be "Lagrippe" an old term for influenza.
• Line 43 - J. F. Thatcher is Julia F. Thatcher, the author of this letter, born April 16, 1831 in Ohio, who married William Thatcher, b. Jan 15, 1829 in New York, on August 21, 1853 in Indiana
• Line 47 - The 1893 Chicago World's Fair, also know as the Colombian World Exposition, honored the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's discovery of the New World.

Kent Roberts February 19, 2006 El Cajon, California.