Marion, Ohio, February 28, 1861.
Dear Son: — Well, how
are you and what are your prospects, and how are you enjoying yourself at the
seat of government of the great American nation? Yesterday Princie told me that
she thought from the tone of your letters you were passing the time pleasantly,
but she feared you were not free from danger. While I fear that you or your
father may not come home alive, and though intensely excited, I do not intimate
my fears to any one. Be prudent. Don't expose yourself to danger except in
defense of the country.
In the effort you
are making, which is certainly laudable, I hope you may succeed, but if not,
submit with grace and fortitude, and consider that it is probably for your
good, perchance to save you from a watery grave; not that it is so important
where we lay our bodies down if we have secured an interest in Christ. “What
shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” All the wealth of the Indies, nor
all the gold of Ophir can redeem a soul.
I am not so ill as
when you went away, but not yet quite well, though gaining strength. Have taken
short walks for three successive days and feel benefited.
Princie1
will not visit her relatives in Clark and Champaign counties, for she
thinks the weather too cold and the roads too muddy to travel by private
conveyance. She wants to visit her brother, and I advised her to do so, as the
short trip on the railroad would be pleasant.
Since "you
left, Princie has had a gloomy time in that big house, almost alone night and
day. Give your father my love.
Your affectionate mother.
_______________
1 Mrs. James H. Anderson.
SOURCE: James H. Anderson, Life and Letters of Judge Thomas J. Anderson and Wife, p. 125
