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[p.1]Georgetown May 25th 1851 My Dear Wife You must excuse me for being so negligent in writing to you[.] I received your letter dated Dec. 31st which is the last that I have received from you. I have writen [written] one since previous to this. I am verry [very] anxious to hear from you before I leave here to go further up in the mountains as I don't expect that we will have any conveniance [convenience] of receiving our letters after we leave here. We expect our express man will be here today with the mail and if he brings me a letter from you then I shall leave here the first of June and if I get none I will wait untill [until] we receive the mail of the first of June as I am anxious to know whether you have received the $200 that I sent you in January last. I sent five hundred dollars to the city by our express man the last time that he went down to buy a draft on Adams & Co. of New York. When he comes I shall enclose it in this letter and then give you directions what to do with it. My health is exceedingly good [.] I never felt better for work.[.] I think the country agrees with me well. I hope this letter may find you and the children in good health also the ballance [balance] of my friends and acquaintenses [acquaintances]. When I wrote to you in March I had then made since January 20th $796.00 and now I have swelled it up to $1221.10 [.] of that sum I have saved $1050.00 the ballance [balance] being consumed in my expenses necessary to get along with [.] We had the but end of our winter in March and April [.] the last two weeks of March and first two of April it rained or snowed at least half of the time. Consequently it rendered mining verry [very] disagreeable on account of mud and high water. I still work with Elder [C?]rain yet the baptist minister that I informed you of in my last letter. We are a going in the mountains together[.] I took a trip thirty miles to the Northe [North] East of here two weeks ago to find beter [better] digings [diggings]