Trials and Faith in God in 1850

I found this old letter searching for some information about my family( he is not related to me) . This man can truly say he knows what trials are all about. The letter was written in 1850 to his Brother, sister, and nephew from him, so allow your mind to take you back 156 years ago. After I read this I thought why should I ever complain. What amazed me so much was his faith in God! I think you will agree we may have it rough sometime but this man carried a heavy heavy burden.



September 17th, 1850 Homer, Louisiana
Written to
Mr. Perlemon Pate
Murphysboro
Illinois
Dear Brother and Sister and Nephews
We once more take our pen in hand to inform you that we are all in tolerable health at this time hoping that when these lines reaches you they may find you all enjoying the same state of health and happiness. If I could see you I would say a great many things that I shall not attempt to right in this letter. I recieved a letter from you about the first of June that you had wrote last Winter which gave us great pleasure to hear from you all once more that you were all well and doing well and also that you hadn't forgotten us entirely as that is all we have heard from you in three years and if you are so lucky as to get this letter I want you to right me one this is the first time I have written to you in three years for which I ask your pardon and I hope you will forgive me my neglect knowing that he would be forgiven must forgive and may God give you a forgiving heart is my prayer for Christ sake who suffered and died for us all that we through him'might obtain eternal life. I said that we were all in tolerable health and so we are except on last Friday I was helping one of my neighbors raise a house and cut my foot very bad. I have not walked since, though I think it will get well soon as this is the fourth day and it looks in a healing condition. My dear Brother my only excuse for not writing to you often is the continual bad luck I have in my family. We have buried three of our children since we have been in this country and have had three born here. The first one we lost was little BAGLEY PAYTON PATE, was drowned on the 24th October 1842, he was the baby when we left Tennessee you know the next was ALFRED V. PATE on the 24th of October 1847 with out a moments warning he was called to eternity it was on Sunday evening he had been off some where in the neighborhood and come home just before sundown and without his dinner he asked his Mother for something to eat, she gave him some. The other children were out at the cotton house playing on the cotton it was now about sundown and his mother told him to go and tell the other children to come to their supper. He went Out there and told them He told BLAKE to make hast back and play with him on the cotton and when BLAKE went back he had grabbed a hole in the cotton some three feet deep about the size of a body and was in that hole head foremost and was dead. He had not been from the house more than a halfhour in good health so far as we know my Dear Brother you must try to imagine my feelings which I am writing you those berievements in my family for I right with a heart full of sorrows yet I have a hope when the last trumpet is sounded that we will meet again in a better world than this where parting is no more. My dear Brother I give glory to God who has given us hope beyond this veil of tears my dear Brother I don't want to hurt your feelings and I hope I shall not but I must speak the truth. We are all Methodist here in the spring of 1848. Myself, my wife and EMELINE all joined the church my wife as a professor of religion and myself and EMELINE as seekers and so we went on untill fall in September the camp meeting came on well I went there the day it commenced which was Thrusday the 27th of September and stayed untill it broke up and on Friday night about ten or eleven I felt that I got a hope of a better inheritance than the things of this vane world can give and through faith in Jesus I hope to get to heaven where parting is no more my Dear Brother I pray God that you and yours may meet us there. Brother pray for it you see this was in 1848. Well in July 1849 I took the fever I had a short spell and got about again in August I took the conjestive fever and I had a close call of it I lay eleven days without eating a mouth full I had two doctors waiting on me they both thought it a bad chance for me ever to recover but they still worked on for they said that there was some hope as long as there was life and I felt that the Lord Blest the means in the hands for I must confess I had gave up myself but Bless God I felt resigned. to his will. The Doctors gave me calomel every two hours for night and days before they broke the fever and when the fever left me I was badly salivated but I recovered so I could walk about the house a little and then took the chills and fever which lasted me untill February since then I have been in reasonable health and here I must tell you of another death in our family while I was sick and not able to get out of bed our little daughter JANE S. PATE took the fever and died the ninth day which was the 21st of September 1849 and dear brother these things seem for us to bear unless we are resigned to the will of God and I believe that all these earthly losses is our faith in heaven. We brought four children here and have but four yet I will give you their names: POLLY EMELINE, BLAKE THACKSTON, SARAH FRANCIS, PEMBROOK SUMMERETTE PATE. He is the youngest and was two years old the 29th of June last and he is some pumpkin I recon my wife is in better health than she was but her health is not good yet. Our daughter EMELINE made a profession of religion last Sunday at a protracted meeting that was held in the neighborhood the meeting a week we have very good crops in this country this year our cotton is first and it is thought is will bring form ten to fifteen cents a pound I think it will make ten bales this year if I can save it all but picking in cold weather is bad work, since I wrote to youlast we had our parish divided and the court house was located within five miles of my house and the town is called Homer We have a splendid brick court house there is six stores there and some fifty families in the place. When you right direct letter to Homer I reckon I had better quit so farewell to-
ANTHONY PATE