Germantown, [February] 18th 1869 

My dear Martha. 

I am so glad that I do  
not copy thy letters any more, so they do 
not have to be, so formal and official, 
for I feel as though we must be old 
friends, and always take so much 
pleasure in thinking of the day you 
spent with us, it was so pleasant to 
have you, and be with you - How often 
I think with tender loving respect, of the 
noble work, and sacrifice to which 
thee devoted thy life, surely thee must 
have thy reward. How much we 
we enjoyed thy letter, and thought the 
pen and ink sketches, a most happy 
success, if this be thy first attempt 
at this sort of illustration, thee certainly 
shows [Underlined: latent] genius in that line, for 
we feel now that we have quite a 
correct idea of your surroundings, especially 


of thee and Miss Taylor, ringing the 
bell in the morning, I assure thee 
we laughed merrily over it, and fully 
appreciated both the "sweet potato scene, 
and the croquet game, indignant partner 
included - Many thanks for the happy 
thought and execution. The ladies at 
the Meeting enjoyed it very much - 
I am so glad thee is so comfortably 
and pleasantly fixed this winter, with 
such a congenial co-laborer too, I should 
like to know her - Lizzie says she does 
wish thee would not invite to come 
visit you! for we do want to do it so 
much! and it is so tantalizing not to 
have 100 [dollars] to spare - it would be so 
delightful to go, and take a peep at 
you, think of seeing the N.T.s in their home!! 
and the sunny south included, - but 
we cannot raise our expectations so must 
take it out in imagination. 

The letters were handed round at the 
Meeting, and the ladies thought they 
were very creditable, They were well written 


and expressed, though not ready for the 
legislature yet, but it is a good thing 
for them to be ambitious, and no doubt 
is an incentive for them to try harder. 
My Northern eyes cannot quite realize the 
good sight, of black, white and all 
colors, sitting together making the laws 
for the state, and it is a great satisfaction 
to me, to have thee say that the [Underlined: blackest] 
are the [Underlined: smartest], as I think we 
rarely see it so here, and I almost 
thought such was not the case, and 
I confess a secret belief that it was the 
Anglo Saxon blood that held the brains. 
Yes indeed we shall be proud to have 
our teachers send some of their boys 
to high places, it will be something to 
show a reward of the labor bestowed 
Miss Stevens writes that their school in 
Murfreesboro is doing very well, they 
have about 40 scholars, but she says 
the parents are not willing to make 
the sacrifices there, to send their children 
that they do farther south, where she 


has previously been, and that as soon 
as the busy season begins, they stop coming 
to school, so the [Association] proposed sending 
her elsewhere to a wider field, but she 
said that she felt, she would leave 
too much for Miss Couch to do, more 
than possible for one, and thought she 
would take the risk of saying she could 
not be spared - It would seem too bad 
to have her turned out again after such an 
uncomfortable time as she has had 
getting settled in any place to board. 
Lizzie sends her love, so would Sallie 
Bornman, if at home, but she has gone 
to the city, and expects to stay all 
night, and go to Maggie Husband's 
wedding this evening, where she will be 
pretty shure to have a good time. 
Emma continues to improve, and seems 
in a fair way to get quite well again, 
I am so glad. With much love, & 
kind regards to thy friend whom I 
have never seen. Thy sincere friend 
Sallie F. Corlies 


[Envelope] 

Miss Martha Schofield 
Aiken 
[South Carolina]