1873

In February, Lucinda Dorcas Chapin received a letter from her younger Harriet (McNeil) Pepple, who was still residing in Ohio. In her letter, Harriet says she is just as well as ever and contemplates how quickly it seems her children have grown, even though it has been nearly twenty years since they were born; expressing a sentiment shared by mothers throughout history, Harriet reflects on the universal human experience of raising children. Harriet also seeks to confirm that her older sister received a package which she and Angie had sent to Illinois. It is unclear what was in the shipment besides a hand-me-down raincoat for Maggie, but there seems to have been multiple items included.

A major development is also shared in this letter: the home in which Dorcas and Dennis had lived in in Coshocton, Ohio has burned down. It appears that Dorcas had planted a grove of apple trees, perhaps for the enjoyment of her now late husband, that still stand unharmed. Harriet tells her sister  “there is nothing left to show your work but the fruit trees and they was full that is the apple trees. I thought how much comfort Chapin would have taken with his fruit.”

This is the final letter in the collection written by Harriet Pepple. Despite stating that she was feeling as well as ever, the youngest McNeil sister died of a brain hemorrhage three months after sending this letter at the age of 39.