Thee will doubtless be surprised, perhaps pleased on receiving a letter from one whom thee has not seen, nor heard of, at least directly, for more than 12 years. Let me say therefore at the outset that it is with feelings of pleasure mingled with those of restraint, that I thus venture to address one whom I have always been taught to consider as worthy of the highest esteem.

It has been but a few days since I learned thy whereabouts from a letter received from thee by one of the Burgess boys, and thus take the earliest opportunity to address these few lines to thee. Since thee left this settlement the last time many changes have come over this community. Some have moved to other parts of the world, some have married, others then small have grown to man's estate, and some have passed into that "undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns."

Neither have we been changeless. Fortune has smiled and frowned by turns upon us. Josiah has married and with William and Oliver is engaged in the woolen manufacture near Hagerstown, Ind. Zaccheus is a practicing physician in Richmond, Ind., while mother, Rufus, Lindley (the youngest) and myself reside on the old place engaged in farming and the manufacture of cotton batting. Thee can see by this statement that things are not as they once were.

But this is not all. The "Quaker Seminary" alias "Friends Boarding School" is now near its completion on the original plan, and has a telescope the largest in the state and one of the largest in the United States. It will therefore soon take its place among the highest schools of the country.

Richmond too has grown from a village to a city containing from 5,000 to 7,000 inhabitants. The old frame houses on Main street have been torn down and three and four-story brick ones built in their stead. Even the little old log schoolhouse with which every recollection of thee by me is associated has been long since torn down, while its successor has reared its head in the woods on one corner of the McFaddin farm. Sawyer McFaddin himself moved to Iowa and there died a few months since.

But around no spot do my recollections cluster so fondly as around that same old log schoolhouse. Well do I remember how thee used to carry me in thy arms up the hill in the morning and back again at night, and many of the impressions there received are not yet erased from my mind. I cannot look upon the time that has elapsed since then, short as it is, and recount the many changes that have taken place without feelings amounting almost to incredulity. Since then revolutions have convulsed the earth, empires have rose and sunk, while truth has grown stronger and knowledge has been disseminated wider and wider. We may study the past, but read the future we cannot, all that remains for us to do is to "act in the living present, heart within and God overhead."

I have already written more than I intended when I sat down and must now draw to a close. If on a perusal of miserable scratch thee should think it worthy of a speedy answer it would give me the greatest pleasure, if not I shall be content

Very affectionately

Thy old pupil Erastus Test

P.S. All here send their respects to thee. The neighborhood is well.

Friends Boarding School, 4th mo., 19th, '56

Esteemed Friend:

Thy esteemed favor of the first of third month came duly to hand, and would have been answered promptly if I could have commanded the time, but better now than never. I am at present in good health, indeed I am rarely otherwise, and so are all thy old acquaintances here as far as I know. I came to this place on the 15 ins. with the intention to attend the school for five months.

What I have seen of the place I like very well. Although I do not live more than a mile from the institution, yet I am not allowed the privilege of boarding at home, but have to stay right here all the time. Let me here say that I had concluded that my letter to thee had either miscarried or that thee did not think it worth answering, but thy letter proved that my suppositions were incorrect. Thee can imagine better than I can describe the feelings with which I read thy letter, the thought that I still held a place in thy memory, and recollections of the past came crowding up in my mind till I seemed to live over again those happy days that I spent under thy care.

Happy hours indeed. How fondly memory dwells upon them. But the pleasures of life are not confined to childhood, each period from earliest infancy to ripened years possesses its charm, of which perhaps the knowledge of having done our duty is the greatest. Enough of this moralizing for "man at his best estate is altogether vanity."

Perhaps thee will be surprised when I tell thee that I have been teaching a school the past winter in the same district (but not the same house) where I was thy pupil. Judging from my writing perhaps thee will say, teach thyself before teaching others, but let it be as it may I did teach a school of 30 scholars to my own credit (I do not speak boastingly) and I trust to the profit of the scholars. They were not far advanced, none higher than arithmetic and grammar.

Burgess wrote thee a letter about seven months ago but not receiving any answer, they suppose it miscarried. They request me to tell thee that a letter from thee would be very desirable. Give my best respects to thy partner and tell her I hope some day to make her acquaintance. (Please excuse the blots for there is too much talk around me to write without making mistakes.) All of the folks send their respects. If thee write to me before the ninth month (September) direct Erastus Test, F.B.S., Richmond, Indiana, as I will be surer to get it. Don't put off writing too long.

Thy sincere friend.

Erastus Test

Dear Friend:

A letter was received from thee by John Burgess some weeks ago in which thou asked what had become of the "Test Family."

Glad indeed to know that we have not been forgotten by thee, I sit down this evening to give thee a slight sketch of our history for the past 20 years, hoping that my story will not weary thee, but even call from thee a reply, for I shall rejoice when I am able to hold in my hands a letter addressed to me by him who taught me my ABC's longer ago than I can remember.

I take it for granted that thou heard of my father's death which took place Aug. 10 1849 from cholera. A helpless family we seemed, for we were a puny set of boys but our dear father had taught us to be diligent and saving and in a few years we had a farm of 90 acres and no debts.

Then my brother Josiah, William, and Oliver rented a factory near Hagerstown, Ind., (20 miles from Richmond) and began to manufacture woolen goods and do "custom work." This was in 1854. Josiah married a lady named Miriam Dennis the previous autumn, he being the first to take a rib. The experiment succeeded so well that in 1855 they bought the property and still hold it, having increased its value from $5,500 to $18,000.

His health failed and he began to study medicine and got his M.D. in 1854 of the Medical Department of University of Pennsylvania. He entered upon the practice of medicine in Richmond, practiced one year, broke down again in health and went to teaching and has been at that business ever since. For 10 years he was professor of Latin and Greek in the Friends boarding school (which became Earlham College in 1859), then took a position in a Female Collegiate institute at Union Spring, N.Y., where he now is.

He married in 1857 and two weeks ago today he buried his wife in the cemetery near his college, the funeral taking place from my house as she died in New York. She leaves two little girls the oldest nine and the youngest five years of age. Zaccheus will probably retain his professorship for a year or two at least.

The same desire for knowledge that characterized him when a boy has grown with his growth and in all that pertains to language, metaphysics, and theology he is perhaps the most learned man in the Society of Friends on this continent. He reads Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, and French with as much facility as his English, stands high as a skillful physician and is still the same modest blushing fellow he was when a lad, only that now he is a most devoted Christian.

Oliver Test Married in 1861, is one of the firm of Wm. Test & Brothers lives near the factory, had three little girls, but buried his wife last November. Lindley M. Test (the baby) married in 1865, has one boy, is foreman in the factory here and lives near by.

For myself I plodded along after father's death till I caught up learning enough to venture to teach school, was successful, and by dint of hard work managed to get through the college course here, took my degree of B.S. in 1863, my M.S. three years later.

I taught school in Richmond from 1863 till 1865 when my Alma Mater asked for me and here I have been ever since except that I got a furlough during the winter of '66-7 and '67-8 to attend medical lectures at the University of Michigan.

I got my degree of M.D. in March 1868, married the nicest girl in Indiana in August 1868, am living just on the National road north of the college, have a sweet little boy to play with, had good health, own half of the old homestead and have a little money "lying around loose" at 10 per cent, am the stoutest of the family and spend but little time in crying. I shall send thee a catalogue of our College along with this letter if I do not forget it.

My mother, I left her till the last on purpose. She still lives and will be 71 years old in June. Four years ago she had an attack of paralysis and came near dying. She has had two attacks since and is much of a cripple, all her right side being almost useless. Still she keeps cheerful, can hobble about the house and finds much pleasure in her 16 grandchildren. (I forgot to say that Josiah left behind him a boy and girl.)

If thou wants a history of Richmond since thou last saw it, and of such as thou once knew here, just send me word and I'll not be slow in doing my best for thee. Mother still keeps some of the letters thou wrote to my father 30 years ago, and it will give us all joy to have thee answer this soon. Please tell us how it is with body and soul and family. We are Quakers still but of the bearded sect. I should be glad sometime to exchange pictures with thee.

With Sincere regard,

Thy friend,

Erastus Test