I have been remiss in posting letters that I've had translated, so here are 2 for the price of one!
The first is from John & Gertrude (Enz) Pulvermiller, sister of my g-g-grandfather Joseph Enz.
The Joseph they refer to is John's brother.
-1-
Philadelphia, May 21st, 89
Dear mother a. mother-in-law, we received your letter a. we are glad to hear that you are in good health; thank God we are healthy, too. Joseph is married now to a Swiss woman, he has a good wife, she is about the same age as me, a. he says she has a fortune of 3000 dollars, they came to visit us on March 19th a. they stayed a whole week, we had a lot of fun, they probably wrote you already, so you already knew this.
-2-
Inset (children’s handwriting at top of page): Dear grandmothers, I want to say hello to you your granddaughter Katharina Pulvermüller {this child's note is shown at the top of this post}
Whether she [the new wife] is Catholic I do not know, I asked Joseph, he did not tell me a. I did not like to ask her, he told my neighbor she is Protestant. We did not have a chance to tell him anything, we did not know of his wedding until the day before the celebration. He probably would not have listened; it is a matter of taste. Dear mother there are not many news, Mina moved to her own house, business is slowly growing, a. our children are quite well. Many cordial greetings from us all a. from my siblings, farewell, greetings from your grateful son Joh. Pulvermüller
-3-
[illegible] how things are going? Are you in good health? How are you? I have been waiting for an answer for a long time, but nothing has happened. We are quite well a. the children are well, too. Business is going well again. Dear mother since your birthday is coming up I wish you good luck with all my heart for your 73rd birthday, may God give you long, joyful a. happy days, a. your
-4-
[illegible] was visited by many people, but the least by our countrymen. Dear mother a. siblings, if everything goes well and we stay in good health, I might visit you at the end of next month or the beginning of July, you do not need to tell anyone yet they will see if I come, I will write whether I can come or not. Thousand greetings to everybody from my husband a. the children, yours, Gertrud. Congratulations a. greetings from your other children. Farewell, so long, if God willing.
.....................
The second is a little letter from my g-g-grandfather Joseph Enz to his brother Englebert written December, 1896.
Page 1
Phila Dec 20, 1896
Dear brother a. sister-in-law!
We received your last letter and we are glad to hear that you are in good health. We are too, thank
God. Dear brother I am very pleased that you are happily remarried, I received one of your pictures,
you really got a pretty wife.
Page 2
Dear brother you are not a big fan of writing, or you would not leave the writing to your wife, it is
difficult to hear the news about outside from you1. Next time I will send you my vacation passport
you can keep it outside a. you can send it in whenever it is necessary. Karl Enderle from Gosbach has
his [passport]always outside, too, his brother is providing it for him.
Page 3
I think you could do the same a. I would not always have the trouble. I send you one dollar bill One
Mark for Engelbert Kener one for you a. two for your wife. No news otherwise Joseph Duerner2 still
lives with me. Anno 1900 we will be outside for the Paris World Fair. To close I wish you Merry
Christmas a Happy New Year
Page 4
Many thousand regards to you all a. to those who ask for me
Your brother a brother-in-law Joseph Enz
Goodbye
Joseph Derner says when you have so pretty sister-in-laws you should send him one he has no wife,
too.
This time you will write soon
Blue ink: E [not legible] s many thousand regard to you all [not legible]
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1 Outside = overseas
2 Joseph Duerner is probably the same person as Joseph Derner.
Interesting he mentions the World's Fair, pictured above. I wonder if they went.
Here is a link to the Philadelphia Inquirer's front page the day this letter was written. It's fun to see what was happening in their world that day.
I'll post a few more in a day or so.
