“My Dearest Friend,—“White, or some of my friends, or the public newspapers, by this time may have informed you of the dreadful calamity that has fallen upon our family. * * * My poor, dear, dearest sister, in a fit of insanity, has been the death of her own mother. I was at hand only time enough to snatch the knife out of her grasp. She is at present in a madhouse. * * * My poor father was slightly wounded. * * * I charge you, don’t think of coming to see me. Write. I will not see you if you come. God Almighty love you and all of us.
