Lachen, May 1, 1861 Dear Brother and Sister! 
We received your letter of April 1st and from it see that you are well and in good spirits, which is also the same for us, thank God. We have also seen from it, dear brother, that you were recently in New Orleans and bought summer items for yourself, but didn’t send us any currency, which you promised us always and firmly, and you have again not kept your word. It has now been 18 months that our sister Karolina has been away from home. Three months before our Karolina was away from here, you wrote us [that] our sister should come to you in America, and if we don’t have the money, we should borrow it, which we importantly did, from Wolf Maikammer, for two months. Why? Because we believed you would keep your promise, and up until today you haven’t yet kept it. ---------
My dear brother, do you believe that this man is satisfied if one doesn’t pay the interest, if one borrowed 100 florins for 2 months and 18 months have already gone by and [it] is not yet paid? Which really mortifies our parents, because he asks father for it each time he goes to Maikammer. As a result, father no longer has the heart to go to Maikammer, and I don’t at all, for which I am ashamed, and we can't pay it from our earnings, and if you don’t send it, then we will sell a field, which we need to have in this bad time. My dear brother, keep your promise as soon as possible. Dear brother, you write that I should come to America. You want to send me money. If you don’t have it, then you want to borrow it, which you should not do for my sake, and I believe even if one has a business in America, that one should not borrow 125 florins. Now, dear brother, I want to stay home for now until you do not have to borrow money anymore. Another thing about your letters: When you write again, then don't [write] anymore that you want to borrow money, because people are laughing about that. Write a nice letter as soon as possible, so that everyone can read it. [writing in left margin] I greet you many times dear brother and dear sister Your brother Heinrich Mayer. We are hoping for an answer soon. [page 2:] [11 lines of Yiddish, signed by Regina Mayer. Not yet translated] [page 3:] [stamp mark] MAINZ
25 1V COLOGNE Via Steamer via Liverpool Mr. Emanuel Mayer
Clinton in the state of Louisiana North America [two stamp marks:] HASSLOCH AACHEN [stamp mark:] 30
MAY
26
BOSTON RE(?) PK Rush