Lachen, December 6, 1864 Dearest Brothers, 
First of all I want to give you the news about my happy arrival in Lachen. I [report?] that our family is well and in good spirits. You can easily imagine the joy that our family had with me. Our joy changed into great sadness [Leid-Muth] today when we received the letter from you and Heinrich in which you [withdrew?] promises – which I never expected of you. [...] you my [discretion? convenience? good opinion?] in your [singular] finest years of youth up described to each other up until a short time ago and how we conceived all [sorts of] ideas of, not to hope such thoughts. – – Above all, you [singular] ought to have thought of your sister Karolina in America, because before you two [page 2:] provided for her, I would really not have believed it of either of you both to […]. However, you moved sister Karolina far from you, because you think that far away is good for the [shoes? shoe sales?] I don’t need to mention anything at all about sister Babett because you have not thought at all about her, that she is older than you and H. Recently I heard that Beer from Billigheim is marrying a girl from Ingenheim [Ingelheim?] whose brothers sent her 5,000 fr. However, I see that you [two] are not offering anything for your sister. I really believe that you [singular] would have received the same [...] in 4 or 5 years. Now I am asking you brothers to provide for your sister, because after all it is also an honor for you two if [you] provide the same and the […] circumstances of our parents that one cannot give any daughter [anything] from it. I will offer everything in order to provide for sister [page 3:] Babette in a short time because I can’t see her running around this way [selling meat?]. So I ask you all to send 600 dollars soon for Babette however far away (please don’t believe it is for me). I don’t want to enjoy a single kreuzer from it, but instead I will make every effort to provide for myself and our dear parents, since they did not have as much as Gram [= Grandmère? = Grandma?]. Since you, dear H., asked about me at the end of your letter, I’ll do the same with my congratulations at the end, but I ask you again if it is possible to calculate back until our sister is provided for. I congratulate you warmly and wish you much luck in your project. Once again, don’t forget the above [...] and provide it soon, because it is a [dishonor?] for all of our relatives that the brothers have married and the sisters are running around so and get [page 4:] gray hair — — — —
 Dear Em [= Emanuel], the [...] also applies to you. As I hear, your family is well, which is always [...]. As you know, I was in Aschaffenburg for 10 months, but during this time did not receive a single line from you all, then soldiers or brothers or relatives in America had always received letters. So, dear Em: once again I ask you to send 600 dollars a 300 D for Babett since I know that this is not much in America & then I will soon provide for dear Babette. Now enough, or much too much, for today. Now I am ending the [...], but not in my heart. I greet you and kiss you all warmly many thousand times. Karl Mayr Something else to mention – probably you, dear Emanual, will be responsible for this [...] so that Heinrich [can] come to this big [? wedding?]. Excuse me if I have been so [...] [...] to one of you.