Lowe, Esther W.P., Ashland, Virginia, to Archbishop John Mary Odin, C.M., New Orleans, Louisiana, 1861 December 14

She received his letter three weeks ago and it was the most satisfactory upon that subject which she received. She desires answers to a few more questions which she hopes he will pardon in consideration of the anxieties attendant upon the mother of a large family particularly now that they are exiled and with little means, the better part of their property being necessarily left behind and no doubt ere long to be confiscated. Since they have been at Ashland their little boy of nearly three years died of croup. Should Odin see Sister Francis Regis, S.C., she asks him to remember them to her and to mention the death of their child; she is a relative of her husband and a very dear friend. In his letter Odin says that Corpus Christi is a healthy place. She has always had a leaning towards that section but has often heard that it was unhealthy and she asks him to be explicit. Also she wonders if there is a good Catholic society there, if the country is inviting in appearance, what the cost of land is, and if it is as civilized and as Catholic as San Antonio. She asks him how Refugio, Victoria and San Patricio compare with Corpus Christi and San Antonio. They would prefer a grazing farm for they have no Negroes. As they have two grown daughters who have been well educated, it would be desirable to surround them with cultivated and refined associations. Her husband does not enjoy good health and to do nothing is with him a most laborious life and decidedly unfriendly to his health. :: VI-2-e A.L.S. 2pp. 4to.