(Livingston Manor, July 7, 1721;
received by Robert in New York: June 13)


In the Manor of Livinghst[on],

My Dear Husband,

A I hope this will find you and our children in good health. Tammes1) has picked up the planks
B from Japick Vosburgh and will be ready to go away on Tuesday. There is almost no water here for milling. They are bolting at night – such drought is here!
We will have only 10 tons ready, [viz] flour, and 2 tons of cornel, 20 kegs of butter [and] 39 lb. of wax. We need a keg of gunpowder and molasses, but [it] must be better than this was. We do not have rum anymore nor sugar. In the middle of next week we will start reaping our wheat; in the mill-meadow [it] looks better than on the second lot: [there it] is rather bad. We are busy reaping in the valley. We are now driving the hay out of the Pot2) and [are] busy repairing the floor in the barn as well as we can. [We] have most of the dung on the land.
I am grieved at our Tam1): he doesn’t want to do anything useful. I desire and think that Naetye will now come along with you. We need some little pots to make jam and some chocolate. Kops the carpenter will get done in the room today.

In the left margin.
- at the (A) mark: at Kinderhook
- at the (B) mark: I think Mrs. Veets is on her way. My regards to all friends.

Your Beloved Wife
Alida Livinghston.
continued on the left page, see below:
In the mill we have [grain] for ten tons of wheat left.
You can bring the painter along. I would like to have a landscape painted for the mantelpiece.
We do not have linseed oil. Do make sure the sugar is good! I have not tasted bohea3) in 14 days; what it tastes like…?
We will have 23 fat cows: those that we have and [some] of others, and I am pretty sure we will get about 14 oxen at Claverack. I have not seen any money from Kroek yet. Do pay your son Van Hoorn! Tames1) will hurry as much as he can, so that you will come up with him and bring rum and gunpowder, molasses and sugar with you. I believe we will not get many people who will give something for our church, but time will show. A lot of far natives4) are coming to trade at Albany as I have heard, so that they can see now that that Act against trading with the French is doing them good.

Notes:
1) “Tammes” = “Tames” = “Thomas”, “Tam = “Thom”.
2) Alida writes “de pot”, probably a geographical name
3) “bohea”: a kind of tea
4) Alida writes “wilde” = “savages”