1839 April 30, Philadelphia, [to William D. Cope], Woodburn

              Philadelphia 4th mo. 30th 1839I hope my dear cousin that the accompanying minute will meet thy views, which I endeavoured to state to the Association at our last meeting, as clearly as in my power; As we were all alike ignorant of the person who is willing to take charge of the girl, we could not judge of his suitability, but there was no hesitation felt by any one in leaving it wholly to thyself & Susan, having entire confidence that you would act properly in the matter. It would be satisfactory to the Association to hear from thee, when the transfer is completed, and the name of the individual holding the indentures; and we should be glad if you would have sufficient interest in the child, still occasionally to inquire after her; With regard to your having another girl from the Shelter, there would be no objection whatever to your taking one at any future time when there may be one you would think suitable, but at present all the girls of a proper size are engaged, so that we cannot with any certainty hold out a prospect of giving one, for a year to come.I should be very glad to hear from you my dear Cousins, how you & the children are; Is the country around you yet looking like Spring? With us the season is so unusually early that it has seemed much more like the 5th than the 4th mo; The trees are beautiful, and our gardens quite inviting- Edw'd & Caroline and ourselves have been busy planting & arranging- it is tempting employment and runs away with too much of my time- They are all well next door- little Amy is growing very fat and her mother says is very good. At Uncle Thomas' they are I believe much as usual- We have all been so very busy for 2 or 3 weeks past that we have not visited much, but I have seen Aunt E since & was glad to notice her looking better than common. Did you join in our surprise at Alfred's engagement or were you better prepared than some of us? It caused quite a sensation in our circle, most of us having concluded to set him down