Abigail Adams: Letters 1

from the John Adams PBS site. I combined the audio with the text and added images

Abigail tells John about a frightening dysentery epidemic afflicting Braintree. Their son Tommy, John's brother Elihu, and Abigail's mother all fell ill; of the three, only Tommy survived.
A Mortal Time (0:11)
September 8, 1775
Such is the distress of the neighborhood that I can scarcely find a well person to assist me in looking after the sick. So mortal a time the oldest man does not remember.
Abigail describes the state of her household during the dysentery epidemic.
Putrefaction (0:08)
September 17, 1775
A general putrefaction seems to have taken place, and we cannot bear the house only as we are constantly cleansing it with hot vinegar.
Abigail updates her husband on their Braintree farm. John is in New York, serving as George Washington's vice president.
No Grass This Year (0:09)
May 5, 1789
Dearest Friend, I procured a load of salt hay for the stock, but the hill is trod down so hard by the cattle that it will provide no grass this year...