December 14, 1862--Stephen to His Children (Page 3 of 4)

we heard of Mother Parker Death by the way of mr walker's letter   tell Hirams folks that he is well and a doing the best he can and will remember them as soon as possible   he is in company with us in packing  it takes some time to get a _____here  if we have good luck this winter  i think we can make a ___lot of money next summer   i Expect you have had very hard times and my hart has bled for you a many a time but that cant help you   i hope you have not had to under go the real hard ships that we have   i have not had my close of for 7 months to sleepe   slep on the ground roled up in a blanket

 Notes: 
 Mother Parker was probably Lavina Farnsworth Parker, the wife of Oren Parker (died 1852).  She would have been Hiram's mother as well as the mother of Stephen's 2nd wife, Sophia Parker Sherwood.  Stephen says "Hirams folks" but both his parents would have been deceased.  Is this another Hiram?or is Stephen talking about other family members and referring to them as folks?  (see more on Hiram on page 1 of this letter).