Dear Siblings!

Hope you all will be as well as we left you. Cousin George brought the letter, august 30th, to which we have been waiting long time.
We didn't believe, that God will recall our father so soon.
But, to know him in heaven, where sun is shining everytime and no lamentation will be, will take consule on us. Over there we will find him and we will reunite. You may be sure, we are very sorry about the death of our father, as sorry as we would be at home. Especially we are verry sorry, because we intendet to take pleasure to him by sending some money. (5M = 60 f). For the three little brothers and sisters we would also send something. The letter should arrive just at Christmas time. We would write in it, father shall drink some good wine of that money. Unfortunately it is too late now. We have to console with the thought, that it was the will of Good God. Just to the three little ones it will be most difficult. So, we hope, you will be responsible, that they are not alone. We also will do for them, all we can, even though we are in a foreign country. We don't forget them. You have written, I have to get some fortune for heir. I would be happy, if you had written, how much I have to get. Probably you have believed, I would claim it. Oh, don't believe it, we think, you need it more, and we would be glad, everyone of you would have much of the fortune. But I am telling you, each of the three little ones has to get 4 f more. You have to give it to them for going shopping, something they want. I hope, you will fulfill my wish.
Dear Sofie, you are asking for an authority, but if you may divide without an authority of me, I would like it more. I have asked after the costs of it, and it would be about 36 f = 3 M. If you can't divide, you have to write me, how much I have to get, because I have to specify it.
You also asked for my job. I'm working in a beautiful garden, which is about 4-6 acres with many fruit-trees, lemons, figs, many kinds of fruits you don't know; various flowers, much roses, they are not to count. They are blooming the whole year, because there is no winter in this country. The weather is just like in harvest in Germany.
We are also cultivating all kinds of vegetables, potatoes, cabbage, beans and peas. In the stockyard there are hens, ducks, gees, goats and dogs. Also much horses, I can't count them. I can't tell you the number of acres of the farm, but it must be more than the area of Kochendorf. My boss don't know his prosperity.
Dear siblings, now I am telling you about me. I have worked now about 2 years for my boss and earned 40 M a year. One M is 12 f here.
You see, we are earning more money than in Germany, and my wife has not to work. I also got some ground to plant potatoes, cabbage, peas and carrots. In front of the house, we have a beautiful flower-garden. For payment in kind we have every week 20 pounds of meat, 20 pounds of flour, 4 pounds sugar and 2 pounds coffee. We are not short in foodstuffs. When I have been with my boss for about 8 or 10 weeks, he made me a present of 18 f. So you will see, we are very well.
We are healthy and strong, happy and satisfied. You should see our little child, it is so nice. I'm sure, you would like it, if you could hear it calling 'Mam and Dad'. He always wants to go outdoors and is calling 'ada' (that means in German children vocabulary: Let's go for a walk.). He is walking now, when he may hold himself at something.
We are living in a house about a quarter of an hour away from the farm I am working; there are 4 houses near by and it is about 100 steps to the village Petersham. It is more beautiful than Jagstfeld and we can buy there all we need. Half an hour or more is a village ........(illegible) and another half an hour the town Sydney, where we have landed. It is a beautiful town. You don't believe the beauty of the stores, there is no one in Germany.
Dear Siblings, please tell the parents and sisters of our cousin George about that I have written of here. Recently a gold-mine was discovered, named 'The Word of God'. It is about 200 hours from here. Thousands went to that place. Even all the sailors of a ship went to the mine, only the captain remained at the ship. Cousin George also did so, otherwise he would have written a letter and sent some money for his parents. But he told us, if his luck will be in and he will keep healthy, will write them very soon. He will tell us, if digging is successful. In my next letter something more of us, that dear brother Christian and Georges brother Christian may make up their minds. If somebody here is working like in Germany, way of life is much better.
Working time is from 6 am to 6 pm. There is a break from 8 to 9 am, and from 1 to 2 pm. That is 10 hours working.
Everything, we are writing, is true and everybody has his own free will. Just the voyage is very troublesome. Some passengers are healthy and strong, some sick. We also have been sickly.
If I have to give an authority about the heir, you should send me a printed form, and you have to put a stamp to the letter, otherwise it will not arrive to us.

Greetings to you, our cousin, his parents and sisters.

Samuel Kirchner

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Petersham, Aug. 10 th 1859.

Dear Siblings,

Received your letter dated June 12 th. We have enjoyed to read it.
Espacially we are very glad to hear, that you all are very well.
Dear siblings, it is now 9 month ago, we have written our letter.
We do not know, why you did not answer for it. We can't believe that are so much troubles about the heir, that you could not write.
Dear sister Sophie, you have been writing, that ........(name illegibel) wants part of the money, but we don't know why. Perhaps for looking for our brother Friedrich and our father. Bevor we left she laught and mocked about my wife in the whole village. We can not forget it.
She shall have nothing of the heir, because she is a reach wife and should be ashemed inorder to taking money of us. If we would have given her something, we had written it in our first letter. Dear siblings, the money of the heir of our father that belongs to me, I want to give to my sisters Sophie, Katharina, Elisabeth, Marie and my brothers Christian, Schorsch (Georg), Wilhelm and August. Nobody else has to get heir of our father.
Samuel Kirchner

Dear sister Sophie, you have written, you will have a merry day after dividing the heir, and you have invited us to that banquet. We will be with you. We hope you will be cheerful and drink on our health.
We wish you will have this day of rejoicing with foster-father Sonnenwird.
Greetings to him and his wife. Many thanks for them for all they have done to us. Dear brother-in-law Jakob, you like to drink a glas of wine.
In this country wine is very strong, so, if you will drink a pint of it, you will not see the ground any more. We would wish, that you would have 2 - 3 glasses of it, and we liked to see how merry you are.
A glas costs about 36 x (illegible). All kinds of drinks are very strong.
We thank you very much for writting dear Jakob. We thought, you have forgotten about us like our brother Christian and Schorsch did. They may think like the wealthy man in a fairy-tail. The first may have bought a pair of oxen and have to look for them; and the other one may have married a wife, and therefor also has no time. We have looked for some words in the letter, but we didn't find anything about our brothers.
We are very glad to hear from you, dear sister Katharina and about sending a curl of your dear children. It will be a memory to us and we framed it and hung it to the wall. We are also glad bout your rhymes, dear sister Elisabeth and Marie. We are also sending a picture to you for memory. You will see us and our children very well.
You can even see my wart at my forehead. You see Schorsch (Georg) is praying and our dear little Shani is just awaken from sleep. He is half a year old, and didn't have any firm food nor an comforter now, only mother's milk. You can see him very strong. We wear a costume of this country. Your brother Samuel is talking to you: "Don't be afraid, because I have a strong beard." I don't live in wilderness, it is fashion in this country to have a beard. Cousin Schorsch has the same one. I can tell you, Samuel is more funny and pleasured than former, sings and whistles all day long. He says, he will enjoy his unmarried time, because he could not do that in Germany.
We are very well, healthy and have pleasure with our 2 children.
We would like to have you here or near by.

Dear Siblings, if you would have, we wish you to have, you would have enaugh meat and other foods, because we are not short in it.
Sometimes we have 30-40 pounds of meat a week, we could not eat it.
The bread is as good and fine as the cakes in Germany.
In Germany they say, letters will be opened and everybody has to write well about Australia. That is not true, everybody can write whether he is well or not.
The picture enclosed belongs to you, dear sisters Sophie and Elisabeth together. Please honour it, because it costs 36 f and we hope you will take pleasure in it.
Dear sister Sophie, you have written about the two brothers Wilhelm and August, that they are not so well, we are sorry for them. With the help of God they will have a better time. Wilhelm, don't despair, beat that Jack Keifer, God will help you. Dear Sibling, we are wishing to help them, because they lost our father so early, and don't leave them alone.
Now I will finish this letter with thousands of greetings to all friends, relatives and all they ask for us. We hope you will write again as soon as possible, that we are feeling well again. Very speedy replay.

Samuel Kirchner