Shortly after I returned home, a pert young gentleman came in, and asked if Mr. Hyrum Smith was at home. I told him, as I had others, that he was in Colesville. The young man said that Hyrum was owing a small debt to Dr. McIntyre, and that he had come to collect it by the doctor's orders, as he (McIntyre) was from home. I told the young man that this debt was to be paid in corn and beans, which should be sent to him the next day. I then hired a man to take the produce the following day to the doctor's house, which was accordingly done, and when the man returned, he informed me that the clerk agreed to erase the account. It was now too late in the day to set out for Canandaigua, where my husband was confined in prison, and I concluded to defer going till the next morning, in hopes that some of my sons would return during the interval. The night came on, but neither of my sons made their appearance. When the night closed in, the darkness was hideous, scarcely any object was discernible. I sat down and began to contemplate the situation of myself and family. My husband, an affectionate companion and tender father as ever blessed the confidence of a family, was an imprisoned debtor, torn from his family and immured in a dungeon, where he had already lain two dismal nights, and now another must be added to the number, before I could reach him to render him any assistance. And where were his children? Alvin was murdered by a quack physician; but still he lay at peace. Hyrum was flying from his home, and why I knew not; the secret combinations of his enemies were not yet fully developed. Joseph had but recently escaped from his persecutors, who sought to accomplish his destruction. Samuel was gone, without purse or scrip, to preach the Gospel, for which he was as much despised and hated as were the ancient disciples. William was also gone, and, I had not, unlike Naomi, even my daughters-in-law, to comfort my heart in this the hour of my affliction.