Note 7 — Chapter III · FROM HER RETURN TO BRAINERD, UNTIL SHE TAKES CHARGE OF A SCHOOL AT CREEK-PATH.

Any person who had witnessed the separation of Mrs. Williams from her Cherokee friends, when she and her husband left Brainerd and set out for the Choctaw mission in May 1818, could well understand the affectionate expressions in this letter. When the boat was ready to proceed, and the hour of parting had arrived; when Mr. Cornelius had made the last prayer, and the last hymn had been sung; Catharine was among those who seemed ready to sink under a burden of grief too great to be borne. Mrs. Williams had always been peculiarly dear to her from their first acquaintance, and, like an older sister, had guided her youthful steps in the paths of peace.