.NTA4.Njcz
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4th St[reet] [New York, NY] Wednesday night 30th Sept[ember] 1863
via [steamer] City of Wash[ingto]n [‘City..Wash..n’ underscored]
Dear Ann,
I was much too busy at the office yesterday to add much to my already very ex= =tensive [budget?] via [steamer] Arabia. – We had the benefit of Walker’s services all day, & they were useful & welcome, as lightening my [undescored] task at least. He was about to leave the office soon after 4, but I kept him a while longer, whilst I made up Matthew’s business letters for the steamer for him to carry to the Post Office: - and it was after he had left that I copied his sentimental [underscored] letter to Miss Lippett, to enclose to you, & I had barely time to do that & add my short P[ost] S[cript] & get off my letter in time [‘in time’ struck-through] to be posed by John [Russell] ‘ere the Arabias mails closed.
I was pleased with Walker’s sentimental epistle to our worthy friend, as presenting so
his
strong a contrast to several of ^ dogged, hard, flighty communications to myself; tho’ there has been nothing of the latter char =acter in our verbal [underscored] intercourse since his accident, which I verily believe has had much more of the desired softening [underscored] effect upon him than he seems willing to own.
But as to any effect in giving a religious [underscored] turn to his thoughts & reflections, I must confess I have not the slightest evidence to encourage such an idea; & in the absence of this evidence, I am of opinion there has been no such effect whatever; or that, if he has felt any promptings of
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of that nature, he has “quenched” them.
He was again at the office to day; & at my request he went to see the elder Mr. Ed- =wards, the lawyer, as to the business that old Mr. John Davis wrote to us about.
He took Mr. Davis’ letter with him, & left it with Mr. E[dwards] who told him that the captur =ed st[eame]r the Britannia was a case that he had not had anything to with, & he thought she had not been brought to this port for judgment & condemnation; but he would enquire; & as he is going to Phila[delphia] tomorrow, he kindly [pro...sed?] to call & see Mr. Davis there, if he could find time. –
Walker informed me, in the course of the day, that instead of coming home to dinner, he intended going out this after= noon to Spuyten-d[uy]vil [Bronx, NY] to spend the night; & I find from Sarah, as I sup- -posed, that the young ladies of Staten
in a boarding house
Isl[an]d [New York] & Orange [New Jersey] are living there ^ with their mother. – I made no objection, merely asking him to be careful in getting in & out of the R[ail] R[oad] cars.
I had not time to read over my letters from N[ew] O[rleans] [Louisiana] yesterday until after dinner. There were 2 form Mrs. Cox of 15 & 16th inst[ant]; [15 & 16 September] & in one of them a letter to Mrs. Lewis, which I promptly forwarded by yesterdays
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mail, & enclosed a note from myself, first as to Walker’s accident & present condition, & secondly as to you & your movements; but it was an irksome task to accomplish this when I had so much other work to do. –
I had no nap after dinner yester- =day, & employed myself, before & after my nightly walk, first in answering James letter, & then in inflicting 4 pages [‘4 pages’ underscored] upon Mrs. Cox, so as to be able to dispatch my letters by a st[eame]r whose bag closed today at 11 a.m. – And this morning I continued to add a P[ost] S[cript] to each, after I had read your letter of 13 14 & 15 inst[ant] [13 14 15 September] via [steamer] City of Wash =ington, which I found at 11 [‘found at 11’ struck-through] got out of the P[ost] O[ffice] on my way to the office: - & I reported
very [underscored] Tobin to
the satisfactory [underscored] news of ^ 21st July, as well as your (& my) delight in the reminisces of of youth & childhood to which you gave the rein in your Sunday rambles on the 13th.
I walked down to the office today, start= =ing immediately after we had finished breakfast, & thus reached there soon after 10. -some time before John Russell or Walker appeared. – When I had sent off my 2 N[ew] O[rleans] [Louisiana] letters, I read Mytton’s of 30 Aug[us]t from [Appenzell] [Switzerland][last ‘l’ struck-through] to Harriet; and then, as there was not much work to be done, of a business [underscored] character (tho’ I did not neglect what was essential) I wrote 2 pages to Harriet to accompany Mytton’s letter, & brought the envelope home with me, so as to close
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after Sarah has been edified with reading
pleasant
reading [struck-through] Mytton’s ^ pen & ink sketches of Swiss life & scenery.
Walker read today these 3 letters from you & Tobin & Mytton: - and, as there no se= =crets in them, I gave them to David [Spence] to read, as he was resting himself at the office. His comments might remind one of those of Frank James when you had read him the story of the rich man & Lazarus, & had shewn him the picture accompanying it in that venerable prayer-book: - for David had nothing to say, except to express his astonishment & displeasure at the ab= =sence of the servant woman, when you knocked & rang & rang & knocked, at the door in Huskisson St[reet] [Liverpool, England] – As he went home to 4th St[reet], hours before I left the office, I gave him your letter & its contents to hand to Sarah, who had just finished reading the whole before we sat down to dinner at 6 p.m.
James enclosed a note of 15 Sept[ember] to me from Mrs. Pollard, who has yet to re= =ceive the last $133 from Sam with my addition thereto of 17 [underscored], making up the round sum of $150. – I think she had best stay quietly in N[ew] O[rleans], instead of shifting her quarters into “Dixie,” but I forbear of- =fering any advice on the subject, as she knows best what is most conducive to her
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(or at least ought [underscored] to do so)
own comfort & happiness ^ , & I have a good opinion of her judgement in most matters -which is more than I could say of our late worthy friend, her Husband. –
I had sent James a copy of Nan’s August letter (by flag of truce) as to Edw[ar]d R. Stamps, & in his, rec[eive]d yesterday, he remarks: =
“For information regarding Nan’s friend, write “to Doctor Frank Taney C[onfederate] S[tates of] A[merica], now in Fort “McHenry [Baltimore, Md.] – care of his uncle, Chief Justice “Taney – Baltimore. Frank in an intimate
charge
“friend of mine, & was the Surgeon captured in ^ “of the wounded Confederates at Gettysburg [Pennsylvania]. – I “think he will know all about the matter.”
I have had no reply yet to the letter I wrote about a week ago, or longer, to Cousin Belle, in which I invoked her aid , or that of Dr. Ni- =cholls, to get some clue to E[dward] R. Stamps.
And, as a “forlorn hope,” I this afternoon acted on James’ recommendation by writing a page to Dr. Taney, which I enclosed, open, to the Chief Justice, [‘Chief Justice’ underscored] & in a very short note asked him to be so kind as read & forward it after affix= =ing to it the proper address. – I said further to the C[hief] J[ustice] that “during my annual visits as “a merchant to N[ew] O[rleans] for upwards of 20 years, “I had been an intimate friend of the Dr’s father: “&, to go still further back, I am one of the “sons of the old Consul at L[iver]pool, who lived “there for 40 years after his appointment by “Gen[era]l Washington. – Times have sadly chan =ged since then.” – My motive in adding these remarks was to secure the more prompt
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attention to my request – which I felt was taking a liberty with the C[hief] J[ustice] that I had no right whatever to do: - for whilst writing to him, I was considering what would be thought in England [underscored] of a person in my humble posi =tion addressing a letter to the Lord Chancel
Contents
lor, [‘Lord Chancellor’ underscored] asking him to read one about a Ser
=geant [Sergeant’ underscored] in the Army!!! –
I shall be rather curious to learn the [issue?], if any, of this act of intrusion upon the C[hief] J[ustice]. –
When I had sent the letter to the mail, just after 4, I hesitated whether to leave the Office or not. But I decided that “time is precious,:” & so set to work upon the Books. & kept at it until past 5; & then, having finished what I aimed at, I left; & calling at Gilpin’s room, I saw the Gold had subsided to 141 1/4 & in walking towards the P[ost] O[ffice], I filled my amiable pockets with 10 nice, ripe, juicy Pears; & thus laden, I rode home outside of a yellow car, & reached the house at 22 minutes before 6, feeling that, upon the whole, I had accomplished a satis- =factory day’s work.
We had a roasted let of Mutton or Lamb for dinner; and I thought (to myself) it was not in accordance with my [underscored] plans, when I was housekeeper: as it was my aim always to have the second [underscored] hot joint in the week in reserve for Thursday [underscored, so
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that Matthew might not have cold [underscored] meat on both [underscored] the days he dines in 4th St[reet] But I made no remark; as after tomorrow his dinners in town will be in Irving Place. [‘Irving Place’ underscored] I suppose: - indeed he may perhaps dine there tomorrow, if Mrs. Rich[ar]d Gilpin & Mary come there today, or are to come tomorrow – a point on which I am in ignorance.
I gave David & Sarah 2 fine Pears at desert that I had bo[ugh]t today at 5¢ each, & they afterwards each took a second one of more moderate size, costing but 3¢ each.
When dinner was over I shewed Sarah my open envelope to Harriet, & asked her if she had anything to put in it. She said, yes: [underscored] -& whilst she was writing her note to
as I
Harriet, I placed myself in L position, & ^ had but a short sleep during the previous 24 hours, I slept until Sarah woke me with, “Tea is ready” – I looked at my watch & found it was about 1/4 past 9, & after swallowing 2 cups of T[ea], I lighted a cigar & called forth at 9.25 to walk down to the P[ost] O[ffice] in Nassau St[reet], with the letter for Harriet, as it was too late for the [struck-through] [?][struck-throug] Station D. & I never like t lose a mail, if I can help it. – I walked both ways – each way in 40 minutes. The exercise was good: but the walk was not a pleasant one -owing to the horrid din of racing omnibusses, the glare of lights at the
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the various places of amusement & guzzling, & the crowds coming out of the Theatres etc. I had to cross B[road]way 3 times on my return to get clear of these throngs.
It was 1/4 to 11 when I got back, & con= =trary to expectation, I found David & Sarah still seated in the parlour: - whereupon I unstrung my lace-up-boots, & went up stairs to take them off & put on dry [underscored] socks instead of damp [underscored] ones – dame from per- =spiration; [‘perspiration’ underscored] & having washed hands & face, I came down to write this letter – which I have done, “currente calamo.”[‘currente calamo’ underscored] [‘without deep reflection’] – Ere I had got well started, Sarah came up stairs after going the rounds, & we had quite a chat.
She told me that Miss Mary Hadden had taken her out a riding today in their carriage. – We then talked of David, & I spoke of some of his whims & fancies during his late indisposition, - & how at one time it had rendered him querulous
rather cross sort of
or “naggy:” – e.g. a ^ note he had written to me in defence of Dr. Van Kleeck, after I had suggested (jokingly) that he was a quack. [underscored] I had supposed, as a matter of course after reading that note, that if D[avid] had been consulting any Dr. since, it has been the Dr. Van Kleeck: - but no: - D[avid] (as Sarah tells me to –night] has ever since that note, been consulting Dr. Wilkes, [‘Dr. Wilkes’ underscored] who has prescribed tonics of Quinine etc. for him, - & for his Sore-throat some stimulating
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(9) liniment, of Croton Oil, which D[avid] had used so profusely, or rubbed it in so hard, as to make an external sore, for which he had again to consult the Dr. – But we both agreed he is now well, [‘he...well’ underscored] tho’ rather weak
certainly
& ^ very much better than he fancies [underscored] him =self. – It was agreed that I should not
this secret of his
intimate to David that I had learnt ^ that he had changed his Dr. –
I then proposed to Sarah that she should tomorrow make a visit to Irving Place, to pay her respects to “Brinka [Brinca] dear” & Mary. She made objection thereto, by informing me at present, in consequence of a sore place above on of her ankles – which had come after a boil, & is discharging: that she
by
is applying some salve to it ^ his orders, & taking internally Brewers’ Yeast; & that he had told her to avoid walking as much as possible until the place is well. (Hence the ride [underscored], I suppose, today, with Miss Mary Hadden.) – I asked he to shew
the locality [underscored] of
me ^ the part affected, & saw it was some 2 or 3 inches above the boot, she had on: - whereupon I told her that she ought not to be wearing boots [underscored] at all now, but lose shoes. And I still urged her to go to Irving Place tomorrow, riding up & down in a Yellow-car. – I think (between you
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& me) that the principal objective to her doing so is that she has “a bone in her leg” rather than a sort spot outside of it.
No doubt she made this place worse by going about with W[illia]m & Sophy on Sunday afternoon & Monday, & in labouring at packing up his things on Monday night, & cutting down her night’s sleep that night, retiring so late, & rising so early, to wake him up before 6 yesterday morning.
The way she happened to meet the Dr. yesterday, therefore, was, as I presume, by herself going to see him [‘going...him’ underscored] about this sore spot. – The original cause of the malady has not doubt been the labours & loss of rest in nursing Walker at Orange, & probably, most of all, the 3 weeks [‘3 weeks’ underscored] spent at Dunnington [underscored] [Darien, Connecticut] when I suppose she took little or no exercise, & sat up too late also talking transcendentalism [underscored] with Miss D[unning] etc. etc. - & I am very glad that I ordered her & Walker home - & chiefly (as it was) for her [underscored] sake. – But I did not express any such opinions to her tonight.
Maria Gregory did not join the party to St. Louis [Missouri] –
1st Oct[ober] [‘1st Oct’ underscored] Thursday night. This date & the 19 or 20 Nov[ember], are not so far apart, but I might now, as when at school at Booth, [Halifax, West Yorkshire, England] take a small stick, & cut 49 or 50notches in it, for
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the interval between this & the commencement of the holidays, [underscored] alias your return via [steamer] Persia, cuttinig off 1 notch at the conclusion of each day: - for indeed it will [underscored] be Holiday to me, & to all of us (tho’ to me most of all) when you come back to us; - & per contra, [‘per contra’ underscored] [‘on the other hand] I fancy that the looking forward to “7 Nov”[ember], will be any thing but pleasant to the kind & worthy inmates of No. 11 Welfield Place. [Liverpool, England] – Give my kind love to them all in the meanwhile. – I am look forward with interest to your next letter for I suppose it will be chiefly on the subject of your visit to Gorslands on 15th Sept[ember], & on what Mary Bold may have told you about the Addisons.
I am very glad the Geo[rge] bold made himself so
most
useful on this ^ sad occasion, tho’ it was none other than I should have expected, with Mr. Liard’s consent.
This morn[in]g, ‘ere I went to the office, Mary Nugent re=
turned from a visit to the Central Market, after pur
=chasing a baasket of ‘Morris Whites’ for $3. I told her to buy the very finest ones she could find – partly be= =cause (as I observed) there would be the less trouble & loss in bulk from peeling & preparing big ones; - & she has been most successful: for just now, in going the rounds, -(as I told Sarah I would do in her stead) I had a [bunt?] for these same Peaches, & found them securely tied up in the basket, lying in the scullery, whereupon I un=
as
[kivered?] [covered?] them; where the fragrance was ^ that of “Nictar & Ambrosia,” & I robbed the basket of 5 extra ripe ones for tomorrow mornings consumption. – I see also there are 3 brown paper packages of white Sugar, bo[ugh]t today lying on the Kitchen table: - so there will be grand performances tomorrow in the preserving line.
To-night I told Sarah to have no less than 3 jars of the kind fitted for crossing the seas, filled with these same preserved Peaches, having in view a present of one of each (when Mr. D[avid] Spence goes back – tho’ when that’s to be is more than I can tell) to the Bold’s, the Cropper’s & Mary Wakefield.
This had been a gala day in processions of Military etc. for the reception of the chief Officers of the Rus- =sian Frigates recently arrived here. Sarah let the Miss Nugents take holiday to witness the
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Spectacle in Broadway. they went too late to set eyes upon “the Roosians;” [‘oo’ underscored] & Mary asked some acquaint= =ance who had been more fortunate, whether they look -ed like the “Japanese,” [underscored] & was surprised when told that they looked just like English & Americans!
At a later hour in the day, Sarah had a visit from Mrs. Dr. Van Rensselaer; & thus she never went to Irving Place; neither did Miss Mary Henrietta call here. – I find from Matthew that Mary & Brinca came here yesterday. [underscored] The latter is to start alone (without es- =cort, except, as I suppose, by Matthew to see her off) tomorrow morn[in]g, & Mary is to return with him in the afternoon to Cornwall [New York]; but Ja[me]s is to come to Irving Place on Saturday, to prepare for going to Colum =bia college on Monday morn[in]g. – I too have seen no =thing of Mary & Brinca. Last night my doings did not admit of it: & tonight, my nap before T[ea] lasting until 10 1/4,[double underscored] when I called forth at 10.25, I found all in darkness at No. 62 [Irving Place]; so I did not call there, but if we are breakfasted early, I intend, like Miss [Dombe...?] to “make an effort” to shake hands with “Brinca dear” ‘ere she starts from No. 62 tomorrow morn[in]g.
I was uneasy today when the usual period (11 1/2 a.m.) had long passed without Matthew presenting himself at the office, tho’ he was not wanted there for anything whatever. At last he surprised me by coming in about 3 1/2 [underscored] p.m., or later. He had come straight up from the [steamer] “M[ary] Powell;” & her late arrival was owing to dense fog on the [Hudson] River, above Cornwall.
He brought me a dispatch from Aunt E[lizabeth] which (being otherwise occupied) I was in no hurry to open, until he asked me to do so. The envelope contained a blank one unsealed & without address. Inside was an open letter addressed by her to her Sister Mary, care of Rev[eren]d T. S. Mott (I think) Raleigh No[rth] Ca[rolina], & I was de- =sired to put the address of the G[enera]l at F[or]t[ress] Monroe [Hampton, Virginia] on the outside envelope. – I knew not this any
[Marginalia] Gold opened this morn[in]g at 140 – but touched 143 at 3 p.m. & closed 142 1/4
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more than that of “the Man in the Moon;” – it was the very thing I had been wanting to know, in order to send a flag of truce letter one of these days to Nan: [underscored] -so I asked Walker to go out & make enquiry among all sorts of people, likely & unlikely, until he found it out for me.
After 15 or 20 minutes hunting about, he came in, & said that 4 or 5 persons agreed in saying it was Major Gen[era]l Foster, & I addressed it accordingly (with the addition of – “or the General in Chief,” Fortress Monroe, V[irgini]a) & then Walker took it in good time (4 1/4 p.m.) to the P[ost] O[ffice] & posted it; & by my desire proceeded homeward
((Jno [John] Russell, from some cause or other – I know not what -never came to the office at all today, & it devolved on David, who was the first down there, to open it at 11 1/4 a.m., & I came in 1/4 an hour or so after him: - I had stopped 1/2 an hour at Gilpins Room, gathering some interesting statistics, whilst waiting in vain for a chance to get some I wanted from the last copy of the London Times)) – This morn[in]g, I woke of my
self at 7, & after waking David, I went down stairs, & peel
=ed 2 fine Pears, one of which I presented to him, & thro’ the chink in her door, presented the other to Sarah. We were all 3 down stairs by 8. I was first, & made T[ea]. But after breakfast I was in no hurry to go down, as there was no- =thing to require it. After skimming the Times, I ruled off the perpendicular columns of 2 pages of the new weather book, for Oct[ober] & Nov[ember] & filled in the days of week & month. Then I smoked leisurely & watered the plants, & my cigar not being all consumed, I did some training at the convolvulusses
the
which adorn all parts of ^ wooden building against Mr. [Made’s?] house - & very graceful & beautiful they look, in the absence of Frankie, Maggie, & the ‘Old Man,” to demolish them! As I was thus employed, Walker presented himself, & I was glad to see him back safe & sound after his excursion.
I left the house about 10 1/4 & walked down, with a basket, which I filled & one of my pockets too, with 25 pears (2¢ each – but of indifferent quality) near the Post Office.
I have not done a line of letter [underscored] writing today. I set to work steadily upon ay Book entries, & made good progress, as I stuck to it until 5 p.m. when I shut up the Office & rode home at the back of “R[ail] R[oad] car – in which position I overtook, or saw, Matthew trudging up the Bowery about Prince St[reet]. He left the office at 4 1/2, but had calls to make – to execute, as I suppose, “Lightbody” [underscored] commissions for Aunt E[lizabeth]. – At the Office, when he was leaving, I gave him
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your last budget of 13/15 Sept[ember] & Tobin’s, and the letters from Ja[me]s & Rutson: - & he took them with him to read this even[in]g, at Irving Place. – It was fully 6 ‘ere we sat down to the cold Lamb or Mutton, which was on the point of being removed when Walker came in & joined us. At the office he had told me that on Sarah’s dressing the wound this morn[in]g, it was found that one of the 2 open places had ceased discharging, closed up & healed, leaving only that part open where the Ligature still remains. Knowing that sore places sometimes heal externally when, all be- =neath them is not sound & right, I told him so, & recommended his calling on Dr. Wilkes that he might look at the wound. W[alker] did so on his way to dinner, & that was the cause of his detention, for he had to wait some length of time for the Dr. to come in. The Dr. exam=
ined it thoroughly, & pronounced it all going on admi
=rably well. \\ Walker went again to see Mr. Edwards S[enio]r today & the result was his writing, at my suggestion, in his own name, a very ship-shape epistle of one page (good in both [p...o?] & scribo) to John Davis, Phila[delphia], & he addressed the envelope too. – I told him to take his time, & not be in a hurry about it; & he accomplished it much faster than I anticipated. – This employed him, & it saved my time for other duties in his stead.
The special object of Mr. Van Rensselaer’s call was to ask about you, [underscored] as it was so long since she had heard anything of you. Sarah posted her up accordingly, & told her of course all about Walker. Mrs. V[an] R[ensselaer] did not make a long call however; as she was going back to Green= bush today, I think. – She said the Dr. had again been much troubled with Asthma, & for that reason is noh[struck-through] most anxious to sell the old homestead, to come & live here, as he is always well in N[ew] York. But thus far he cannot find any purchaser. – Mrs. Cornell Odgen is at Pelham [New York], & her daughter, now quite well, is with her. \\ I have but 6 more letters to write to you. The st[eame]r of 24th Oct[ober], will take, (D.V.) the last one: - & unless something important should demand it I shall not add anything more to this one. \ We have dismissed parlour fires for 2 days, as each day & night are becoming warmer, last night’s min[imun] 57 [degrees], today’s max[imu]m 71 [degrees] [underscored]. All this week the weather has been most lovely. – I have been on my feet today uninterruptedly from 8 1/2 a.m. til 6 p.m. tho’ I have had but 4 miles walk. With so very [underscored] long a nap since T[ea]
[Marginalia] I don’t feel tired now: but it is high time for me to go to bed. Yours affectionately R[utson] Maury.
