Thanks my dear friend for the nice chicken—I have just had a part of it for my dinner—& the honey in the comb just like that is something I like—I had a very pleasant visit out in Germantown—I went partly at the request of a fine jolly young Englishman who is visiting there for a few days, & told me much about my friends in England (of whom I find I have far more than I knew of)—
I am about as usual—feel considerably better, more able to get around loc_jc.00540_large.jpgsince the cool weather has set in—had rather a bad summer—my walking power gives out more this year, & I am afraid is destined to be worse, instead of better—otherwise I am about the same—appetite good—spirits ditto—
—I am sorry I wasn't in when you stopped this forenoon—have been hoping you would stop this afternoon—Does George keep well this fall?—Ruth how do you like married life?2—I rec'd the cake—very nice—Well Ed, how are you about Cleveland?3—I am just as well satisfied—
—I have rec'd a long letter from Herbert4—nothing very new. The Lord bless you & be with you all—
Walt WhitmanCorrespondent:
Susan M. Lamb Stafford
(1833–1910) was the mother of Harry Stafford (1858–1918), who, in
1876, became a close friend of Whitman while working at the printing office of
the Camden New Republic. Whitman regularly visited the
Staffords at their family farm near Kirkwood, New Jersey. Whitman enjoyed the
atmosphere and tranquility that the farm provided and would often stay for weeks
at a time (see David G. Miller, "Stafford, George and Susan M.," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings [New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998], 685).