Walt Whitman to William D. O'Connor, 14 October [1870]

About This Item

Title: Walt Whitman to William D. O'Connor, 14 October [1870]
Date: October 14, 1870
Creator(s): Walt Whitman
Whitman Archive ID: nyp.00296
Source: The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, New York Public Library. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), 116. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to William D. O'Connor, 14 October [1870]." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 05 January 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
Source File: nyp.00296.xml (TEI)

Brooklyn Friday afternoon
Oct. 141 Dear William O'Connor,

I have just rec'd your letter. To make the matter certain won't you take thirty or forty minutes & go down to the St. Cloud—look at the rooms, & pick out one for me?—positively engaging it—You know what is good as well as I do, (I mean for me)—I shall want a room at least for a few weeks—& perhaps for the winter—& for that season one is not so particular about the location—(But perhaps you have already engaged for me at St. C. a specific room.)

lovingly Walt.2

Notes

1. This letter is endorsed, "Answered" (?). Its envelope bears the address, "Wm. D. O'Connor, | Treasury Department, | Light House Board | Washington, | D.C." It is postmarked "New-York | (?) | (?)." [back]
2. "Sigma" noted in the New York Evening Mail on October 27, 1870, the poet's return to Washington, "where Walt Whitman fitly belongs, both in his personnel and what his works represent." The correspondent also reported that Whitman now supported the French, liked and defended Grant, and placed "little stock in 'woman's rights.'" [back]