I should like to come down & see you & see George,1 but I am quite poorly & it has been such hot weather—I am quite concerned about him2 & w'd wish to help somehow—If you w'd wish a little money I can let you have it, as I can spare it—or if there is any thing George would like that I c'd get up here, you write me, & it w'd be a pleasure to me to get it—I send George my love & the same to 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).