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Charles L. Heyde to Walt Whitman, [29] February 1892

About This Item

  • Title: Charles L. Heyde to Walt Whitman, [29] February 1892
  • Date: February [29], 1892
  • Creator(s): Charles L. Heyde
  • Whitman Archive ID: duk.00493
  • Source: The Trent Collection of Whitmaniana, Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. Transcribed from digital images or a microfilm reproduction of the original item. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Contributors to digital file: Cristin Noonan Amanda J. Axley Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Heyde, Charles L.. "Charles L. Heyde to Walt Whitman, [29] February 1892." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 07 May 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: duk.00493.xml (TEI)
 duk.00493.001_large.jpg Studio 21 Pearl St Feby 29 18921 Our Dear Brother Walt,

Han2 has recd your kind donation, with letter, enclosing 5 dollars3—for the same her gratitude can scarcely find expression, yet constant reiteration, How good Walt is. She will acknowledge your kindness personaly, but her hand at times is allmost paralyzed by being shrunken, through chronic jaundice.

I have read your Autumn, or Nov. Boughs,4 and I am surprised that where pensions have been allotted to so numerous a class of undeserving persons, your devoted exposure of yourself at the bedside, or camps of the wounded, should have pased for nought.5

Enquiries are constantly made  duk.00493.002_large.jpg in this town of Burlington, respecting you.

I am now past 72 years of age.

My sign reads, ["]C. L. Heyde Painter of Vermont Scenery"

Han will acknowledge your letter and enclosure, personaly. She experiences much discomfort: Does not sleep well; refreshingly. Never did. The weather has been very cold for the last few days.

Charlie—

I remember very gratefully your good will, in remittances in past times—Never shall, coud not forget You.

Correspondent:
Charles Louis Heyde (ca. 1820–1892), a French-born landscape painter, married Hannah Louisa Whitman (1823–1908), Walt Whitman's sister, and they lived in Burlington, Vermont. Charles Heyde was infamous among the Whitmans for his offensive letters and poor treatment of Hannah. For more information about Heyde, see Steven Schroeder, "Heyde, Charles Louis (1822–1892)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).

Notes

  • 1. Heyde dated this letter "Feby 1892" in pencil. The day, "29," has been writted in red ink and inserted between the month and the year; this insertion may have been supplied by Richard Maurice Bucke. [back]
  • 2. Hannah Louisa Whitman Heyde (1823–1908) was the fourth child of Walter and Louisa Whitman and Walt Whitman's youngest sister. Hannah was named for her paternal grandmother, Hannah Brush Whitman (1753–1834), and her mother, Louisa Van Velsor Whitman (1795–1873). Although Walt Whitman had a close relationship with his younger brother Jeff Whitman, Hannah was his favorite, most beloved sibling. Until she married, Hannah lived at home with her parents and her brothers. Educated at the Hempstead Academy, Hannah taught school in rural Long Island. On March 23, 1852, Hannah married Charles Louis Heyde (ca. 1820–1892), a landscape painter. It is possible that Walt introduced Hannah to Charles. In August 1852 the Heydes departed for Vermont. The first decade of their marriage was marked by constant moving from boarding houses to hotels, mostly in rural Vermont, as Heyde sought out vantage points for his landscape paintings. In 1864 the Heydes settled in Burlington, purchasing a house on Pearl Street. After Hannah's marriage and relocation to Vermont, Mother Whitman became Hannah's faithful correspondent; Walt also kept in touch, sending letters and editions of Leaves of Grass after publication. Hannah faced several health crises during her marriage, partly due to the ongoing trauma of emotional, verbal, and physical intimate partner violence that she experienced. In the 1880s and 1890s Heyde increasingly had difficulty earning enough to cover household expenses; in addition, he may have become an alcoholic. He repeatedly asked Whitman for funds to cover their expenses. Whitman sent both Heyde and Hannah small amounts of money. After Heyde died in 1892, Hannah remained in Burlington, living in their house on Pearl Street until her death in 1908. For more information, see Paula K. Garrett, "Whitman (Heyde), Hannah Louisa (d. 1908)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
  • 3. Whitman had written to Hannah Whitman Heyde on February 24, 1892. [back]
  • 4. Whitman's November Boughs was published in October 1888 by Philadelphia publisher David McKay. For more information on the book, see James E. Barcus Jr., "November Boughs [1888]," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
  • 5. Given the poet's precarious financial situation, many of his supporters in the late 1880s lobbied for granting Whitman a war pension for his services during the Civil War. Representative Henry B. Lovering proposed a bill to the House in 1887 that would have secured a $25/month pension for Whitman. Ultimately, the bill was dropped, though, possibly because of an objection by Whitman. [back]
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