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Samuel G. Stanley to Walt Whitman, 25 October 1891

 loc_gt.00077_large.jpg Dear Friend Walter,

I recid your kind note of the 13th: with papers &c, & welcome they was.2

I was surprised & greived​ to hear of my old friend Jeffs3 death. He was a grand good boy, & I well remember the many long walks he & I had together.— loc_gt.00078_large.jpg  loc_gt.00079_large.jpgHe was a good true friend & often at my own fireside I speak of him of one of the lads I knew who had true Sterling qualities of manhood in him. Peace to his memory. I did hope to meet him again & talk of old times I shall meet him on the "Other Shore" I trust.

With a heart full of love to you my dear friend,

I am Yours truly Sam. G. Stanley. 323 Macon St.  loc_gt.00080_large.jpg  loc_gt.00075_large.jpg Sam G. Stanley.  loc_gt.00076_large.jpg

Correspondent:
Samuel Goodman Stanley (1830–1909) was raised in Brooklyn before heading to California during the 1849 Gold Rush. Upon returning from California in the early 1850s, Stanley established a sash and blind building company, with two branches in Brooklyn and Washington D.C. According to Stanley's letter to Whitman of July 13, 1886, he was an old friend of the poet's from Brooklyn. During the Civil War years, Stanley seems to have been in Washington, and he recalled standing near Secretary Chase's residence when Abraham Lincoln passed by.


Notes

  • 1. This letter is addressed: Walt Whitman | 328 Mickle St. | Camden. | N. J. It is postmarked: Brooklyn, [cut away] | Oct 26 | 10 30 AM | 91; Camden, N.J. | Oct 26 | 6 PM | 91 | Rec'd. [back]
  • 2. See Whitman's letter to Stanley of October 13, 1891. [back]
  • 3. Thomas Jefferson Whitman (1833–1890), known as "Jeff," was Walt Whitman's favorite brother. As a civil engineer, Jeff eventually became Superintendent of Water Works in St. Louis and a nationally recognized figure. For more on Jeff, see Randall Waldron, "Whitman, Thomas Jefferson (1833–1890)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
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