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Walt Whitman to Richard Maurice Bucke, 8 February 1892

About This Item

  • Title: Walt Whitman to Richard Maurice Bucke, 8 February 1892
  • Date: February 8, 1892
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.05877
  • Source: The Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 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: Will Cooper Amanda J. Axley Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to Richard Maurice Bucke, 8 February 1892." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 03 May 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.05877.xml (TEI)
 loc_no.00127_large.jpg  loc_no.00126_large.jpg Monday, Feb 8 pm '92

Geo Stafford1 the father is dead—buried tomorrow—I keep on much the same—probably growing weaker—bowel movement an hour ago. bad steady pain in left side what I call under belly—Dr. McA2 here daily—

God bless you all Walt Whitman  loc_no.00124_large.jpg  loc_no.00125_large.jpg  loc_no.00128_large.jpg  loc_no.00129_large.jpg

Notes

  • 1. George Stafford (1827–1892) was the father of Harry Stafford, a young man whom Whitman befriended in 1876 in Camden. Harry's parents, George and Susan Stafford, were tenant farmers at White Horse Farm near Kirkwood, New Jersey, where Whitman visited them on several occasions. For more on Whitman and the Staffords, 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). [back]
  • 2. Dr. Alexander McAlister (1864–?) of Camden, along with the Philadelphia physician Daniel Longaker (1858–1949), attended and treated Whitman during his final illness. Later, after the city of Camden purchased Whitman's Mickle Street house, Dr. McAlister served as the chairman of the Walt Whitman Foundation, which was dedicated to administering and preserving the poet's final home. [back]
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