Camden New Jersey1
Tho't I w'd send a line to show we do not forget you—but have no particular
word to write—suppose you rec'd the letters & papers I sent2—Have
heard f'm y'r aunts H[annah]3 and M[ary]4
lately—both are poorly in health but H is getting around—nothing new
with me—as I write it is late at night Dec: 31
'90—a storm out.
Jan: 1, '91—Well it has come—a dark
stormy morning here—but of course it will clear & brighten up—
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
Jessie Louisa Whitman
(1863–1957) was the youngest daughter of Thomas Jefferson "Jeff" Whitman
and Martha Mitchell "Mattie" Whitman, Walt Whitman's brother and sister-in-law.
Jessie and her older sister Manahatta ("Hattie") (1860–1886) were both
favorites of their uncle Walt.
Notes
- 1. This letter is addressed:
Miss Jessie Louisa Whitman | 2437 2d Carondelet Av: | Saint Louis | Missouri. It
is postmarked: Camden, N(?) | Jan 1 | 10 AM | 91. [back]
- 2. It is uncertain which
letters Whitman is referring to here. He had written to his niece on November 30, 1890. [back]
- 3. Hannah Louisa (Whitman) Heyde
(1823–1908), youngest sister of Walt Whitman, married Charles Louis Heyde
(ca. 1820–1892), a Pennsylvania-born landscape painter. Charles Heyde was
infamous among the Whitmans for his offensive letters and poor treatment of
Hannah. Hannah and Charles Heyde lived in Burlington, Vermont. For more, 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]
- 4. Mary Elizabeth (Whitman) Van
Nostrand (1821–1899) was the oldest daughter of Louisa Van Velsor Whitman
and Walter Whitman, Sr., and Walt Whitman's younger sister. She married Ansel
Van Nostrand, a shipwright, in 1840, and they subsequently moved to Greenport,
Long Island. They raised five children: George, Fanny, Louisa, Ansel, Jr., and
Mary Isadore "Minnie." See Jerome M. Loving, ed., "Introduction,"
Civil War Letters of George Washington Whitman (Durham,
North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1975), 10–11. [back]