Walt Whitman to Ellen M. O'Connor, 19 September 1889

About This Item

Title: Walt Whitman to Ellen M. O'Connor, 19 September 1889
Date: September 19, 1889
Creator(s): Walt Whitman
Whitman Archive ID: nyp.00697
Source: The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, New York Public Library. The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1961–1977), 375. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
Contributors to digital file: Alex Ashland Ryan Furlong Breanna Himschoot Stephanie Blalock
Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Walt Whitman to Ellen M. O'Connor, 19 September 1889." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 09 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
Source File: nyp.00697.xml (TEI)

Camden1 Evn'g. Sept. 19 '89

Nothing new or notable—have not heard for certain yet whether you are in Boston safe. Suppose so tho'—& that you rec'd the photo. of Wm:2 I lent—also the "Liberty" piece sent3—(I sent one to C W E[ldridge])4—much the same as when I wrote—not at my worst but bad enough—I sit here writing & reading in moderation—unable to move—

Walt Whitman

Correspondent:
Ellen M. "Nelly" O'Connor (1830–1913) was the wife of William D. O'Connor (1832–1889), one of Whitman's staunchest defenders. Before marrying William, Ellen Tarr was active in the antislavery and women's rights movements as a contributor to the Liberator and to a women's rights newspaper Una. Whitman dined with the O'Connors frequently during his Washington years. Though Whitman and William O'Connor would temporarily break off their friendship in late 1872 over Reconstruction policies with regard to emancipated African Americans, Ellen would remain friendly with Whitman. The correspondence between Whitman and Ellen is almost as voluminous as the poet's correspondence with William. Three years after William O'Connor's death, Ellen married the Providence businessman Albert Calder. For more on Whitman's relationship with the O'Connors, see Dashae E. Lott, "O'Connor, William Douglas [1832–1889]" and Lott's "O'Connor (Calder), Ellen ('Nelly') M. Tarr (1830–1913)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).

Notes

1. This letter is addressed: Mrs: E M O'Connor | care Charles E Legg | 146 Devonshire Street | Boston Mass:. It is postmarked: Camden, N.J. | Sep 19 | 8 PM | 89; Boston | Sep 20 89 | 3 PM | 6. [back]
2. William Douglas O'Connor (1832–1889) was the author of the grand and grandiloquent Whitman pamphlet The Good Gray Poet: A Vindication, published in 1866. For more on Whitman's relationship with O'Connor, see Deshae E. Lott, "O'Connor, William Douglas (1832–1889)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
3. Horace L. Traubel's article, "W.D. O'Connor of Massachusetts," was published in Liberty 6 (September 7, 1889), 5. Whitman praises the article in conversation with Traubel. See Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Saturday, September 7, 1889. [back]
4. Charles W. Eldridge (1837–1903) was one half of the Boston-based abolitionist publishing firm Thayer and Eldridge, who issued the 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass. In December 1862, on his way to find his injured brother George in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Whitman stopped in Washington and encountered Eldridge, who had become a clerk in the office of the army paymaster, Major Lyman Hapgood. Eldridge helped Whitman gain employment in Hapgood's office. For more on Whitman's relationship with Thayer and Eldridge, see David Breckenridge Donlon, "Thayer, William Wilde (1829–1896) and Charles W. Eldridge (1837–1903)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]