Camden N J—USA
Night Dec: 31 '89
Dear Ed
Y'r letter came this forenoon & am glad you keep well & are satisfied at y'r
occupation1—No doubt it will turn out well as
it is a good business & with ordinary luck will return a handsome
income—& besides it is y'r own choice & satisfaction—wh' is a
great point—Nothing very new or different here—If you were to come here
(& pleas'd w'd I be to see you, boy) now, you w'd see me seated by the oak wood
fire in the big ratan chair with the gray wolf-skin spread on the back, & the
same old litter of papers & MSS & books around on the floor in the same old
muss—I don't get any worse but no improvement in health or strength
either—but I keep pretty good spirits & eat & sleep fairly
yet—Have my daily curryings, & get out often in wheel
chair2—Warren3 has had a couple or three days
sickness—the doctor was a little afraid of typhoid fever, but it seems to have
pass'd over, & he is getting ab't the same as before—Mrs: D[avis]4 is well—I send you a paper—hear from Dr B[ucke]5 often—he is well & busy—Warren is learning the
fiddle—he is getting along well—takes lessons of Watson.6
Good bye for the present, Ed, & my remembrances & love to you, boy—
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
Edward "Ned" Wilkins
(1865–1936) was one of Whitman's nurses during his Camden years; he was
sent to Camden from London, Ontario, by Dr. Richard M. Bucke, and he began
caring for Whitman on November 5, 1888. He stayed for a year before returning to
Canada to attend the Ontario Veterinary School. Wilkins graduated on March 24,
1893, and then he returned to the United States to commence his practice in
Alexandria, Indiana. For more information, see Bert A. Thompson, "Edward
Wilkins: Male Nurse to Walt Whitman," Walt Whitman Review
15 (September 1969), 194–195.
Notes
- 1. On December 24, 1889, Wilkins informed Whitman that he
had left Camden because he was unhappy with his Camden friends and because he
wanted to enter the "Veterinary business." [back]
- 2. Horace Traubel and Ed
Wilkins, Whitman's nurse, went to Philadelphia to purchase a wheeled chair for
the poet that would allow him to be "pull'd or push'd" outdoors. See Whitman's
letter to William Sloane Kennedy of May 8,
1889. [back]
- 3. Frank Warren Fritzinger
(1867–1899), known as "Warry," took Edward Wilkins's place as Whitman's
nurse, beginning in October 1889. Fritzinger and his brother Harry were the sons
of Henry Whireman Fritzinger (about 1828–1881), a former sea captain who
went blind, and Almira E. Fritzinger. Following Henry Sr.'s death, Warren and
his brother—having lost both parents—became wards of Mary O. Davis,
Whitman's housekeeper, who had also taken care of the sea captain and who
inherited part of his estate. A picture of Warry is displayed in the May 1891
New England Magazine (278). See Joann P. Krieg, "Fritzinger, Frederick Warren (1866–1899),"
Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998), 240. [back]
- 4. Mary Oakes Davis (1837 or
1838–1908) was Whitman's housekeeper. For more, see Carol J. Singley,
"Davis, Mary Oakes (1837 or 1838–1908)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 5. Richard Maurice Bucke (1837–1902) was a
Canadian physician and psychiatrist who grew close to Whitman after reading Leaves of Grass in 1867 (and later memorizing it) and
meeting the poet in Camden a decade later. Even before meeting Whitman, Bucke
claimed in 1872 that a reading of Leaves of Grass led him
to experience "cosmic consciousness" and an overwhelming sense of epiphany.
Bucke became the poet's first biographer with Walt
Whitman (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1883), and he later served as one
of his medical advisors and literary executors. For more on the relationship of
Bucke and Whitman, see Howard Nelson, "Bucke, Richard Maurice," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 6. As yet we have no information about
this person. [back]