Well I am still here Pete, kept in pretty close quarters by the weather—but it seems to be something
of a let up this morning—There is nothing special to write about—but I thought I would send you
a line this morning. I sent you a letter two days ago with $10—(the second 10 I have sent)
Write me whether you rec'd it all right. I hope you are not discouraged loc.01543.002_large.jpgby the way things work
on the road—It wont be very long, now before I shall be back with you—Give my love to
Mr. & Mrs. Nash—tell Wash Milburne I wish him success in the "graduate of Pharmacy" line,
& every thing else—give him my love—
with a kiss from your loving father—
Correspondent:
Peter Doyle (1843–1907) was
one of Walt Whitman's closest comrades and lovers, and their friendship spanned
nearly thirty years. The two met in 1865 when the twenty-one-year-old Doyle was
a conductor in the horsecar where the forty-five-year-old Whitman was a
passenger. Despite his status as a veteran of the Confederate Army, Doyle's
uneducated, youthful nature appealed to Whitman. Although Whitman's stroke in
1873 and subsequent move from Washington to Camden limited the time the two
could spend together, their relationship rekindled in the mid-1880s after Doyle
moved to Philadelphia and visited nearby Camden frequently. After Whitman's
death, Doyle permitted Richard Maurice Bucke to publish the letters Whitman had
sent him. For more on Doyle and his relationship with Whitman, see Martin G.
Murray, "Doyle, Peter," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia,
ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing,
1998).