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Camden1
Feb: 4 '91
Cold & sunny here—Lou2 was in this mn'g —all
are well as usual—Jess3 is getting along at
St
Louis—nothing very new or different—Ed4 is the same at
Blackwood—Have not heard
f'm Mary5 lately—
A pretty bad fortnight with me the last, but might be worse—
am sitting here as usual as I write this—Dr Bucke6 is quite sick abed—Love to you,
sister dear—$2 enclosed—Sun out
shining beautifully—the 1 o'c whistle7 just blown
Walt Whitman
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Correspondent:
Hannah Louisa Whitman Heyde
(1823–1908) was the fourth child of Walter and Louisa Whitman and Walt
Whitman's youngest sister. Hannah was named for her paternal grandmother, Hannah
Brush Whitman (1753–1834), and her mother, Louisa Van Velsor Whitman
(1795–1873). Although Walt Whitman had a close relationship with his
younger brother Jeff Whitman, Hannah was his favorite, most beloved sibling.
Until she married, Hannah lived at home with her parents and her brothers.
Educated at the Hempstead Academy, Hannah taught school in rural Long Island. On
March 23, 1852, Hannah married Charles Louis Heyde (ca. 1820–1892), a
landscape painter. It is possible that Walt introduced Hannah to Charles. In
August 1852 the Heydes departed for Vermont. The first decade of their marriage
was marked by constant moving from boarding houses to hotels, mostly in rural
Vermont, as Heyde sought out vantage points for his landscape paintings. In 1864
the Heydes settled in Burlington, purchasing a house on Pearl Street. After
Hannah's marriage and relocation to Vermont, Mother Whitman became Hannah's
faithful correspondent; Walt also kept in touch, sending letters and editions of
Leaves of Grass after publication. Hannah faced
several health crises during her marriage, partly due to the ongoing trauma of
emotional, verbal, and physical intimate partner violence that she experienced.
In the 1880s and 1890s Heyde increasingly had difficulty earning enough to cover
household expenses; in addition, he may have become an alcoholic. He repeatedly
asked Whitman for funds to cover their expenses. Whitman sent both Heyde and
Hannah small amounts of money. After Heyde died in 1892, Hannah remained in
Burlington, living in their house on Pearl Street until her death in 1908. For
more information, 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).
Notes
- 1. In March 1884, Whitman
purchased a house at 328 Mickle Street in Camden, New Jersey. He lived in this
house until his death on March 26, 1892. [back]
- 2. Louisa Orr Haslam Whitman
(1842–1892), called "Loo" or "Lou," married Walt's brother George Whitman
on April 14, 1871. They moved to Camden in 1872. Walt Whitman lived with them
from 1873–1884. For more information, see Karen Wolfe, "Whitman, Louisa Orr Haslam (Mrs. George) (1842–1892)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. 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. [back]
- 4. Eddy (Edward) Whitman
(1835–1892), the youngest child of Louisa and Walter Whitman, was mentally
and physically disabled. He lived with Mother Whitman until her death in 1873,
then with his brother George Washington Whitman and his wife Louisa Orr Haslam
Whitman. Walt Whitman contributed to his support. Eddy was placed in an asylum
in Blackwood, New Jersey, in 1888. For more information, see Randall Waldron,
"Whitman, Edward (1835–1892)," Walt Whitman:
An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 5. Mary Elizabeth Whitman Van
Nostrand (1821–1899) was the third child of Walter Whitman and Louisa Van
Velsor Whitman. Mary married Ansel Van Nostrand, a shipbuilder, in 1840 and
moved to Greenport, Long Island, a whaling town. Hannah and Walt visited her
there before Hannah's marriage to Charles L. Heyde. Mary and Ansel had five
children: George, Fanny, Louisa, Ansel, and Minnie. For more information, see
Paula K. Garrett, "Whitman (Van Nostrand), Mary Elizabeth (b. 1821)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D.
Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 6. Richard Maurice Bucke
(1837–1901), a Canadian physician and psychiatrist, was the Head of the
Asylum for the Insane in Ontario, Canada, and a close friend of Whitman. In
1867, Bucke read Whitman's poetry for the first time and became a devoted
follower; he visited Whitman in Camden in 1877. Bucke became the poet's first
biographer with Walt Whitman (Philadelphia: David McKay,
1883) and was one of Whitman's literary executors after Whitman's death in 1892.
Bucke also provided a date (usually the year) for many of Hannah's letters to
Whitman. For more information, see Howard Nelson, "Bucke, Richard Maurice (1837–1901)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 7. Geographically, Camden was
ideally suited for industrialization because of its proximity to Philadelphia
and to the Delaware and Cooper Rivers. During the second half of the nineteenth
century Camden experienced tremendous growth in factories, lumber firms, mills,
and chemical plants. See George R. Prowell, Camden County, New
Jersey (Philadelphia: L.J. Richards, 1886), for a description of the
"Porcelain Tooth Manufactury, at No. 314 Mickle St." which employed fifteen
laborers and produced 1500 "full sets of teeth each week" (530). Whitman
listened for the factory whistles during the day and evening and marked the time
of day by them, as his comment illustrates. [back]