I wonder how you are geting on this hot weather! I did hope that we were not going to have any very hot weather this summer but the past two or three days have been very hot.
I have thought of you so much & wondered how you are geting on I should have
written to you before this had I not heard from you through pap & Debbie.1 & Herbert2 comes down once in A while & we hear from you
through him. I have been in Camden once or twice & should have called to see you
but thought perhaps my comeing would not be pleasant to you as we
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understood that you did not see only A
few of your friends.
I went to Marlton to day saw Harry & Eva3 they are all well. Harry looks well he asked after you said he had called once or twice at your place some time A go, but couldnot see you
I suppose you know that Gomery Stafford4 has sold the old place at Kirkwood5 every thing is changed there now it's all laid out in Building lots & Avenues & the old pond has become quite A pleasure resort. one cant go ther now without meeting hundreds of people
how much we should like to see you with us once again but suppose that can never be. Its A pleasure to know that you are comfortable—am glad to know that Mrs D6 & the nurse7 are kind I hope you will write to us something & tell us how you are geting on
with much love v S M StaffordCorrespondent:
Susan M. Lamb Stafford
(1833–1910) was the mother of Harry Stafford (1858–1918), who, in
1876, became a close friend of Whitman while working at the printing office of
the Camden New Republic. Whitman regularly visited the
Staffords at their family farm near Kirkwood, New Jersey. Whitman enjoyed the
atmosphere and tranquility that the farm provided and would often stay for weeks
at a time (see David G. Miller, "Stafford, George and Susan M.," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings [New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998], 685).