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Public Ledger Building
S.W. Corner 6th & Chestnut Streets,
Phildelphia.
My dear old friend
I want to be present to congratulate you on your
seventieth birthday,1 and to tell you how glad I am that kind
Providence has preserved your health, and given you so many appreciative friends.
God bless you
Geo. W. Childs
May 22/89
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Correspondent:
George William Childs
(1829–1894) was an American publisher from Baltimore, Maryland, who became
the co-owner of the Philadelphia Public Ledger. He was
married to Emma Bouvier Childs; the couple had no children.
Notes
- 1. For Whitman's seventieth
birthday, Horace Traubel and a large committee planned a local celebration for
the poet in Morgan's Hall in Camden, New Jersey. The committee included Henry
(Harry) L. Bonsall, Geoffrey Buckwalter, and Thomas B. Harned. See Horace
Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Tuesday, May 7, 1889. The day was celebrated with a testimonial
dinner. Numerous authors and friends of the poet prepared and delivered
addresses to mark the occasion. Whitman, who did not feel well at the time,
arrived after the dinner to listen to the remarks. [back]