Frances (Fanny) Taylor to Walt Whitman, [31 May 1889]

About This Item

Title: Frances (Fanny) Taylor to Walt Whitman, [31 May 1889]
Date: [May 31, 1889]
Creator(s): Fannie Taylor | Frances (Fanny) Taylor
Whitman Archive ID: loc.08099
Source: The Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Transcribed from digital images or a microfilm reproduction of the original item. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
Contributors to digital file: Zainab Saleh Stephanie Blalock Brandon James O'Neil
Cite this page: Taylor, Fannie and Frances (Fanny) Taylor. "Frances (Fanny) Taylor to Walt Whitman, [31 May 1889]." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 06 December 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
Source File: loc.08099.xml (TEI)

loc_zs.00191.jpg Form No. 1 THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY. This Company TRANSMITS and DELIVERS messages only on conditions limiting its liability, which have been assented to by the sender of the following message. Errors can be guarded against only be repeating a message back to the sending station, for comparison, and the company will not hold itself liable for errors or delays in the transmission or delivery of Unrepeated Messages, beyond the amount of tolls paid thereon, nor in any case where the claim is not presented in writing within 60 days after sending the message. This is an UNREPEATED MESSAGE, and is delivered by the request of the sender, under the conditions named above. THOS. T. ECKERT, General Manager. NORVIN GREEN, President. NUMBER 38P
SENT BY SB
REC'D By a
CHECK COD [illegible]7a Recieved at 1881 Dated St. Louis Mo 31 To Walt Whitman

Many congratulations upon reaching your three score & ten2

Fanny Taylor

Correspondent:
Frances (Fanny) Taylor (1846–1907) was the daughter of Rufus J. Lackland, who served as the president of the Boatmen's Savings Institution (later, the Boatmen's National Bank of St. Louis). She was married to the civil engineer, Theodore Thompson Taylor (1833–1899). Whitman inscribed to her a copy of the Author's Edition of Leaves of Grass (1882); the volume is now part of the collection of the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis. See Walter H. Eitner, "A Unique Copy of Leaves of Grass (1882)," Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 1 (1983), 40–44.

Notes

1. The final digit in the year in which this telegram was sent has not been filled in by the correspondent or the telegraph company. [back]
2. This telegram was printed, along with numerous other notes and addresses honoring Whitman on the occasion of his 70th birthday, in Camden's Compliment to Walt Whitman: May 31, 1889: Notes, Addresses, Letters, Telegrams, ed. Horace L. Traubel (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: David McKay), 71. [back]