Our hearts out here are with you more than you probably think at this gloomy time.1 I hope & trust you both bear up under it, & that the "God help us" of your telegraphic message will be fulfilled—I find myself better than toward the conclusion of former summers—am still living here at 328 Mickle st—& comfortable.
—I am anxious to hear whether Lou got there all right—am sitting here down stairs by the open window as I write—warm here for two days.
Walt Whitman mhs.00023.002_large.jpgCorrespondents:
Thomas Jefferson Whitman
(1833–1890), known as "Jeff," was Walt Whitman's favorite brother. As a
civil engineer, Jeff eventually became Superintendent of Water Works in St.
Louis and a nationally recognized figure. For more on Jeff, see Randall Waldron,
"Whitman, Thomas Jefferson (1833–1890)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Jessie Louisa Whitman
(1863–1957) was the second and youngest daughter of Whitman's brother
Thomas Jefferson "Jeff" Whitman (1833–1890) and Jeff's wife Martha
Mitchell Whitman (1836–1873).