H L14
JL 178
OMC 21
Washington, 28 February 1855
ink
blue-ruled
watermark/embossment: SLP, Superfine Laid Paper, embossed
20 x 13 cm.
folded in rectangles
FF 202-205, in part. Paste marks. Lines pencilled through every paragraph. "Washington"
or "shyness" written across lines in sixth paragraph beginning "Vinnie met the other evening."
Envelope has been torn open, sealing wax is still attached, and Johnson notes it is addressed "Miss
Susan H. Gilbert. / Amherst. / Mass." and franked: "Edw. Dickinson M.C." He also describes
the sisters travels: they were in Washington "from the middle of February until early March, and
visited the Colemans in Philadelphia on the way home." Another records of their visit to
Washington is "the inscription in Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, The Last Leaf from Sunnyside" by
"Mrs. James Brown," dated "February 19, 1855, Washington." Johnson identifies other
references in the letter: "J. Brown & Lady' from Alabama are recorded as arrivals at Willard's
Hotel on February 5. Susan and Martha Gilbert arrived at Amherst on February 10. "Little
Dwightie" was the youngest child of their sister Harriet, Mrs. William Cutler, with whom they
now lived."
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Image reproduced by permission of the Houghton Library, Harvard University. Not to be reproduced in whole or in part without permission.
Transcription and commentary copyright 1996 by Martha Nell Smith, all rights reserved
Last updated on June 5, 2001
Maintained by Lara Vetter <lv26@umail.umd.edu>