Transcription
CATALOG NUMBER HF 3024 D
OBJECT NAME Letter
DATE September 24, 1839
AUTHOR Julia Hoffman
RECIPIENT Alice Anne Hoffman Nicholas
MEDIUM Paper, ink
PEOPLE Mary Rhinelander, Phil Rhinelander, Charles Fenno Hoffman,
Emma Nicholas Maloney, Matilda Nicholas Whitman, Richard S.
Maloney (“new nephew”), sisters of Maloney, George Hoffman,
Ogden Hoffman Jr., Mrs. Morris Robinson, Mary Kemble, Governeur Kemble, Mr. Parrot, Kate Slidell, Mrs. Paulding, Mrs. Verplanck, Sam [last name unknown]
PLACES Chicago, mountains and “the woods”, London, the Foundry, West
Point
EVENTS wedding of Mary Rhinelander, death of Phil Rhinelander, Charles
Fenno Hoffman “excursion among the mountains” with George and Ogden, Cholera, marriage of Emma Nicholas Maloney, Maloneys “to live in Chicago”with Anne back and forth, Ogden in College, death of Mrs. Morris Robinson, engagement of Mary Kemble
Addressed to:
Rev. S. S. Whitman
Postmaster
Belvedere ___
Via Chicago Illinois __
[Postmark]
Fishkill [unrecovered], Sept 25
*Original spelling retained throughout work; content appears exactly as written.
[PAGE 1]
Fishkill September 24th 1839
The sight of your handwriting was / indeed most welcome to me dear Sister and your letter the very / kind of one I wished to receive about yourselves is what I always / wish to know and this last year I have heard from you so seldom / and known so little of your concerns that I have felt as if I were / farther from you even than I actually am, you see I intend to keep my part of the promise of writing oftener for I am answering your / letter on the very day on which I received it. Before this reaches you / the newspapers will have told you, as they have me today the sad / news of Phil Rhinelander’s death of the particulars I know nothing / except that Mr. Verplanck heard in the city that he died of Cholera / poor Mary it will be a horrible affliction to her to have him die / so far away among strangers seems very dreadful, her bright face / was saddened for a moment as her wedding when she said to me / if Phil and Emma were only here, she little dreamed that one of / them would never be here again, when our friends go on a jaunt / of pleasure the possibility of their dying away from us never seems /
[END OF PAGE 1]
[PAGE 2]
to occur to us and the blow appears so great to bear. May God / strengthen Mary in her hard trial, when Charles returns to town / from his excursion among the mountains I shall have some of the / particulars from him and will write to Em at once. / I received Emma’s letter informing of her marriage about three / weeks ago just after I had written to Matilda and intended / to have answered it today until you determined me to write / to you first, I rejoice in our dear Em’s happiness and feel a great / desire to become acquainted with my new nephew you are all so / delighted with him that I am sure I shall like him too it must / be very pleasant too for him to have so agreeable a family the sisters / especially must a great acquisition to you, I am glad that they are to live in Chicago I was afraid Dr. Maloney would travel off farther / or go South but now you will be so near Matilda and in a civi - / lized place where you have friends, you I suppose will divide your / time between the two how much I should like to come out to come / out and see you and if we can ever afford it I most certainly / shall, but the boys are as George says so like the buckets in a well / only one up at a time that I almost despair of ever being rich / enough to keep house again much less to travel where I please, but / I ought not to repine for I have been really blest in homes for really / three years the only difficulty has been to get away from the kind / friend to go to another, I don’t know when I shall go to Philadelphia / possibly next month, I cannot determine until I know what the / boys have decided on for the winter, should George be at Albany / I would not like to go very far away from him he is unused now / to so very cold a climate and it makes me feel anxious about him /
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[PAGE 3]
Charles has been with now nearly four weeks living in the woods / Ogden junior too is with them and they say they enjoy themselves / exceedingly I do not hear often for they get quite out of the way of / post offices in their wanderings I must have some news soon though / for it almost time for Charles to go to town and Og will have / to be in town for College. I suppose you have seen in the papers / the death of Mrs. Morris Robinson in London she was ill but two / days of Cholera Morbus and died perfectly happy and resigned / she gave herself up from the moment she was taken ill and had / her senses to the last moment she sent messages of love and kind - / ness to all she loved at home and prayed that God would / support her husband in his affliction, she told her daughters who / were with her to remain with their father as long as his business / required him to remain abroad. The family are all of course [torn] / great affliction Kate Slidell is quite ill with grief.
One piece of news I have heard of a friend of your which I think [torn] / astonish you a little, Mary Kemble is engaged to a Mr. Parrot, he / is a gentleman who was educated at West Point has been superin - / tendant of the Foundry for some years and lately the partner / of Governeur Kemble when they are to be married I have not / heard but I suppose soon as Mrs. Paulding returns to Washington / before long. Love to dear Matilda and Emma and kind remem- /brances to their husbands, I will write again soon.
Ever your affectionate sister
Julia H.
Mrs. Verplanck and Mary / desire to be remembered to you and the girls / and Sam would if he knew of your message but I have not / seen him since I received your letter
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Addressed to:
Rev. S. S. Whitman
Postmaster
Belvedere ___
Via Chicago Illinois __
[Postmark]
Fishkill [unrecovered], Sept 25
[END OF LETTER]Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
