Transcription
CATALOG NUMBER HF 3039 B
OBJECT NAME Letter
DATE December 16, 1836
AUTHOR Mary (Rhinelander)
RECIPIENT Emma Nicholas Maloney
MEDIUM Paper, ink
PEOPLE Phil Rhinelander, Jr., Eliza Storrs, Dale/Date?, Josh?, Mr.
Bostwick, Alex Watts, Grandma Rhinelander, Charles Fenno Hoffman, Snaps (dog), [J.A.H. - interest in Emma], Marie & Cornelia (Seton?), Sarah Seton, Aunt Eliza, Mrs. Dr. Stevens?Jack (dog?), Antoinette Varick, Susan Van Rensellaer, Mary Ella [Hays?], Jule? (Julia Hoffman?), Ogden Hoffman, Miss Ellen Tree (actress), Washington Irving, Theodore Irving, Peter Irving, Aunt Mary, Miss Mary Talmadge, General [Minton?], Anna Kaen, Denning Duer, Caroline King, Ben Tilliman, Mr. Weston, Seth Spencer Whitman, Matilda Nicholas Whitman, Ann Hoffman, Nicholas
PLACES St. Louis, Hell Gate, Europe, Circus, Liverpool, Geneva College,
“Grande House”
EVENTS Thanksgiving Day dinner, Holidays, in NYC for winter, putting dog
Snaps to sleep, death of Sarah Seton, Susan Van Rensellaer to be married and going to Europe next week, holidays at Washington Irvings, Theodore Irving professor at Geneva College, circus, military funeral of General [Minton?], marriage of Anna Kaen, Denning - King engagement,
Addressed to:
Miss Emma Nicholas
Care of the Rev. S. S. Whitman
Chicago
Illinois
2nd
*Original spelling retained throughout work, content appears exactly as written.
[PAGE 1]
New York Dec’r 16th
1836
My dearest Emma
I have been going to write to you / ever since Phil received your letter from St. Louis / telling us where to direct but have been in such a / continual [unrecovered], since I have been in town, that I / have hardly had time to settle my mind to / any thing. We moved down the first day of Decem - / ber and we intend to return about the first of April / We were all very sorry to leave Hell Gate and / I am counting every day until we return. This / is the first evening I have been home since I / have been in town. I have been on a trot all the / while _ to see Aunt this and Uncle that I / have been to two or three bridal parties given / to Uncle Henry’s wife one at Aunt Eliza’s where / I met Eliza Storrs but I said but a few words / to her the rooms were so crowded, she called / here the other day but I did not see her. [Date / and Josh] called here yesterday and left cards / not together. [Date] for a [wonder] mustered sufficient / courage to come by himself. Josh joined me in /
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[PAGE 2 ]
The street not long ago and gave me an amusing / description of your [surprising your beau and sent / Mr Watts ] How surprised I was to hear that / you had given up going with Mr. Bostwick. Why / did you? Tell me all about it in your answer. / I am crazy to hear from you; how you like / it out in the “Far West”, what you are about / and every thing that concerns you. Has Phil / written to you yet? I saw him last evening / we all, that is to say, the cousins, eat our / communal Thanksgiving Day dinner at Grandma / R’s yesterday. We staid [many] the Evening, and / with the addition of three or four of [unrecovered / unrecovered] we passed a very pleasant one. What / an awful scratch this is, but I hope it will / be [unrecovered]. Any thing I suppose from home / be it ever so homely. It is now ten o’clock . I am almost asleep, tired to death, and have / just been [exerting] myself (with a bad cold) / to entertain the gentleman for the last two hours. / The gentleman was most agreeable, and among / other agreeable things enquired most particularly / about you. He is the beau “par excellence” now / you know him _ [J. A. H.] _ I saw Marie & Cornelia today, both were very well. Aunt Eliza has / been very sick lately but has now recovered. / I suppose you have heard of Sarah Setons death / I saw it in the papers yesterday. Poor cousin Emma / how lonesome it will be for her to come home / alone and how not only lonesome, but me - / melancholy. Mrs. Dr. Stevens and I were talking /
[END OF PAGE 2]
[PAGE 3]
About [crossed out: her] Sarah not a week ago and she said then / that she did not believe she would live. But / not knowing who has written to you, I cannot / tell whether my news will be really news / or not. Has Charles written to you yet? I have / not seen him since the day of the funeral. He / looked very [well] then. What did Eliza S _ tell / you just before you went about Charles and a you lady? Tell me in your answer, whether she / told you any thing or not? If she did not / I will in my next. And will do so, by the / authority of the young lady herself, who wishes / that the explanation should be made to account / for what she was afraid you would think strange / conduct We rode out to Hell Gate on Monday / It looked perfectly lovely. Poor Snaps _ they think / of killing him. He has a disease from which/ they say there is no recovery. But I hope they / will not. Do not think it nonsense to men - / tion Snaps. He is associated with so many of / the pleasant walks which we took at Hell / Gate that I am sure the mention of his name / will be as pleasant to you as it is to me. / And besides knowing your penchant for dogs / I am sure you will be glad to hear from / Jack a particular friend of yours. I have formed / a kind of an intimacy with Antoinette Varick / She told me the other evening that Susan Van / Rensselaer was going to be married next / week and was going to start off immediately /
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[PAGE 4 - crossed on page 1]
For Europe to remain five years. Mr. Weston is going in / business in Liverpool. Have you heard from Mary Ella / [Hays] ? How is she? I have not seen [Jule] since I have / been in town, but I intend to pay for a visit very / soon. Do you recollect our laughs in Greenwich Lane? / I have not seen Uncle Ogden since that Sunday evening / at Grandpas. But I hear of his being almost every evening / at the Theatre. Miss Ellen Tree is the attraction. I saw / Sarah Paris & [I. Irving] to day. They are going up to Wash - / ington Irving’s cottage tomorrow to spend the holidays. / I have had an invitation to spend them there also, but / have refused. Washington Irving is going to remain there / all winter. Mr. Peter Irving is also. Did Washington Irving / call upon your mother before you went away? It will be / exactly a year next month since he has been to see us. / But I believe such “intercessions” are nothing for him / Have you heard that Theodore has gone to be professor / at Geneva College? It is true. Charles put a piece in / the American Monthly about it. Ellen Duer says that not / only she but every one believes that I drove him there. / “Drole n’est ce pas?” What an awful looking letter for / mercy’s sake don’t show it. If it must be heard, read / it but don’t show it. But even as it is I hope it will
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[PAGE 5 - crossed on pages 2 and 3]
Be welcome. I do not know of any thing more to / tell you. Aunt Mary sends her very best love to you. / The children have all gone to the Circus, since you left / the Circus has taken the place of the Opera. Every one / goes to see it and it is the [towns] talk and fashion / I passed a very pleasant evening there a short time ago / in company with Miss Mary Talmadge. She has re - / turned from Europe more beautiful than ever. It will / give you a days employment to make this letter out. / But my pen is perfectly horrible. In another part of this / epistle I mentioned “the funeral” with saying what one. / Seeing that you would take it to be one of [unrecovered words] / in to us (from my mentioning seeing Charles there) than / it really was I will only take time to tell you that / it was splendid military funeral (at what all the world / was present) given to Old General [Minton]. I think it / is almost time to finish this elegant scrawl but I / have forgotten two or three things. Anna Kaen (or how - / ever you spell it) is married to and moved into / the Grande House. Denning Duer and Caroline King (the one / which looks like your mother) are [positively] engaged to / be married. The children have just returned from the / circus, full of laughing, talking and sleeping. Give my / best best love to your Mother and Matilda and to / my cousin Mr. Whitman if he will accept of it, Kiss the / children for me, and with all manner of love, and any /
Quantity of kisses to yourself
Believe me ever your
Sincere friend & attached
Cousin
Mary R.__
Read this to yourself
Who do you think has become a devoted, yes devoted / [unrecovered] of some [love] you [count] ? Ben Tilliman! But / that is strictly “entre-nous”. I will tell you some / more about him [crossed out] in my next. Recollect that is to / you alone. To quote a letter which I received a short time / since. I say “As you value your life and my repu - / tation don’t let this be known.”
Adieu once more
Answer this directly
[END OF PAGE 5]
[ADDRESS]
Miss Emma Nicholas/
Care of the Rev. S. S. Whitman/
Chicago/
Illinois/
2nd/
[END OF LETTER]Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
