Transcription
CATALOG NUMBER HF 3042 D
OBJECT NAME Letter
DATE October 26 (likely 1829 bc Stockbridge)
AUTHOR Fanny (Frances) Colden
RECIPIENT Emma Nicholas
MEDIUM Paper, ink
PEOPLE Ann Nicholas, Mrs. Varick, Matilda, Julia, Aunt Colden, Maria
Hoffman, Cecilia, Mrs. Lindley, Ann [Swartmant?], Mary, Mrs. [?O’Neill?], Mrs.[Marie?] & Dr. [Rham?], Matilda Nicholas, [?Bonsfield], Zoe (cat)
PLACES Whitesboro, Morris Canal, Paris, Switzerland, England, Scotland.
Havre, Griz?, Pawles Hook, NJ, Stockbridge, MA
EVENTS Ann Nicholas starts school in Whitesboro
Addressed to Miss Emma Nicholas
White’s boro
3rd
Pawles Hook _ October 26th
My dear Emma
Your [?kind] letter gave me / my great pleasure, and I hope, as I answer / it so soon, I shall not be long without another. / I have been half angry with your mother for / forgetting how much interest I feel in her / concerns; until your letter I never heard any / thing certain of her school, and even how / I should like to hear many more particulars. / Mrs. Varick of whom I made inquiries could / tell me nothing but that Whitesboro was / a flourishing place + likely to maintain a / large school. Beg your mother to add a / few lines to your next letter, and tell me / her prospects. I can assure her. Nobody will / rejoice more at any good news she may send / or sympathise [sic] more truly in her dis - / appointments. I am delighted, my dear little / Emma, that you should already be useful /
PAGE 2
To your mother, and am sure both you / + Matilda must rejoice that you are / sharing her endeavors to be independent. / Julia was to have dined here to-day, but / the rain prevented her _ perhaps she might / have given me some interesting news for / you _ as it is, I can tell you nothing as I / have been living a quiet life over here and / have seen few people that you care about. / Your Aunt Colden tells me all she gleaned / from Julia was that Maria Hoffman was / to spend the winter in town with Mrs. Mar[^y] / H _ + Cecelia with Mrs. Lindley. I shall make / them write you an account of the wonder - / ful events that may happen during their / visit. I am sure you will be sorry to hear / Zoe’s nose is a little out of joint _ [?unrecovered] / (whom you mentioned very contemptuously) / is the most playful creature and extremely / pretty for a terrier + promising moreover / to be an expert ratter, is caressed in the / parlor + kitchen and I fear if Zoe was to / die just now, she would not be as much / tormented as you + I should think proper.
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Tell your mother, Mrs. Colden had a letter / to-day from Anne [?Swartmant?] who is in / Paris and much better _ She is excessively pressed to pass the winter there + seems to / think it possible she may do so + Mary / goes to Mrs. O’[‘Neill?] + has a most careful / excellent women to take care of her at / home. She + her father are in private / lodgings + much more comfortable than / in that noisy Hotel _ I had a letter from / Mrs. Dr. [Rham?] who is passing the winter / among Mr. Dr. R’s relations at [?Griz?] + seems / very happy + in better health than she / has been these 20 years. She was a few [page torn, unrecovered] /
In Paris _ very gay, dining out and scen [page torn, unrecovered] /
Every day. She suffered [crossed out] constant [page torn, unrecovered] /
From sea sickness + fears during her r [page torn, unrecovered] /
But often remaining a few days to sc - [page torn, unrecovered] /
At Havre, she found it had done her good. / She has only been in France + Switzerland / Early in the Spring, she returns to Paris / for two or three months _ Then crosses over to / England + Scotland. Dr. [Rham] talked of Italy / for this winter, but [?Marie’s] courage failed her / + she preferred remaining at [?Griz]. This is all /
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For your mother, who I am sure will be glad to hear of / her friends, tho her time + thoughts are pretty well taken / up. I intended writing and sending you a parcel by Mrs. Varick / but tho’ I [?asked] to be told when she left town, she never sent / me word + I am afraid my trifle will come too late to be useful. / I have outgrown the cloth coat + hope it may do for a [?lark? ] / for you or Matilda _ I also send you a winter frock not very / elegant , but for use + a little finery in the shape of a [?cravat / + belt?] for Matilda _ Kindest love to your mother + sister.
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Your Aunt + / Uncle + Cousin / David do not forget / you + desire their / best love too. / Your affectionate / friend + cousin / F. Colden /
[?Bonsfield?] is / engaged on the Morris / Canal, + has / grown a fine / handsome / young man. / I keep alive / his tender / recollections of you whenever / he is at home.Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
