Transcription
CATALOG NUMBER VC 1748 G
OBJECT NAME letter
DATE October 28, 1817
AUTHOR Eliza [Treat?]
RECIPIENT Anne Stevenson [later Van Cortlandt]
MEDIUM Paper, ink
PEOPLE Margaret [Walsh?], Pierre Van Cortlandt III, Magdalen Stevenson,
Catharine ??, Margaret’s “spouse elect”?,
PLACES Albany, Peekskill,
KEYWORDS Margaret [walsh]?’s behavior, depressed?breakdown?,
Pierre III (a small child) stays with his Grandmother, well behaved,
does not ask for his mother (Anne),
Albany October 28th 1817 -
My dear Friend
I would have performed my promise [^ before] of giving / you a particular account of Margaret and Pierre from the time you / left them if I had not been prevented by unfortunately hurting / my foot the very morning you went in consequence of which I have / been obliged to stay at home untill this morning _ I prevailed / on Margaret to spend Thursday afternoon with me and was delight / ed with her behaviour she was as cheerful and looked as well / as I have ever seen her _ I am inclined to think that if she was / among strangers entirely she would soon recover; because the con - / stant anxiety which her relations exprefs about her situation pre= / vents her thoughts from taking another course - if she was with / strangers she would be obliged to talk upon indifferent subjects / and her mind would be insensibly brought back to its natural / state _ she was not so lively this morning as I expected to find / her but Catharine says she appears in a different character in / the company of her spouse elect which proves that she can be / cheerful if she will only endeavour to be so _ Mrs Stevenson / desired me to give her love to you and say the Pierre is a / very good child _ he is very little trouble to her _ extravagantly / fond of Cathrine who understands managing as well as his / mother _ she is very attentive to him both night and day _
[END OF PAGE 1]
I cannot flatter you by telling you how anxious he is to see you / for strange as it may seem he has not asked for you at all / indeed he is so engaged with his horses and little Jack that he / would not even speak to me _ Whenever the weather is fine / I will urge Margaret to walk with me and try to make her / visit more than she has done. __ My love to Mr Van Courtlandt / Marg sends her love to you. Your affectionate friend Eliza
[END OF PAGE 2]
[POSTAGE MARK]
[12?]
[POSTAGE STAMP - circle, red ink]
ALBANY
[illegible]
[illegible]
[ADDRESS]
Mrs Ann Van Courtlandt
Care of Gen Pierre Van Courtlandt
Peekskill
[LABEL]
E. [fish?]
To Anne S VCTranscriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
