Name/Title
LETTER FROM JULIA BARTON HUNT TO JOHN ROSS DELAFIELD, AUGUST 4, 1922Entry/Object ID
MP.2013.36Description
Text as follows:
C/o Thomas Hunt, Esq. /
Tupelo Road /
Swampscott /
Massachusetts /
August 4th /
1922 /
Dear Mr. Delafield, /
Your note of August 1 st / has found me here at my nephews, / the North shore, near Boston. /
The trunk of the tree found / in the Coachouse basement, is, as / I remember, a “Virgilia Lutea,” which / was cut down through some mis- / understanding, & preserved with the / idea of having something made out / of its beautiful yellow wood – per-/ haps a table. This happened between / thirty & forty years ago. /
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The plaster statues, vases, pedestals &c / were Mrs. Barton’s & ornamented / the old Italian gardens & different / parts of the grounds long ago. /
The large sleigh was bought by / Mrs. Barton from yr grandfather, / Mr. Eugene Livingston, when he / gave up his Clermont Country place / & she first spent winters at Montgomery / Place – either in 1867 or 8 – / because of Mr Bartons failing health. /
The small sleigh or “Cutter” as it was / then called, was bought later for / My eldest nephew
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then a school boy. Do not hesitate / to ask me for any information / it may be in my power to give / you concerning any of the things / you find at Montgomery Place /
I regret having been obliged / to take up so much of the large / lumber room with my two bookcases / inherited from Mr. & Mrs. Barton – but / I have been unable to place them as / I had hoped . Most modern apartments / & houses have lower ceilings & these / book cases are Gothic, of historical design, / with pinnacles & cornices, calling for / high ceilings. They are of /
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American black oak, which with time / becomes darker & darker like English oak. / Mr. Barton superintended the making / of these book cases in Philadelphia / by skilled workmen some seventy / years ago. I should say, if not more. / & kept in these later, many of his most / beautiful books, when he lived at 8 W. / 22nd St. Had you a room for / them at Montgomery Place, I should / ask you to accept them as a part / of the history of yr inheritance there! / The other furniture I had stowed in the / lumber room, I removed last spring / with the aid of Gilbert and Julius Bloch
I hope Mrs. Delafield & yr sons are all / well & with kind regards to yrself, believe / me to be sincerely yrs /
Julia Barton Hunt
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