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The Walt Whitman Archive

St. Louis, Mar 18th 1870

Mattie arrived all right on Wednesday abt 3ocl ¹   —in the afternoon—We were all glad enough to see her I assur you—The weather had been very bad ever since she left Brooklyn—but she got along very comfortably—and looked very well when she got in—I should have written you yesterday—but I understoo[d] Mat to say that she either would or had done so

Mat had a fine visit home and I think it has done her lots of good—also I am very glad to hear that there is a prospect of getting you and Walt out here ²   —hope you will come sure—

Please excuse this letter as I have just time to say that Mat arrived safely—the children are well and happy as can be—

affectionately Jeff

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About the Text

The text presented here is derived from Dennis Berthold and Kenneth Price, eds., Dear Brother Walt: The Letters of Thomas Jefferson Whitman (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1984). For a detailed description of discrepancies between this electronic edition and the print source, see our statement of editorial policy .

The manuscript of this letter, dated March 18, 1870, is held in the Trent Collection of Walt Whitman Manuscripts, Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library .

For more information on the letters of Thomas Jefferson Whitman, see Dennis Berthold and Kenneth Price's introduction to the print edition.

Notes

1.  Leaving her daughters with a housekeeper and Jeff's colleague Davis, Mattie travelled to Brooklyn in mid-February 1870. Jeff accompanied her as far as Pittsburgh where he stopped for business before joining her in Brooklyn. After a few days Jeff returned to St. Louis but Mattie remained in Brooklyn until mid-March (Randall H. Waldron, ed., Mattie: The Letters of Martha Mitchell Whitman [New York: New York Univ. Press, 1977], p. 68).  (Back)

2.  These plans were not acted upon (Waldron, p. 70).  (Back)

Whitman Archive ID

duk.00312