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The Walt Whitman Archive

Brooklyn Feb. 10th—1863

I received your letter of yesterday morning. ¹   I am glad to hear that you are still visiting the hospitals and doing so much good. We are trying to do what little we can to furnish you with the necessary funds (in a small way to be sure) and the only thing that we are sorry about is that we cannot do more. The enclosed money is contributed by

Theo. A. Drake 2	$2.
"Cash" through John D Martin 3	$2.
	$4

both of whom are employed on the work under Mr Lane. ⁴  

Mr Lane has written a letter to Mr Webster ⁵   the clerk of Seward ⁶   that I spoke to you about and will send you a letter of introduction to him immediately. He tells me that he (Webster) is a "politician" and that he will help you without doubt provided that he thinks that it will not interfere at all with him. Or that is about the idea of what he said.

We are all getting well at home  Sis has almost entirely recovered  Mat's throat is still quite sore and mothers cough was a great deal better, till she went and caught more but she is again getting well. We do not hear any more from Heyde so I presume that Han is getting better again and perhaps will soon be home. I hope so anyway

I hope that George may be successful in getting his furlough. I saw Capt. Simms ⁷   Sunday night, he had left George and the rest on Thursday morning. He was then well and engaged in building his hut. Simms looks very well indeed. My old friend Bill DeBevoise ⁸   is home sick with "weakness" I suppose you might call it. He can hardly walk alone  He has been home about 2 weeks and has got so he can just get about a little. My friend J. W. Mason, ⁹   (used to be in my party on the Water Works) was in Brooklyn on Saturday  He was then on his way to his fathers at Towando, Pa. and promised that he would call on you when he returned to the army  He is now a Capt. in the regulars. (5th Cavalry)

I think I shall take a few of your letters and give them to George Wright ¹⁰   (of the ferry) and let him see if he cannot collect a few dollars from the ferry hands  dont you think it would be a good idea. I think that he might be able to collect something quite handsome. I have not seen any of the ferry hands since you went away.

We often wish that you and George could pop in on us just as we were about to sit down to dinner, particularly when we have "Turk" as sis calls it. Mother eats with us at almost every meal and I think living well is about all that keeps her up through all the trouble and worry that she goes through, for work and worry she will and I dont think the power of man can prevent it. Mat is nearly the same as usual  she is not very well and sometimes has to give up for a little while, but she soon buckels in again. Sis of course when she is well is just as big a little scamp as ever, more mischief-making than ever, if that is possible. Jess and Ed are I guess, in every respect are just the same. I met Andrew Rome, ¹¹   'tother day, he wanted to know how soon you would be in Brooklyn again  I told him I did not know and asked him to write you. How would it do for you to write to Wilke, ¹²   detailing what you are doing, what we have contributed so that he might strike some of the big-bugs that he moves among or shall I give him the letters that you have written to us. advise me about it

Mr Lane has about finished his reports and wishes me to tell you that he will now have some time to devote and thinks he will be able to raise some more money, however he will write you himself before long, a day or two.

What about your chances for the "position" and what kind of a position do you expect to get. I sincerely hope that you might succeed and get detailed to New York. ¹³   Try for it Walt and dont be discouraged if you do not succeed at first

Do you write to dear brother George often, I wish he could honorably get out of it. Would'nt it be good if he was home just now to build my "house"  I should like much to have it done by him, let him get a gang of men and pay him by the day. However I suppose it cannot be done in that manner and shall have to do it in some other.

Dear Walt let me hear from you soon. All send their love to you and receive my best wishes for your health and success  I remain as ever your affectionate brother

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 February 10, 1863, is held in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839-1919, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

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

Notes

1.  This letter is not extant.  (Back)

2.  Theodore A. Drake, a waterworks inspector.  (Back)

3.  John D. Martin, an engineer.  (Back)

4.  See Letter from Thomas Jefferson Whitman to Walt Whitman, 13 January 1863.  (Back)

5.  For Lane's letter to E. D. Webster, see Edwin Haviland Miller, ed., Walt Whitman: The Correspondence (New York: New York Univ. Press, 1961-77), Vol. I, p. 72, n. 32.  (Back)

6.  William Henry Seward (1801-72), secretary of state under Lincoln and Johnson.  (Back)

7.  Samuel H. Sims, a captain in George's regiment, had been the subject in part of WW's "Our Brooklyn Boys in the War," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 5, 1863. He died on July 30, 1864, of wounds received near Petersburg, Virginia. George had to wait until March 7 for his ten-day furlough to Brooklyn.  (Back)

8.  Formerly a bookkeeper and clerk, William H. DeBevoise was now serving in the Union army. He was a member of a large, established family that had lived in Brooklyn at least thirty years. There was a DeBevoise Street in Brooklyn as early as 1859.  (Back)

9.  After working for the Brooklyn Water Works, Julius ("Jule") Mason became a career army officer. With his help Jeff and WW were later able to get provisions to George when he was a prisoner of war (Randall H. Waldron, ed., Mattie: The Letters of Martha Mitchell Whitman [New York: New York Univ. Press, 1977], p. 37). Jeff accidentally spells "Towanda" as "Towando."  (Back)

10.  Unidentified. Brooklyn directories of the period list seven George Wrights.  (Back)

11.  One of the members of the firm of the Rome Brothers, which printed the first edition of Leaves of Grass .  (Back)

12.  Probably George Wilkes (1820?-85), owner of the New York paper, Wilkes' Spirit of the Times (formerly edited by William T. Porter). Wilkes was known for his strong antislavery, pro-Union views, which may be why Jeff thought he would support WW's work. Wilkes was also among the first to advocate a transcontinental railroad, having published a pamphlet, Project for a National Railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean , in 1845.  (Back)

13.  WW did not find full-time government work until January 24, 1865, when he became a first-class clerk in the Indian Affairs Office, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. There is no record of his looking for work in New York.  (Back)

Whitman Archive ID

loc.00398