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Correspondence
Letter from Thomas Jefferson Whitman to Louisa Van Velsor Whitman, 13 February 1873
St. Louis,
Feb 13th 1873
Dear Mother,
Mattie is still about the same—for the last two days she has suffered more with her side and back—severe and cutting pain,—than before—I wish you would write to her as soon as you get this. I did not like to show her your last letter on account of fearing she would see and feel too badly that she could not live—she is cheerful and brave—no thing can make her despondent in the shape of personal suffering—and I do not allow her to suffer from any feeling that we feel mournful or despondent
The children are very well indeed and good too—I am well except a bad throat and cold
affectionately Jeff
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 Februay 13, 1873, 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.
Whitman Archive ID
loc.00466