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Correspondence
Letter from George Washington Whitman to Walt Whitman, 6 September 1871 1
Camden
Sept 6th 1871
Dear Walt
I see by this morning's paper, that Starr & Co. has taken the contract for the 36 in pipes for Washington & I am thinking of trying to get the inspecting of them. Genl Greene 2 I understand is appointed Chief Eng'r of the Dept. of Public Wks, but Major Elliot 3 has the immediate charge of Water Dept.
Do you know Maj. Elliot and if so can you find out from him if he has any particular person that he wants to inspect the pipes. I would like to find out if it would be of any use for me to go to Washington & see him in regard to the matter. I do not care to go unless I have a good show for the work. I could refer him to Mr Kirkwood, 4 Genl Greene, Mr Lane, 5 Col Adams, 6 Mr. Tracy, Davis &C. 7 Walt cant you stop here on your return to Washington, if you could only bring Mother we would be delighted. 8
George
About the Text
The text presented here is derived from Jerome M. Loving, ed., The Civil War Letters of George Washington Whitman (Durham, North Carolina: Duke State University Press, 1975). 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 September 6, 1871, is held in The Walt Whitman Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
For more information on the letters of George Washington Whitman, see Jerome M. Loving's introduction to the print edition.
Notes
1. At the time of this letter, George Whitman had been living in Camden, New Jersey, for three years, where he worked as an inspector of pipes for the city. In April of this year, he had married Louisa Orr Haslam. (Back)
2. Unidentified. (Back)
3. Unidentified. (Back)
4. James P. Kirkwood was a New York engineer who had contributed money to Walt Whitman's hospital fund during the Civil War. He had probably heard of the poet's work in Washington through Moses Lane (see n. 5, below). Correspondence , I, 213-15. (Back)
5. Moses Lane, who also had contributed money to Whitman's hospital fund, was the chief engineer of the Brooklyn Water Works, where Jefferson Whitman was employed until 1867. Glicksburg, p. 133. (Back)
6. Unidentified. (Back)
7. Unidentified. (Back)
8. There is a postscript written by Louisa Orr Whitman, thanking Walt Whitman for the poem he sent them. (Back)
Whitman Archive ID
loc.00487