Letter from Ellen Milliken Barker to her daughter Susan, 'Dear Susan,' signed E.B.
Book 1, Page 117 ·1840–1855
Transcription
A handwritten letter on lined paper in pale brown ink, written across the full sheet. A salutation is at the upper left; an initialed signature closes the main body. A short additional sentence sits below, separated by a blank line. The lower right of the sheet has an ink-bleed hole, and the lower left corner is torn away.
Dear Susan,
I dare say you would think it very calm in me to be able to get [busy?] to day, just after my interview with Mr. K. — but the carriage was just preparing & we ready to take your G. Mother to visit Mrs Barbour & Mary. — I trust the weather will not prevent your coming to us tomorrow for both your Father and Myself are most anxious to see you and talk with you. — I told Mary you expected some one and perhaps [might] them stop an instant to see her. She is to leave on the 13 [April?]. — I feel my mind full about my children & only a glimpse — or a snatch for any thing I have to say — that I feel I must utter unseasonable unmeaning words — for I sit and think on the past, the present & the future and mingle all when I begin to put my thoughts in words. — God Bless you. — I hope Ellen will be able to pay a little quiet time with me before long. Love to all Yr affectionate Mother E.B.
We shall be glad to take care of [Whitehall?] [and?] hope he will be happy with us.
AI Notes
A handwritten letter in pale brown ink on lined paper, addressed ‘Dear Susan’ and signed ‘E.B.’ — Ellen Milliken Barker, the writer’s mother. Per the pencilled identifying note on the wrapper (p116, in the compiler’s hand), this is the letter Susan’s mother sent to her after Christopher FitzSimons (2nd) had ‘asked for Susan’s hand.’ The mother writes from home about her interview with ‘Mr. K.,’ her plan to take ‘your G. Mother’ to visit Mrs. Barbour and Mary, urges Susan to come to her and her father the next day, and closes with affection. A short additional line below the signature offers to take care of someone — possibly a child named ‘Whitehall’ or a horse so-named. The lower right has an ink-bleed hole; the lower left corner is torn away.
The writer is Ellen Milliken Barker (1807–1874), and the recipient her daughter Susan Milliken Barker (1827–1900), later Mrs. Christopher FitzSimons. Per the pencilled wrapper on p116, the letter follows Christopher FitzSimons’s call to ask for Susan’s hand. “G. Mother” — Susan’s grandmother — and “Mrs. Barbour & Mary” are not yet identified. “Ellen” in the next-to-last line is most likely Susan’s sister Ellen.