Handwritten letter: 'Sunday' — recollections of Mother's last illness (page 1)
Book 1, Page 136 ·1874
Transcription
A handwritten letter, page 1 of multiple, in cursive brown ink. The header is centered at the top of the sheet.
Sunday
Dear Sis,
I think I forgot to tell you that D⁻ Huger was on the Island the Wednesday afternoon that Tody went for D⁻ Wragg. D⁻ Huger came as soon [as] he returned, & was as devoted & tender, as if it was his own Mother, & his face got thin & marked with lines from anxiety — D⁻ Wragg was warm & earnest, & showed more feeling than I ever saw him do, & he was hopeful to the last — Miss Anne & Nan were as affectionate as could be, & when they came to see Mother the day of the funeral, Kate said Nan was weeping all the time — Miss Anne & Manne Gaillard came to see you the day after you left, & Miss Anne left most loving messages for you. — You would have been touched to see Tody with Mother. — At first "that is if [willing]
AI Notes
Page 1 of a multi-page handwritten letter in brown ink, headed ‘Sunday’ at the top. The writer addresses ‘Dear Sis’ and recounts the days surrounding Mother’s funeral, naming visiting physicians (Dr. Huger, Dr. Wragg) and callers (Miss Anne, Nan, Manne Gaillard). 1874 Barker family cluster: ‘Mother’ is Ellen Milliken Barker (1807-1874); the writer is most likely her daughter Susan Milliken Barker, with sister Ellen Milliken Barker Porcher as ‘Sis’; ‘Tody’ is their brother Theodore Gaillard Barker. The ‘Island’ reference is to Sullivan’s Island, where the family summered. The letter continues on pages 137 and 138 (numbered pages 2-5).
Letter continues on the next scan.
This page opens a long letter that runs through page 148 (with a second letter dated “Wednesday 17th June” beginning at page 142 and continuing to page 150). The dying mother is Ellen Milliken Barker (1807–1874) — the compiler’s great-grandmother on the Barker side. The writer is most likely her daughter Susan Milliken Barker (1827–1900), the compiler’s paternal grandmother and wife of Dr. Christopher FitzSimons (3rd); the absent addressee “Sis” is Susan’s sister Ellen Milliken Barker Porcher; “Tody” is their brother Theodore Gaillard Barker (the Confederate Hampton Legion adjutant whose 1917 obituary appears on pp. 133–134). The “Island” referenced is Sullivan’s Island, the Barker family’s summer place.