Letter (continuation): Aunt Ellen as confidante; Mrs. Young's visit; Mr. Henry Gourdin's wine; Mrs. Charles Lowndes's death

Scanned page 150 of Book 1 — Scan of original. Open full size →

A handwritten letter, written in cursive ink across two facing leaves of the same sheet. The text continues from the previous page and runs onto the next.

Left leaf

him I was not sure where it was but I would look in Grandmother’s wardrobe for it — He wanted a moment & then said “Aunt Ellen is the [neatest] one in there still?” I said yes, & I would always try to ~~keep~~ it so — he added “Aunt Ellen she is the onliest (only) one we could trust any thing to” — He did not know all the meaning of what he said — We will all miss the assurance of her love when trouble or joy comes to us, but when I look at Tody & Wm, I feel as if men have a harder time than women — Wm will miss the constant delight of his life in writing to Mother & thinking of her — & Tody — I dont know how he will get on — his temperament needed so the sort of trust we could have in Mother’s patient understanding sympathy.

Right leaf

Mrs Young came to see us & in the way she talked about her grand children she spoke of Mother, said she thought there could not have been a more blameless life — & how she had always admired her, & how the last time she had been here after little Tom’s death, she had noticed the bluish [tint] that came & went on her face like a [veil] — Mr. Henry Gourdin came one day himself to ask about Mother & brought in his hand 3 bottles of old wine 2 of them some of Grandfather’s which Uncle Eddie had given him after Uncle Eddie had been staying with Mrs Gourdin ^(for) some time during the war — You will be surprised to hear of Mrs Charles Lowndes’ sudden death — She has been out of health for some time but they were all ready to go to the French Broad, when she woke one morning feeling badly but was dressing, & at last told Mrs Lowndes

AI Notes

A continuation page from the long handwritten letter in the 1874 Barker family death cluster. The writer (most likely Susan Milliken Barker) recounts the question her young son or nephew (Little Tom) asked about Grandmother’s wardrobe and Aunt Ellen (Susan Milliken Barker FitzSimons, the writer’s sister-in-law who lived with the family); reflects on how the men of the family — Tody (Theodore Gaillard Barker) and Wm — will miss Mother more than the women; and reports two condolence visits. Mrs. Young spoke of Mother and of the bluish tint that had appeared and faded on Mother’s face after Little Tom’s death. Mr. Henry Gourdin came in person bearing three bottles of old wine, two from Grandfather, which Uncle Eddie had given him after staying with Mrs. Gourdin for some time during the war. The writer then turns to the sudden death of Mrs. Charles Lowndes, who had been preparing to leave for the French Broad (the North Carolina river/resort area). Henry Gourdin was a known Charleston merchant — relative of Theo. L. Gourdin who appears on p065. ‘“Aunt Ellen is the [neatest?] one in there still?”’ is flagged with editorial uncertainty (‘neatest’ or possibly ‘neatness’). ‘Wm’ uses the standard W^m abbreviation. In ‘with Mrs Gourdin ^for some time during the war’, ‘for’ is an interlinear caret insertion.

Letter continues on next page.