Continuation of letter from Charleston, November 22, 1876
Book 1, Page 206 ·1876
Transcription
Two handwritten pages of cursive ink mounted side-by-side on a dark backing, continuing the November 22, 1876 letter from page 205.
The left-hand sheet:
is in goodness — to which Aunt Susan responds with all her heart as you know — They have a flat with another couple, Kentucky people, and keep house with the aid of a little Holland girl — The [Burba] couple boarded at the same house with them, and they got so friendly they determined to try the flat together — and it is very economical for all parties, & very homelike. Gaillie’s eyes were troubling him so Sue nursed them up, & did his work for him. From Gaillie to Tom, comes very naturally. We were very much surprised & pleased when he walked in one day, & met me on the little stairs. He stais three weeks and said he would be back in 60 days — Minnie said "How happy Katie would have been to have him here again."
The right-hand sheet:
He found Charleston a good market for [yarn?] — and he and Uncle Theodore had a good deal of fun over it. — He talked about Chicago, & about other places he had been, & life and business he had been through, in a very interesting way. Henry Conner was here once or twice and enjoyed hearing him talk. Henry sent him a card to the Yacht Club, & there Tom met his old cronies, & others. — He saw Prioleau and Daisy, and played with their pretty Bebe at the gate — went to see the Holmes & felt very much at home there. The house here was very quiet and dull while he was here — Minnie was sick, So it was only Uncle Theo & I, and the [Kid?]
AI Notes
Two facing manuscript pages mounted side-by-side, continuing the Charleston letter dated November 22, 1876 from page 205. The writer praises Aunt Susan’s goodness and describes the household arrangement of Gaillie (‘Gaillard Stoney FitzSimons’) and Sue: a flat shared with another Kentucky couple and the Burba couple (after a friendship formed at a boarding house), kept with the aid of a little Holland girl, Sue having nursed Gaillie’s troubled eyes. Tom’s surprise visit follows: he stayed three days, found Charleston ‘a good market for [yarn?],’ had fun talking about Chicago with Uncle Theodore, met Henry Conner who twice came to hear him talk and sent him a card to the Yacht Club where he met old cronies, then saw Prioleau and Daisy and their pretty Bebe at the gate and visited the Holmes. The house was quiet while he was there as Minnie was sick. Significant corrections to prior pass: ‘From Gailter’ → ‘From Gaillie’; ‘Burshs couple’ → ‘Burba couple’ (still uncertain — possibly a surname); ‘Tann’ kept as uncertain (probably ‘yarn,’ i.e. a textile market); ‘the [child]’ at end → ‘the Kid’ (likely a household nickname). Canonical full forms applied to FitzSimons relatives.
Letter continues on next scan. The “Burba” / “yarn” / “Kid” readings are uncertain. “Henry Conner” likely Henry W. Conner of the well-known Charleston banking/merchant family.