Letter from Sullivan's Island, July 5, 1853 — page 2 (Moultrie House, cottage furnishings, Claudian)

Scanned page 255 of Book 1 — Scan of original. Open full size →

[Left page:]

to the Moultrie House — I think I shall better the two or three days that I have been down here for I am sure if I did not I could not write to you.

I have tried several times to write to you, but indeed I had not the strength of either mind or body, most of my time being spent upon the bed. Here we are in a perpetual gale — We have made several alterations and improvements in the house, & con- -template some more in the course of the summer. We have had now the down stairs rooms fixed with sashes & blinds for the boys, and Claudian is to bring down the carpenters from the plan- -tation and build a house for the servants, separate from the dwelling, and then arrange all the lower [front?] for ourselves, making a dining room with pantry adjoining, and a couple of bedrooms; the establishment will then be really com- -fortable & commodious — at present it is

[Right page:]

almost too small for us, but I have arranged for a spare room this year — Claudian has treated me to a nice set of second hand cottage furniture, very handsome of its kind, a beautiful painting upon each drawer of the bureau, a marble top & nice glass — French bedstead & night table, marble top wash stand, & a fine large wardrobe ~~& thing~~ the set is quite grand for the Island; also new bedsteads and mattresses for the other rooms. I have also brought down the old centre table, & the (étagère) book case — the camphine lamp you gave me, I have had altered into spirit gas, and altogether we are pretty comfortable — It is a terrible thing though to move in the heat of summer — Also a very handsome new bus for four, the back seat to come out like the old one — but a much nicer con- -cern, the seats have backs & that is a great comfort — Mr. Cannon & Mrs. King are down here & lots of other folks — I am going this

AI Notes

Second scan of the multi-page July 1853 Sullivan’s Island letter. Two facing pages of cursive ink writing, both heavily filled. The left page describes the writer’s headaches, illness, and improvements to the house and lower floor (carpenters from the plantation, a new dining room with pantry, lodgings for boys/Claudian). The right page describes Claudian’s gift of second-hand cottage furniture — bureau with painting on each drawer, marble top with mirror, French bedstead, washstand, bedsteads, mattresses, an old centre table, an ‘étagère’ (tiered shelving) bookcase, a camphine lamp converted to spirit gas — and an account of the heat and the new four-seat omnibus. Mr. Cannon and Mrs. King are at the Island.

Letter continues on the next scan.