Letter from Thomas Perry Baker to Amy Walker, Sept. 10, 1940 (page 2)
Book 1, Page 389 ·1940
Transcription
Continuation, in shaky cursive ink:
[Run?] longer toward the last of this month, & I shall look into the matter —
I was glad to hear from you & also the items of interest about your family. I hope your children are doing well & are a great joy to you & Mr. W.
I have a daughter living in Durham, N.C. She has been to see us twice this summer. I expect to visit her soon, & from there go on to Charleston, Adams Run, Edisto & Wadmalaw as is my habit on these annual trips. Another daughter is Post Master at Washington’s Birthplace in our adjoining County — 15 miles —
My son Tom is Radio officer on S.S. City of Baltimore plying between N.Y., Balto., & the Pacific Coast. — & his [brother] Chas. is in business at Montross, Westmoreland Co.
Wm. is the youngest, has a position in Washington — This is a most historic part of Virginia — Port Conway, 4 miles from me, is the birth place of James Madison — Wakefield, Washington’s birth place — 14 miles — James Monroe 12 m[iles] …
AI Notes
Second page of the September 10, 1940 letter from the Rev. Thomas Perry Baker to Amy Walker. The writing fills the page edge to edge with no margin, in a thin and tremulous hand. Many words are ambiguous; conjectural readings are bracketed. The daughter at the historic-house post in Westmoreland County is Post Master at Washington’s Birthplace (Wakefield, VA) — Wakefield Plantation in Westmoreland Co. is the birthplace of George Washington, in the county adjoining the writer’s home in King George Co. The closing geography list resolves as: Port Conway (4 mi., birthplace of James Madison); Wakefield (14 mi., Washington’s birthplace); James Monroe’s birthplace (12 mi.) — all three Virginia founders born within ~15 miles of Baker’s Wood Grove Farm. The son in business at Montross is Chas. (Charles). Baker enumerates five children on this page: a daughter in Durham N.C.; a daughter as Post Master of Washington’s Birthplace, Wakefield; son Tom, Radio officer on S.S. City of Baltimore plying between N.Y., Baltimore, and the Pacific Coast; son Chas. in business at Montross, Westmoreland Co.; and the youngest, Wm., who ‘has a position’ in Washington. Surname ‘Baker’ is a maternal-line family name (Mary Anne Perry FitzSimons of the family tree was preceded by Bakers/Barkers/Perrys in the Charleston ancestry; this Baker correspondent appears to be a more distant connection writing courteously about historic Virginia.
The letter continues onto page 390. The first-line word “[Run?]” is uncertain; the writer’s hand is tremulous and the opening fragment continues from page 388 — possibly “[Run?] longer” meaning his stay or his trip will run longer toward the end of the month. Wakefield Plantation in Westmoreland Co., VA is George Washington’s birthplace; Port Conway, on the Rappahannock in King George Co., is James Madison’s birthplace; Monroe Hall (in nearby Westmoreland Co.) is James Monroe’s birthplace — three of the first five U.S. Presidents born within fifteen miles of Baker’s Wood Grove Farm.