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Frances (Appleton) Longfellow to Emmeline (Austin) Wadsworth, 11 July 1850
Manuscript letter
Jonathan Johnson’s –
Nahant. July 11th 1850.
Dearest Em,
We have been established in this snug little mansion since Friday last, & very comfortable & pleasant we find it. We have a most obliging hostess, who gives us the best of simple fare, & much do I enjoy the bracing air which has strengthened & cheered me already, the freedom from care, & our nice rooms all upon one floor – a great saving of fatigue to me. Tom is with us & seems tolerably contented, but is far from well & has lost much of his old spirits. I fear he too is destined to be an invalid. Yesterday was a sad day here as everywhere. What a sudden & grievous blow is the President’s death! The good old man, truly [p. 2] loved by all, & whose firm hand was so needed at this crisis to make North & South work in the harness amicably. Boston was shrouded in gloom I hear, & all hearts saddened. It is our only comfort that Mr Fillmore is, apparently, so worthy a successor – he looked to me like a man of calm strength, his countenance is very prepossessing, but his energies are untried & the boldest might shrink from such sudden responsibilities at such an embarassed session. All hope he will at least have a stronger cabinet than the last.
There seem to be many pleasant people here, & Nahant never looked more invitingly – so green & adorned with flowers & hedges that it has quite lost its old wilderness appearance.
My chicks are wild with delight, & have turned as brown as gypsies, being all day in the open air. [p. 3] My nurse has been detained in Cambridge by the death of her mother but they have, fortunately, their old “Mamy” to take care of them. Mrs Paige sent me yesterday a charming basket full of flowers one could hardly believe grew so near the sea. Miss Hatty passes every day à cheval looking very picturesque in her light beaver. The Hotel is nearly empty as yet.
Nahant is always full of ghosts to me, but is less oppressive than usual. I was at Mrs Eliot’s yesterday & she told me Mary Parkman was much better, able to drive out & intending to go into the country as soon as able. She is now troubled with swollen feet & ancles [sic] which makes it difficult for her to move about. Sarah Cleveland is at Sharon for her rheumatism, & I think with one of the Nortons.
[p. 4] Poor old Mrs Taylor will retire to her country quiet with a sense of relief doubtless, & probably thinks her husband would have been longer spared her if he had never left it. A fatality seems to pursue a Whig President. I hope this will sober Congress into some decent Legislation & stop the outpouring of mere frothy talk. Dr Webster’s confession is very awful, is it not? but to me credible knowing the nature of the man. Dr Putnam has certainly performed his part very ably, tho’ many in Boston blame him for coming forward in his behalf. What a discovery for Mrs W. & the daughters after their firm belief in his entire innocence! What sorrow can resemble theirs! And so worthless a man to do inflict such an amount of injury!
Mr Johnson, of our house is a poetess & a very good one. They are all the nicest people. This hasty line was merely to let you know we are here. With love [p. 1 cross] to Wm - & from Henry & Tom ever thy true & loving Fan
What do you hear from Elisabeth?
Nahant. July 11th 1850.
Dearest Em,
We have been established in this snug little mansion since Friday last, & very comfortable & pleasant we find it. We have a most obliging hostess, who gives us the best of simple fare, & much do I enjoy the bracing air which has strengthened & cheered me already, the freedom from care, & our nice rooms all upon one floor – a great saving of fatigue to me. Tom is with us & seems tolerably contented, but is far from well & has lost much of his old spirits. I fear he too is destined to be an invalid. Yesterday was a sad day here as everywhere. What a sudden & grievous blow is the President’s death! The good old man, truly [p. 2] loved by all, & whose firm hand was so needed at this crisis to make North & South work in the harness amicably. Boston was shrouded in gloom I hear, & all hearts saddened. It is our only comfort that Mr Fillmore is, apparently, so worthy a successor – he looked to me like a man of calm strength, his countenance is very prepossessing, but his energies are untried & the boldest might shrink from such sudden responsibilities at such an embarassed session. All hope he will at least have a stronger cabinet than the last.
There seem to be many pleasant people here, & Nahant never looked more invitingly – so green & adorned with flowers & hedges that it has quite lost its old wilderness appearance.
My chicks are wild with delight, & have turned as brown as gypsies, being all day in the open air. [p. 3] My nurse has been detained in Cambridge by the death of her mother but they have, fortunately, their old “Mamy” to take care of them. Mrs Paige sent me yesterday a charming basket full of flowers one could hardly believe grew so near the sea. Miss Hatty passes every day à cheval looking very picturesque in her light beaver. The Hotel is nearly empty as yet.
Nahant is always full of ghosts to me, but is less oppressive than usual. I was at Mrs Eliot’s yesterday & she told me Mary Parkman was much better, able to drive out & intending to go into the country as soon as able. She is now troubled with swollen feet & ancles [sic] which makes it difficult for her to move about. Sarah Cleveland is at Sharon for her rheumatism, & I think with one of the Nortons.
[p. 4] Poor old Mrs Taylor will retire to her country quiet with a sense of relief doubtless, & probably thinks her husband would have been longer spared her if he had never left it. A fatality seems to pursue a Whig President. I hope this will sober Congress into some decent Legislation & stop the outpouring of mere frothy talk. Dr Webster’s confession is very awful, is it not? but to me credible knowing the nature of the man. Dr Putnam has certainly performed his part very ably, tho’ many in Boston blame him for coming forward in his behalf. What a discovery for Mrs W. & the daughters after their firm belief in his entire innocence! What sorrow can resemble theirs! And so worthless a man to do inflict such an amount of injury!
Mr Johnson, of our house is a poetess & a very good one. They are all the nicest people. This hasty line was merely to let you know we are here. With love [p. 1 cross] to Wm - & from Henry & Tom ever thy true & loving Fan
What do you hear from Elisabeth?
Archives Number: 1011/002.001-020#023
U. S. National Park Service
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Correspondence (1011/002), (LONG-SeriesName)
, Letters from Frances Longfellow (1011/002.001), (LONG-SubseriesName)
, 1850 (1011/002.001-020), (LONG-FileUnitName)
, Letters from Frances Longfellow (1011/002.001), (LONG-SubseriesName)
, 1850 (1011/002.001-020), (LONG-FileUnitName)
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Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, Code: LONG
Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Latitude: 42.3769989013672, Longitude: -71.1264038085938
Latitude: 42.3769989013672, Longitude: -71.1264038085938
NPS Museum Number Catalog : LONG 20257
Title: Finding Aid to the Frances Elizabeth Appleton Longfellow (1817-1861) Papers, 1825-1961 (bulk dated: 1832-1861)
URL: https://www.nps.gov/long/learn/historyculture/archives.htm#FEAL
URL: https://www.nps.gov/long/learn/historyculture/archives.htm#FEAL
2016-01-30
07/11/1850
Manuscript letter in Frances Appleton Longfellow Papers, Series II. Correspondence, A. Outgoing, 1850. (1011/002.001-020#023)
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Organization: Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
Address: 105 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Email: LONG_archives@nps.gov
Address: 105 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Email: LONG_archives@nps.gov
Wednesday, November 9, 2022 5:51:06 PM
Wednesday, November 9, 2022 5:51:06 PM
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