Gardner, Matilda. Letter to Sojourner Truth.

Title

Gardner, Matilda. Letter to Sojourner Truth.

Creator

Gardner, Matilda

Contributor

Sojourner Truth

Date

1867-01-30

Description

Handwritten letter from Matilda Gardner to Sojourner Truth. Gardner, Truth‚Äôs granddaughter shares news about recent family events.

Subject

Truth, Sojourner, d. 1883

Is Part Of

Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers

Rights

The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

Identifier

1596

Location

Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Transcription

(Page 1)

                                    Marine City January 30^th 1867

My Dear Grand Mother [sic]
I hope you will look up
on this long letter. I thought I had waited a
long time before I could get aletter [sic] from you,
and I think now it is time for you or I. to
write to each other. I am very sorry to think
that you dont write to me. I thought I have sent
enough to receive some answer from you but
indeed it is too bad to think of it. I now will
write one, and I hope you will get it, and answer
it. I will tell you what a nice times [sic] I see out
here, and I hope you will listen at this. and I
hope you will answer it too. I have learned to read
and write and swim.     I visited at Detroit last
summer we had a nice times [sic]. I went to Church
and wehad [sic] nice preaching. this is the first
time I have been from home. it is fifty
miles below where we live. now I have time
   to study every day [sic] and two hours before noon
   two hours afternoon and I want to go home very
    badly to see you and my friends   but now I
     see they do not care for me. so I will
     stay where I am, because I am afraid
you all might drive me out.    I hope

(Page 2)

Grand Mother [sic] when you and all my
friends meet to gether [sic] I hope we will have
a jolly old time.     and I hope that will come
to pass that we may have a nice time to
gether [sic]. we have a nice garden it is plasent [sic]
to look at it. we have got the prettiest river
in the world. here we have skiting and swiming:
I will tell ^you^ what a nice present I have received
Christmas. I had a splendid time on Christmas
you may bet that I was up bright and
   early in the morning and to my surpris [sic] I
found my stocking was filled up to the top
with presents I suppose you would like to
h [sic] know what they were. will [sic] I got a
balnioral [sic] skirt and a bloomer and a dress
and a gold wring [sic] and breast pin, and
some other little present. this is my hand:
write soon

good by [sic] no more to say your friend
Matilda Gardner            M

Annotations

Matilda Gardner- abolitionist and former slave- Sojourner Truth's granddaughter, is writing to from Marine City, Michigan. Gardner refers to a balmorals skirt, which was a type of hoop skirt that women wore during this period.

Tags

Education; Personal

Collection

D.93 Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers

Citation

Gardner, Matilda, “Gardner, Matilda. Letter to Sojourner Truth.,” RBSCP Exhibits, accessed November 24, 2024, https://rclomeka2.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/3883.

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