Nell, William Cooper. Letter to Amy Kirby Post.

Title

Nell, William Cooper. Letter to Amy Kirby Post.

Creator

Nell, William Cooper

Contributor

Post, Amy Kirby, 1802-1889

Date

1868-05-10

Description

Handwritten letter from William Cooper Nell to Amy Kirby Post. Nell writes to Post about recent events in Boston.

Subject

Post, Amy Kirby, b. 1802

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

1705

Location

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

Transcription

(Page 1)

[Three lines of text aligned upside down along top margin of Page 1]

In reference to the Womens Rights Champions
affiliating with Train . . I never thought
well of it.

                                    Boston May 10. 1868
Dear Friend Amy
                                     Your Kind favor
of February 4^th calls oudly for this
    response. which Your characteristic
indulgence will I Know excuse the long
delay.               I was exceedingly gratified
to hear from You and as sorry not
to have the LiKenesses [sic] on hand required
for Abigail Bush of which after vainly
endeavoring to obtain I informed her
of promptly by mail promising to
   exert my utmost to find and
forward. = of my own Phiz .
transferred to Card     You and Her
are both BooKed for early copies.
      It is within a few days of one Year
Since my last visit to 36 Sophia St
where I would be now and often
if circumstances did but permit.
           It afforded me much Satisfaction
to learn of You of the Friends in

(Page 2)

Rochester and in particular from
the Home Circle .      To each and
all please feel commissioned to
tender my Kind and Fraternal
remembrances.
                                  I am yet in the Post
office and my Nephew Ira Nell Gray
has Just commenced in the Same
department with myself. The
interior of Post office Building
has been so altered that my
Friend William R. Hallowell would
not easily recognize his whereabouts.
a New Post office You Know has
been decided upon . but how Soon
to be completed      Deponent is now
unable to testify .
                                    at the time of the
   Spiritualist 20^th anniversary Celebration
at Music Hall I had intended by
all means to be present but was
prevented by a combination of circumstances
much to my regret. I Saw
   Andrew JacKson Davis during the

(Page 3)

Day on Bromfield St going into the
office of Bela Marsh. _It was a
grand and memorable accasion [sic].
    Who would thinK So long a time
had elapsed Since my first acquaintance
with the – “Rochester KnocKings “
at 36 Sophia Street - now
its believers are counted by millions.
                                -
     I shall not reach the New YorK
anniversaries =and dont Know when or
where my Vacation will be . I desire
Very much to see Washington at Some
time. but my plans are Yet to be made.
        I was       quite interested with the
Standard Obituary of Deborah BunKer by
    Sarah D. Fish =        It brought to mind my
Acquaintance with the “BunKer Girls.”
                                          Tuesday
   Yesterday called to see Louisa who had Just
finished a Letter for You . in which I discovered
an expression relating to my self [sic] and the
Old Story    Vc my being married.
       Well I have this message to

(Page 4)

Communicate to Amy Post on that all
important [sic] subject .     You remember last May
Suggesting as preferable a Young Woman and
one who had never been married _ as best
calculated to adapt herself Vc -
    I stopped at Worcester en route to Boston
and at my Friend Mrs Putnams and her
Daughter Mrs Gilliard met a Young Woman
from New Hampshire who I had never before
Seen but Often heard spoKen highly of
by some of her relatives Special friends of
mine.        = the acquaintance has thus far
proved Satisfactory and the choice is
that at this the eleventh Hour –
if I marry, it will be this Girl
     from New Hampshire. = So much
to You with whom so much talK has
been indulged through a series of Years
on the So long deferred event.
        This mornings Papers more Clearly
than ever before indicate treachery
enough among prominent Republicans
to defeat Impeachment =I have but
no room for the comments which would
liKely be identical with yours – Wm C. Nell.
Love to all from Yours Fraternally

[Text aligned along left margin of Page 4]

Is Mary PitKin Yet in Troy?

Annotations

William Cooper Nell, an abolitionist and former slave, is writing from Boston to fellow activist, Amy Post. During this period, women's rights activists, such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton began to ally themselves with Democrats, rather than Republicans. One such ally was Francis Train. Abigail Bush was a member of the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society and presided over the women’s rights convention that was held in Rochesterin 1848. Nell refers to the Post family home at 36 Sophia Street in Rochester. William R. Hallowell was Post's son-in-law. Spiritualists believed that through mediums they could communicate with the dead. Andrew Jackson Davis was a Spiritualist healer. The New York anniversaries could refer to anti-slavery celebrations. Sarah Fish was a woman's rights leader. Both the members of the Putnam and Gilliard family were abolitionists. Nell refers to the impeachment proceding against then President Andrew Johnson. Mary Pitkin took care of Post's youngest son, Willie for a period.

Tags

Personal; Reconstruction Era; Spiritualism

Collection

D.93 Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers

Citation

Nell, William Cooper, “Nell, William Cooper. Letter to Amy Kirby Post.,” RBSCP Exhibits, accessed November 24, 2024, https://rclomeka2.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/3990.

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