Sarah Orne Jewett Letters of 1873
Sarah Orne Jewett to Theophilus Parsons
Brooklyn 2 Jan. 1873
Dear Prof. Parsons
I wished to write you yesterday, but New Year day in these parts one does not seem to have much leisure, and I could not find time for even this small note. I wish to send you my wishes for a happy New Year, and there are very few persons in the world to whom I say it more earnestly for you gave me so much last year and I shall be so much better in the year to come, because I have known you.
I thought when I left home that I should be back again by this time but there is little prospect at present, for I go to Philadelphia from here, and then back to New York and then to Newport, so the campaign seems to extend its limits! I have a great deal to tell you and part of it -- at any rate -- I am sure you will be glad to hear. I wish you the best of all your years and the happiest. -- "all good things that are good for you!" and thanking you again for all you have done for me
Yours most sincerely
Sarah O. Jewett.
Notes
The original of this letter is held by Special Collections at Colby College. It was transcribed by the owner of the manuscripts before they were given to Colby College, Henry Ellicott Magill (b. 1902) of Pasadena, CA, who also may have made handwritten corrections to the transcriptions. Edited by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Theophilus Parsons
[ 17 April 1873 ]
Dear Prof. Parsons.
I should like so much to know if you are well -- and if you have forgotten me! I think of you so often.
I have been home only two weeks after a jolly long holiday. I was West travelling with some friends in the autumn, and then I spent the winter in Philadelphia and New York & Brooklyn. I was in Boston just a few days but it was impossible for me to go to Cambridge which I should like so much to have done. I was ignominiously 'run over' on Broadway and I have been feeling the effects of my fall. It was the narrowest escape from being killed. I am not afraid of dying at all, but it would have been so hard for them here at home when they had not seen me for so long and expected me home soon -- I hope to begin my writing very soon, but first I am going away for a little change! Grandpapa lays siege [ seige ] to me for a small visit --
Six months is a long time to be away from one's home is not it? I hope I have not wasted all the time and I do not think I have. I have ever so many new friends, indeed I am quite bewildered with them sometimes when I get thinking; for I used to have only one, and perhaps she lasted, and perhaps she didn't! -- You never will know how much good you did me last summer. For one thing I have understood better ever since what I am doing -- I think I have lived a great deal more earnestly and have gained more good things myself and done more for other people. And before I went to the sea-shore I knew your reputation and your name, and I should have thought it so strange, if anyone could have told me what you were going to do for me. I like to think about it so much. I know I never shall forget those days -- and those moonlight nights and the high-tide and the Sunday. I wished to go sailing and did not! Will you please remember me to Mrs. Parson's & Miss Sabra* and believe that I am always your sincere and grateful
Sarah O. Jewett,
South Berwick
17 Apr. 1873 --
Notes
Miss Sabra: Mary Sabra Parsons. See Theophilus Parsons in Key to Correspondents.
The original of this letter is held by Special Collections at Colby College. It was transcribed by the owner of the manuscripts before they were given to Colby College, Henry Ellicott Magill (b. 1902) of Pasadena, CA, who also may have made handwritten corrections to the transcriptions. Further corrections, notes and annotations by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Theophilus Parsons
[ 14 May 1873 ]
Dear Prof. Parsons
I beg your pardon for not acknowledging the magazine before.* I read your essay with the greatest pleasure and learned a great deal from it. I read the other articles also, but I like what you say about the New Church so much better than what other people say! I am reading your book 'The Infinite and the Finite'* over again. I am just beginning to read again, though I am not well yet, and find my head troubles me a great deal. It has prevented my writing either letters or stories. I shall take you at your word and send you my stories. I shall like doing so very much -- but I do not flatter myself that the information you will gain will be very great! I was so glad to have your letter. I do not think you know how much pleasure you have given me since last August.
I should like so much to see you but I am afraid I shall not until fall, unless you are near here this summer as you were last. I wish you would come to Berwick & if you go East it would not be out of your way. Father had by no means forgotten you and if he were here I know he would send you a message in return for yours. He & my sister have gone down to the sea this afternoon & I think will not get back until late.
I think so often of questions I should like to ask you. You seem to know the answers to all my puzzles! It seems as if I had more "puzzles" than any girl I know, and I can't tell whether I am glad or sorry. My world seems at present very much tangled up! I grow cowardly sometimes and wish I never had been taught my letters; Please give my love to Miss Sabra.*
Yours most gratefully
Sarah O. Jewett.
South Berwick
14 May 1873
Notes
the magazine: This reference to a magazine containing an essay by Parsons from around May 1873 remains uncertain. He was a regular contributor to the New Church Magazine, and it seems quite likely that he has sent her a number that includes one of his pieces. These include two that probably appeared by the time Jewett wrote this letter:
"Heaven and Hell" (April 1873), pp. 305-315.
"The Rules of Convention" (May 1873), pp. 401-406.
The April number seems more likely, in the light of Jewett's failure to acknowledge it in an earlier letter.'The Infinite and the Finite': Parsons' book was published by Roberts Brothers, Boston, in 1872.
Wikipedia says: "The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) is the name for several historically related Christian denominations that developed as a new religious movement, informed by the writings of Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772)."
Miss Sabra: Mary Sabra Parsons. See Theophilus Parsons in Key to Correspondents.
The original of this letter is held by Special Collections at Colby College. It was transcribed by the owner of the manuscripts before they were given to Colby College, Henry Ellicott Magill (b. 1902) of Pasadena, CA, who also may have made handwritten corrections to the transcriptions. Further corrections, notes and annotations by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Helen Gilman to Sarah Orne Jewett
Portland May 24 '73
My dear Sarah,
Yrs. of the 21-- is before me. Thanks for it. I am so glad to know you & Mary* are coming to me as I desired. Please tell Mary to have her goods & chattels, pardon me, I mean "traps" sent ^or brought by her^ to my address, unless they are too bulky. Your good father, if you do not, will remember the dimensions of our office & hall, & should they not be sufficient -- I will have them ^(the goods)^ [ permuted ? ] to the attic -- which we consider heavenly -- On Monday I think they ought to come as Tuesday aft. ^at 2 o'clock^ the Fair* begins -- Please arrange for yourselves when you had better come for I will be ready for you at any time. -- I am sorry not to be able to extend my hospitality to Mrs. Burleigh* but some of my Augusta friends are to be with me -- but I will be most happy to extend to her the freedom of the house & she may
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feel at liberty to come & go as she pleases -- I believe some instructions are to be published which accounts for my not being better posted on the questions you ask. Of my own accord I take the liberty to say bring the goods to my house, for it will make it easier for you to have them more under your immediate control than if sent to "Headquarters" under the Falmouth.* Please secure fast your prices to the articles & let us have a schedule -- our Com. prefer that you fix your prices, & be subject to our revision only as a price may be too high or low. I have been so busy since my return with business details that I learn but little of outside matters connected with the Fair -- All are hopeful & I trust it will prove a pecuniary success -- I have been to Headquarters but twice but a table is assigned to you I hear. It is so, is it not? If I can answer any other questions please ask without hesitation.
Excuse my haste as the breakfast bell rings.
Love for you all from Aunt Helen.
Notes
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Fair: Probably, this is the Maine General Hospital Fair, which took place 7-19 June 1873 in Portland, ME. During the fair, a daily newspaper appeared, The Tonic, in which Jewett published three essays: "Birds' Nests," "Doctors and Patients," and "Protoplasm and House-Cleaning."
Mrs. Burleigh: Mrs. Burleigh may be Matilda Burleigh, Mrs. John Holmes Burleigh (1822-1877), a South Berwick neighbor, the widow of a mill owner and Maine congressman.
Falmouth: This presumably was the then quite new Falmouth Hotel (John Bundy Brown, 1868) in Portland, ME.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Columbia University (New York) Library in Special Collections, Jewett. Transcription from a microfilm copy and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Helen Gilman to Sarah Orne Jewett
Portland June 3d [ 1873 ]*
My dear Sarah,
What a noiseless man your Father is & how shyly he passed out from this house the other morning -- I think he must have decamped through window, for I was up before five & intended to have my ears open to the slightest sounds, & to present myself before him. When he departed. The only atonement he can make is to give us the whole of next week -- if not for the Med. Assoc.,* it must be for the Fair,* & I write this [ message ? ] to say that Aunt Caroline* intends to go to her new boarding place the last of this week. It is very near to us & will I trust prove a pleasant abode for her, from [ unrecognized word ]
[ Page 2 ]soul -- vacating her room gives me opportunity to insist on your whole family coming, so pack up on Monday & present yourselves at 41 [ Pine ? ] St.* without fail. Dr. [ Small ? ]* says it wont be a Med. Convention without yr father & so say I, & he must come sartin' -- Truly we want to see you all, & need I say more. Miss [ Strong ? Doring ? ]* is to call in a few moments, for what I cant divine -- Breakfast is on the table & all things considered I am in haste --
Abundant love for you
& all your family
from Aunt Helen --
Notes
1873: See note below on the Maine General Hospital Fair.
Med. Assoc. The Maine Medical Association met in Portland during the General Hospital Fair, 10-12 June 1873. See Transactions of the Maine Medical Association, Volume 4, p. 356. Dr. T. H. Jewett served on the Publishing Committee.
Fair: The Maine General Hospital Fair, which took place 7-19 June 1873 in Portland, ME. During the fair, a daily newspaper appeared, The Tonic, in which Jewett published three essays: "Birds' Nests," "Doctors and Patients," and "Protoplasm and House-Cleaning."
Aunt Caroline: This person has not been identified. She may be Caroline Bowman Freeland (1802-1878), mother of Annie Freeland Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
41 Pine St: Though this transcription is uncertain, 41 Pine Street remains a Portland, ME residential address.
Dr. Small: This transcription is uncertain. Dr. Horatio Nelson Small (1840-1886) of Portland, ME attended the 1873 Maine Medical Association Meeting. However there were other physicians named Small at the meeting, from various places in Maine. Horatio Small was Instructor of Obstetrics at the Portland School for Medical Instruction, sharing this specialty with Jewett's father, who served on the Obstetrics faculty at Bowdoin. See Transactions of the Maine Medical Association v. 9, pp. 315-7.
Strong ? Doring ? : The transcription is uncertain, and this person has not been identified.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Columbia University (New York) Library in Special Collections, Jewett. Transcription from a microfilm copy and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Freeland Jewett* to Sarah Orne Jewett
[ Unrecognized address, possibly: 107 Hackly St. ]*
June 15th [ 1873 ]*
My dear Sarah,
The days have glided by especially since your pleasant letter came. But not for one day, or hour has my conscience stopped accusing me of laziness & ingratitude to my friend.
And more than all not to you only but to Mary,* whose letters I can't afford to do without. Will you both accept this as a peace-offering & play I have not been bad and begin all over again. [ so punctuated ] Freeland* has gone on wings of [ a bird ? ] to ask Aunt Lottie if Laura* can stay to tea. Previously he had been enjoying himself in Prospect Park.* We have
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had some lovely days --- bright and not too warm. Today the sky is overcast, and rain threatens. Mr. Beecher* preached on Sunday last for Mr. Murray* of Boston. Did you see the account of the [ unrecognized word ] and disgraceful (I call it) behavior of [ yr Bostonians! ? ] However they really are not human. The Beechers have been visiting Mrs. Claflin* in Newtonville. Had a splendid time. Have you seen Miss Halliburton* recently? A few days since I encountered one of the maiden sisters ^of Gen. Dodge^* in a store. She was talking to a friend and I overheard the remark that they were alarmed about her brother, as he had [ unrecognized word ] blood; he could walk
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with a cane she said. Mrs. Ellis* is at [ Newton ? ] -- she went in April. Mr. Ellis is at [ father's ? ] and spends Sundays at home every other week. We had a pudding today, which your cousin Freeland [ deleted letters ] [ unrecognized word ] [ needed our horse power to eat -- he may not fear/far from light ? ]* Yesterday was the annual picnic of the Plymouth Sunday School.* it [ so punctuated ] was satisfactory{.} I didn't go. Have you seen a story in Littell* -- 'The Prescotts of Pamphillon' by the author of Dorothy Fox.[ so punctuated ]* I like it much. [ Miss ? ] Proctor had a fine time in Boston. She had all the celebrities at her feet so to speak. Whittier spent two weeks at the [ Claflin's ? ] during her stay there. Rose Terry* was there --
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Lucy Larcom* -- and several others that I have forgotten. How are all Berwick -- or rather how is. The good mother, father, Carrie & Mary [ unrecognized words ]. Give my love to them, and say that a few weeks more will see me in the midst of you, I hope. Dr. [ Haslitt ? ]* still lives although he does not call on me. Cousin Charlie* sees him often. Is my picture progressing! [ so punctuated ] Then will he escape from that [ things ? ] I do assure you.* Whether you like this paper or not -- it is fine to write upon -- so take my word for it -- We had a sermon this morning on the Fatherhood of God, the text being our Father which art in Heaven{.} I wish you could have heard
[ In top margin of page 1, down from the left ]
it as it was one of the strong sermons Mr. Beecher [ two unrecognized words ] preached.
Love again to all{.} Yours affectionately
Annie
Notes
Annie Freeland Jewett: Most of the details of this letter support the conclusion that Mrs. Jewett is the author of this letter, but this remains somewhat uncertain. See Key to Correspondents.
107 Hackly St.: This transcription is uncertain. The envelope is post-marked in New York, probably Brooklyn. There apparently is not a Hackley or Hackly Street in Brooklyn or the rest of New York City.
1873 : This year is based upon the writer indicating that she is enjoying the serial publication of The Prescotts of Pamphillon. See note below.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Freeland: Probably this is Freeland Jewett (1865-1937), Mrs. Jewett's son.
Aunt Lottie ... Laura: These persons have not yet been identified. Presumably, they are Mrs. Jewett's relatives.
Prospect Park: A public park in Brooklyn, NY., designed by Frederick Law Olmstead.
Mr. Beecher ... Mr. Murray: Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) was an American Congregationalist clergyman, abolitionist, and social reformer. Mr. Murray may be William Henry Harrison Murray (1840–1904), "an American clergyman and author of an influential series of articles and books which popularized the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York." He served as pastor of the Park Street Church in Boston, 1868-1874.
disgraceful ... [ the Bostonians ]: This transcription is uncertain, adding to the difficulty of knowing to what issue Mrs. Jewett refers. During 1873, a major issue in the Boston area was debate over Boston's attempted annexation of suburban Brookline. Having just completed a term as Governor of Massachusetts, William Claflin likely would have been deeply involved in this debate. It is possible, as well, that Mrs. Jewett refers to persistent rumors about the sexual affairs of Henry Ward Beecher, which became a public scandal in 1875. See note below on Edna Dean Proctor.
Mrs. Claflin in Newtonville: Mary Bucklin Davenport Claflin. See Key to Correspondents.
Miss Halliburton: Georgina Halliburton. See Key to Correspondents.
one of the maiden sisters ^of Gen. Dodge^: This transcription is uncertain, and these persons remain unknown. Two Union Civil War generals named "Dodge" could have been in New York in 1873. Charles Cleveland Dodge (1841-1910), a businessman, became president of the Boston and Cape Cod Canal Company. However, he had no known sisters. Grenville Mellen Dodge (1831-1916) became a businessman and a Republican politician, representing Iowa after the war. His business took him regularly to New York, where he resided after 1880. He had only one known sister, Julia Mary Dodge (1843-1924), and she married James Bradley Beard (1842-1926) in 1868.
Mrs. Ellis ... Mr. Ellis is at [ father's ? ]: Emma Harding Claflin and Charles Warren Ellis. The transcription of "father's" is uncertain, and this person's identity is uncertain. Mrs. Jewett's father was James Freeland. See Key to Correspondents.
from light: Transcription of this sentence is highly uncertain and its meaning obscure.
Plymouth Sunday School: Probably Mrs. Jewett refers to the Plymouth Church (Congregational) of Brooklyn, NY, established in 1847.
story in Littell -- 'The Prescotts of Pamphillon' by the author of Dorothy Fox: Mrs. Louisa Parr (c. 1846-1903) was a British novelist. The serialization of this novel opened in Littell's Living Age 117 (April 1873), p. 114.
Proctor: This may be Edna Dean Proctor (1827-1923) an American poet with Brooklyn connections. She worked with Henry Ward Beecher on Life Thoughts (1858), a collection of excerpts from his sermons. Wikipedia says that Beecher and Proctor had a sexual relationship for at least a year around the time they were working on this book.
Whittier ... Rose Terry: John Greenleaf Whittier. See Key to Correspondents. Rose Terry (Cooke) (1827-1892) was an American author and poet. She married Rollin H. Cooke in 1873.
Lucy Larcom: Lucy Larcom (1824-1893) was an American author and poet.
Carrie: Carrie Jewett (Eastman). See Key to Correspondents.
Haslitt: This transcription is uncertain, and the person remains unknown.
Cousin Charlie: This may be Jewett's cousin, Charles Ashburton Gilman. See Key to Correspondents.
assure you: Transcription of these sentences is highly uncertain and their meaning obscure.
Fatherhood of God ...our Father which art in Heaven: Beecher evidently preaches on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, using as his text, the "Lord's Prayer," Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. Mrs. Jewett may refer to his sermon entitled "The Fatherhood of God," in The Sermons of Henry Ward Beecher in Plymouth Church, v. 1, (1869) p. 411. If he delivered this sermon again in 1873, then it would be a repetition or revision.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Columbia University (New York) Library in Special Collections, Jewett. Transcription from a microfilm copy and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Horace Scudder
[ 1 July 1873 ]
My dear Mr. Scudder --
You have always been so kind to me that I cannot help thinking of you as one of my friends, and I have a question to ask which I am sure you will be able to answer -- so I ask it without making elaborate apologies -- Will you tell me about keeping the copyright of my stories? Some one asked me not long ago if I would like to have them published in book form, and, though I did not care to tell him 'yes', it has suggested to me that perhaps I might like to have some one
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else take them one of these days. And I know there is something about a thing's being 'copyrighted' or not, which may hinder their being used over again -- At any rate, I should like to know if there is anything for me to do ^about it^. I have been writing for the Independent* since I saw you. Not very much however, for I don't think I need the practice of writing, so much as I need study, and care in other ways. I think you advised me long ago not to write too much -- or to grow careless? I am getting quite ambitious and really feel that writing is my work -- my business perhaps; and it is so much
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better than making a mere amusement of it as I used -- I sent you some sketches* I gave a paper published at our Hospital Fair in Portland, not long ago -- I am really trying to be very much in earnest and to do the best I can. & I know you will wish me 'good luck.' I have had nothing to complain of, for the editors have never proved to be dragons, and I even find I have achieved a small reputation already. I am glad to have something to do in the world and something which may prove very helpful and useful if I care to make it so, which
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I certainly do. But I am disposed to long-windedness! If you will tell me with the least possible trouble to yourself how I can have my stories copyrighted, or 'keep the copyright' I believe one :should say -- or if it is not necessary, I shall thank you exceedingly, both for that and for your other kindnesses.
Yrs very sincerely,
Sarah O. Jewett --
South Berwick
1 July 1873
Notes
Independent: Richard Cary, who included this letter in Sarah Orne Jewett Letters, notes that "between September 14, 1871, and May 8, 1873, Miss Jewett contributed nine pieces to the Independent (see Weber & Weber, Bibliography, 30-31)."
sketches: Cary also names Jewett's 1873 hospital fair sketches in The Tonic (Portland, Maine): "Birds' Nests," June 11, page 3; "Doctors and Patients," June 12, page 3; "Protoplasm and House-Cleaning," June 17, page 3.
The manuscript of this letter is held by Colby College Special Collections, Waterville, Maine. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Horace Scudder
South Berwick13 July 1873
My dear Mr. ScudderIn the first place -- I think this letter will need no answer. Does not this announcement help you to begin ^to^ read
ingit with a pleasanter feeling? The truth is I wish to talk to you a little about my writing. I am more than glad to have you criticise me. I know I must need it very much and I realize the disadvantage of never hearing anything about my stories except from my friends, who do not write themselves, & are
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not unexceptionable authorities upon any strictly literary question. I do know several literary people quite well, but whenever they read anything of mine I know that they look down from their pinnacles in a [ benignant corrected ] way & think it very well done 'for her' as the country people say. And all this is not what I want. Then it is a disadvantage that I should have been so successful in getting my nonsense printed! I am so glad to have you show me where I fail, for I wish to gain as fast as possible and I must know definitely what to do. But Mr. Scudder, I think
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my chief fault is my being too young and knowing so little! Those sketches I sent you were carefully written. Of course they were experiments and I could perhaps have made them better if they could have been longer. Those first stories of mine were written with as little thought and care as one could possibly give & write them at all. Lately I have chosen my words and revised as well as I knew how; though I always write impulsively -- very fast and without much plan. And, strange to say this same fault shows itself in my painting, for the more I worked over pictures the stiffer and more hopeless they grew. I have one or two little
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marine views I scratched [ off corrected ] to use up paint and they are bright and real and have an individuality -- just as the "Cannon Dresses" did. That is the dearest & best thing I have ever written. The Shore House, which Mr. Howells* has, reminds me of it and comes next. I wrote it in the same way & I think it has the same reality. I believe the only thing
told me^he found fault with^ was that I did not make more of it -- 'The characters were good enough ^for me^ to say a great deal more of them'. But I don't believe I could write a long story as he suggested, & you advise me in this last letter -- In the first
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place, I have no dramatic talent. The story would have no plot. I should have to fill it out with descriptions of character and meditations -- It seems to me I can furnish the theatre, & show you the actors, & the scenery, & the audience, but there never is any play! I could write you entertaining letters perhaps, from some desirable house where I was in most charming company but I couldn't make a story about it. I seem to get very much bewildered when I try to make these come in for
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secondary parts. And what shall be done with such a girl? For I wish to keep on writing, & to do the very best I can. It is rather discouraging to find I [ lose corrected ] my best manner by [ studying corrected ] hard and growing older and wiser! Copying one's self has usually proved disastrous. Shall not I let myself alone and not try definitely for this trick of speech or that -- & hope that I shall grow into a sufficient respectability as the years go on? I do not know how much real talent I have as yet -- how much there is in me to be relied upon as original &
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effective in writing. I am certain I could not write one of the usual magazine stories. If the editors will take the sketchy kind and people like to read them, is not it as well to do that and do it successfully as to make hopeless efforts to achieve something in another line which runs much higher? You know the spirit in which I say this, for you know my writing has until very lately been done merely for the pleasure of it. It is not a bread & butter affair with me, though such a spendthrift as I could not fail to be glad of money, which has in most instances been lightly earned. I don't wish to ignore
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such a gift as this, God has given me. I have not the slightest conceit
abouton account of it -- indeed, I believe it frightens me more than it pleases me. Now it has been a great satisfaction to have said all this to you. Please look upon it as a slight tribute to your critical merits which no one can appreciate more heartily than I -- and remember that I told you in the beginning there would be no questions which would need answering. Thank you for telling me of your engagement, though I had heard of it long ago from some Boston friend & I had half a mind to speak of it when I was writing you -- I am very glad now to send you my best wishes. I shall like exceedingly
[ Up the left margin of page 6 ]
to see Miss Owen,* and I congratulate you both with all
[ Up the left margin of page 7 ]
Notes
all my heart -- Yours most sincerely Sarah O. Jewett
'Cannon Dresses' ... The Shore House ... Mr. Howells: William Dean Howells; see Key to Correspondents. Jewett's "The Girl With the Cannon Dresses" appeared in Riverside Magazine 4 (August 1870), 354-360. "The Shore House" was published in the Atlantic Monthly 32 (September 1873), 358-368 and became part of Deephaven (1877).
Owen: Richard Cary, who produced a transcription of this letter for Sarah Orne Jewett Letters, identified Grace Owen (1845-1926) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who married Scudder on 30 October 1873.
The manuscript of this letter is held by Colby College Special Collections, Waterville, Maine. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Theophilus Parsons
South Berwick 14 Sept. 1873
Dear Prof. Parsons.
I don't know why I am writing you unless it is that I remember you so often and I am a little afraid you will forget there is such a girl in the world as I! -- I heard in a roundabout way that you and your family were at Rye Beach during August. I was there myself the very last of July and I was very cross to find I had missed seeing you. I meant to go over to see you but I could not.
I have had a strange sort of summer. Father was very ill indeed for weeks,* & we were afraid at first that he would die, and then, that he would be blind. He is not quite well yet but he only needs time and rest -- but he never can be prevailed upon to take much of that. I wish I were like him. That was an awful time to me, when he was so ill. I think I never knew before what real sorrow is. I used to think of you so often; I suppose it was because I am always sure of your sympathy and knew you would be so sorry then. I did not feel like myself for a long time afterward, and added to this, I never have gotten over the effects of that accident in New York in the Spring. I was at Wells Beach three weeks not long ago and that did me a great deal of good. I think I was growing stronger and happier all the time and I found some pleasant new people to know, and one real friend. I used to wish for you a great deal and so many things reminded me of last summer. I used to sit in the hall window by myself and round the corner of the house on the piazza, & think about what you used to say.
I wonder if you saw "The Shore House"* in the September Atlantic? I would have sent it to you but it came out while I was there and I had no way of getting it. "Deephaven" is all perfectly real to me. I hope you liked it a little. I am very proud because I had some very pleasant things said about it, and even one kind little 'puff' from "The Nation." Wasn't that nice? -- I want to get on faster with my writing but I have been able to do so little this summer. I am wishing more and more to be useful in the world -- to be learning and working. I know I ought to do a great deal and I grow so sorry and discontented when I find myself so useless, and continual carelessness and thoughtlessness pulling me back. The days come and go, and I tell myself over and over again the same story of coming short of the mark. But isn't it something that I am sorry, that I mean to do better? I am 'getting on' and growing a little and I thank God for it. I have done good in one way -- I sincerely believe I have helped some of my friends, and I know you will be glad of that. I think you would tell me too, that it is all right that I am so dissatisfied, that it is the only way to make me climb higher.
Do you remember giving me some little books last summer at Wells? I told you at first that I could not understand many of them -- the extracts from Swedenborg particularly. Do you know that every time I take them they seem easier and easier, and so I find that I went to work the wrong way! I could not understand them because I was not ready I had not lived enough, but every time they make something clearer that I did not see aright before. There is one with an extract about the Atonement* that was a godsend to me. I read the other books -- your own books -- and there is always something I did not see before, which helps me. I am growing very ambitious about my writing, but I care most of all to be a pleasure and a help to people by means of it. I wish to be so good and true myself -- that myself in my stories will be sympathetic; I hope they may never fail to be interesting and helpful and strong, because there is no life or reality running through, and my own heart cold and selfish. I wish I never could finish a story without putting at least some little word that will show people how to be happier and grow better. There is one thing I am always glad to think of -- that if I am wishing to be good; no matter how much I am hindered, I shall surely find some chances when I can be what I wish. I can't tell you how much I have always thought of one thing you wrote of in The Infinite in the Finite* -- that in every event there is a chance for us to learn God's lesson and find good, or a chance for us to lose all this. I see it now so often for myself. Ah! you never will know how much you have taught me, and done for me. I do not know it all myself yet.
I have written much more than I intended, but I always find so much to say to you. I think I would rather see you than anyone I can think of. I hope to be in Boston for a day or two late next month and then I will go to Cambridge. I was so glad to hear something about you. It was merely that you were in Rye, but I did not know even if you were well before. Please give my love to Mrs. Parsons and Miss Sabra.*
Yours most sincerely
Sarah O. Jewett.
Notes
Father was very ill: Paula Blanchard, Sarah Orne Jewett, mentions Theodore Jewett's life-threatening illness in 1873 (p. 120). See also Elizabeth Silverthorne, Sarah Orne Jewett (p. 64).
The Shore House: Jewett's "The Shore House" appeared in Atlantic Monthly (September 1873). The Nation of 28 August 1873 wrote: "Very agreeable reading will be found in Miss S. O. Jewett's 'Shore-House,' which is more like talk than reading" ( p. 149).
the Atonement: The Christian doctrine that the death of Christ atoned for the original sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, told in the book of Genesis in the Bible. By this means, God redeemed humanity from "the fall" that separated humanity from God.
'The Infinite and the Finite': Parsons' book was published by Roberts Brothers, Boston, in 1872.
Miss Sabra: Mary Sabra Parsons. See Theophilus Parsons in Key to Correspondents.The original of this letter is held by Special Collections at Colby College. It was transcribed by the owner of the manuscripts before they were given to Colby College, Henry Ellicott Magill (b. 1902) of Pasadena, CA, who also may have made handwritten corrections to the transcriptions. Further corrections, notes and annotations by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Theophilus Parsons to Sarah Orne JewettCambridge -- Sept. 18, 1873
My dear Miss Jewett,
You begin your letter with confessing that you did not know why you wrote to me. Perhaps I can tell you. It was because you knew I should be very glad to receive the letter. We passed the month of August at Rye Beach. Soon after I was there, I learned from Miss Hilliard* that you had been there. I came as near being vexed, as I permit myself to be with a fact which is not my fault, -- that I had not been a little earlier or you a little later. But I learned also that you were coming there again; nor did I wholly lose the hope of seeing you, until
youI left the beach. Now you half promise that you will be in Boston the last of October. You make long visits elsewhere. Must your visit at Boston be only a flying call? You say you will come out to Cambridge. We shall all be glad to see you, but could you not draft me a line, as soon as your plans are determined upon, telling me at what time and what place I may find you in Boston?I have not yet read the Shore House.* I have but little time to give to our periodicals & they are very numerous, so I take none but the professional ones that I need. But shall get that number of the Atlantic, at once, & read that story; and when we [ deleted word ] meet you may be sure I shall tell you just what
youI think of it. The last story you sent me in the Independent* was a very pleasant story. One who began it would be sure to finish it. An editor would know this & ask for more. But a reader who looked over his paper to find the next story from your hand, would, by that time have forgotten all about the story he had read, except that he liked it. Is it not just so you read the pleasure giving literature of the day. What I mean is, that your stories lack -- what it would now be impossible, perhaps, for you to put into them; and that is, positiveness, substance. You learn easily, think quickly, & write excellently. The time will come when you will never write without knowing that you are going to say something which will make your readers wiser & better, -- unless they reject it, which is not your affair. And that thought or truth you will do your best to give access to the minds of your readers. Then you will rejoice when you feel that you have succeeded in clothing a valuable truth with a beauty that is at once attractive & transparent; -- that wins reception for the truth & does not obscure or disguise it.You say "You are growing very ambitious about your writing." Of course you are; & your success will feed your ambition. Is this right? It may be or it may not be. Ambition is the love & desire of honour. What is the honour that you seek for? John says,* "How can you believe who receive honour one of another, & seek out the honour that cometh from God only." I am not about to write a sermon on this text, but let me say in a word, what it means. If you believe that God doeth good always, & infinitely desires to do good, & does all the good that is done and does this by His instruments that He may bless them in doing the good, & strives always to enlarge & elevate their capacity for doing good, that He may honour them more & more, -- then you will know what is meant by seeking the honour which cometh from Him. I hope that through eternity you will see more & more clearly that this is so, & what it all means.
But my sheet has come to an end, & I have not touched the many topics your letter suggests. Let me however express my sincere regret that your father has suffered* so much, & my pleasure that he has recovered, -- and my hope, that your suffering, now & always, may be the blessing it must have been intended to be. The rest I will leave until we can talk "face to face."
Sincerely y's
Theophilus Parsons
Miss S. O. Jewett [ This appears in the lower left corner after the signature. ]
Notes
Miss Hilliard: Miss Hilliard remains unidentified. One remote possibility is Miss Laura Hilliard of a prominent Cleveland, OH family. Though, according to her diary, Jewett made at least one extended visit there in 1873, there is as yet no record that she met the Hilliard family. Laura was the youngest daughter of Richard Hilliard & Sarah Catherine Hayes (of Vermont), born before 1853, the year her mother died. She likely was close to Jewett in age. She was living in Cleveland in 1914, where two of her brothers had remained and were prominent in the community. See The Pioneer Families of Cleveland 1796-1840, Volume 1, pp. 278-9.Shore House: Jewett's story, "The Shore House" appeared in the Atlantic Monthly for September 1873.
last story you sent me in the Independent: As of the date of this letter, Jewett's most recent story from The Independent would have been "The Desert Islanders" in November of 1872, but she may have sent him any of six other stories that appeared there from 1871 to the present.
John says: In the King James Bible, John 5:44 reads: "How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?"
father has suffered: See Jewett's letter of 14 September 1873.
The ms. of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: bMS Am 1743 (174). Transcription and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Editorial Rooms, St. Nicholas to Sarah Orne Jewett
22 September 1873
This is a one-page form letter addressed to Jewett, to accompany an enclosed check of $24 in payment for "The Water Dolly," as well as a receipt to be returned. Jewett's story appeared illustrated in St. Nicholas in December 1873.
This letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence, bMS Am 1743 Box 4, Item 192. I. Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Editors of St. Nicholas to Sarah Orne Jewett
Office of St Nicholas
654 Broadway
Sept 23 / 73
Dear Miss Jewett:
Can you write us a short fairy story* in which shall occur a description of the imaginative cave shown in the accompanying engraving? We wish to use both ^ MA + picture ^ in our second number, and would have to have the ms. very soon. A [ discription so spelled ] of the natural features of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky might aid you
[ Page 2 ]
in [ discribing so spelled ] our wonderful cave. The river is to ^be^ made [ deletion ] prominent [ deletion ] in the talk about the cave. We thought of calling the picture the "Wonderful River". Please let us know ^soon^ if you can undertake the story as we are quite pressed in regard to time.
Yours truly
Eds. St. Nicholas
Notes
story: Jewett did not publish such a story in St Nicholas. Her next story to appear there was "My Friend the Housekeeper" in September 1874. Whether she attempted the story is not yet known, but it is possible such an attempt is among her unpublished manuscripts.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence, bMS Am 1743 Box 4, Item192. I. Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Ellen Mason to Sarah Orne Jewett
Newport
Oct [ 6th ? 1873 ]*
My dear Sarah,
I don't know what you think of me for keeping silent so long, but I am sure that it will not be anything unkind. I began a letter to you a good while ago, but I did not feel like writing and did not finish it. I will not take up any room with apologies, of which we neither of us
[ Page 2 ]
approve, but will "entrer tout de suite en matière."* It has been quite pleasant this summer talking foreign languages. I do wish that one had more frequent opportunities to practice them, for it is much more amusing than talking English all the time, and one can say some things much better than in one's mother tongue. A German cousin of ours has come out to pass the winter, and I have a fine chance to speak with
[ Page 3 ]
her in German, altho' I speak it so much less well than she does English, that I am rather ashamed of myself. Newport certainly is a nice place in a society way, for one sees every variety of person here in the course of the summer. There has been a Miss Wellington* ^here^ whom I am very sorry not to have seen, for they says that she is one of the most promising reviewers. She wrote a criticism of George Eliot, which called forth a complimentary note from the authoress herself. I wonder if you know this
[ Page 4 ]
Miss W! I believe she lives in Boston. I hope that you will be coming to town in Nov., when we shall be back there. You will have been quietly at home for so long by that time you will have to try your wings again, and they cannot take you in a better direction than Boston. I am hoping very much ^that^ Kate* will be there this winter, tho' I do not dare speak of it yet. Both she & her Mother are I think convinced that a winter here is very bad for her and Boston seems as easy a place to go to, as
[ Page 5 ]
any other city. Would it not be nice to have her there and you would come and see her, would you not? I am sorry to say that Kate has not been very well this summer. She has had a great many of her old "queer" feelings, and has not been able to do much, or enjoy things properly. The weather however has been very favorable for her, so little heat. It is hard not to feel discouraged sometimes, but still I feel that she must and will get better eventually.
[ Page 6 ]
Our reading this summer has been very slight. We are just beginning De Tocqueville's letters* & I am much interested in every thing by that man, and am also reading his "America." We have been struggling all summer with the "Virginians"* which we have not yet quite finished. It is so very hard to read a book with a person when you are not in the house with them, and Kat's visits to me this summer have been very short. Has Prof. Parsons* written to you regularly? I hope that you will show me some more of his letters, they must be so interesting. I wish that you had been here last week to see the surf, it was so fine{.}
[ Up the left margin and then down the top margin of page 1 ]
Have you had many glimpses of the sea this summer? I was at [ unrecognized word ] last week, and altho' I enjoyed my visit there extremely, I was so thankful to get back to my adored sea again.
Goodbye -- Yrs affy
Ellen Mason
Notes
1873: The day in October is obscured by cross writing, but appears to be the 6th. The year is speculative, based on the reference to Alice Wellington receiving a compliment from George Eliot concerning a book review. The correspondence between Wellington and Eliot took place in early 1873, making this the earliest year when Eliot's opinion could have been known. As Wellington married in 1876, we can be fairly sure that this letter is from before that year.
matière: French -- "get right to the substance."
Miss Wellington: Alice Wellington Rollins (1847-1897) was a Boston and New York author and reformer, who corresponded with the British novelist, George Eliot (1819-1880) in 1873. Wikipedia.
See George Eliot's Life as Related in her Letters and Journals, pp. 143-5. She married and left Boston in 1876. The review of Eliot to which Mason refers has not yet been identified.
Kate: Almost certainly this is Kate Birckhead. See Key to Correspondents.
De Tocqueville's letters ... America: The French diplomat and historian, Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) published Democracy in America (1835, 1840). A translation of Memoir, Letters, and Remains of Alexis de Tocqueville was published in Boston by Ticknor and Fields in 1862.
Virginians: Presumably this is William Makepeace Thackeray's historical novel of 1857-1859, which is set partly in 18th-century British colonial America in the years leading up to the revolution of 1776.
The manuscript of this letter is held by Columbia University Libraries Special Collections in the Sarah Orne Jewett letters, Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College, from a Columbia University Libraries microfilm copy of the manuscript.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Katherine de Costa Birckhead*
S.B. 12 Dec 1873
My dear Kate
I am writing at that secretary with the secret drawers which you find mentioned in the Shore House --* I have been over here nearly all day copying and I am oh! so tired. It is getting dark and there will not be time to finish this letter -- but I have been thinking of you ever so much today and somehow I can't help writing. I hoped to go to Boston this
[ Page 2 ]
week and to hear about you from Ellen* but I can't for I have ever so much writing to do and I don't wish to leave it and forget it and never finish it as would perhaps be the case -- And besides both Mary & Carrie* are going away in a few days -- and all things considered I think I had better wait until after New Years. I am writing or rather copying a story just now that I am almost sure you will like ever so much. It is a good
[ Page3 ]
story* and I think it has done me good to write it even if nobody has any good from reading it --
[ unfinished and unsigned ]
Notes
Birckhead: Though it is in a Houghton folder cataloged as letters to Kate Douglas Wiggin, the intended recipient almost certainly was Birckhead. In 1873, Wiggin turned 17, and her family moved to Santa Barbara, CA. While her family resided for some time in Maine, and she went to school in Maryland and Massachusetts until she was 17, it is unlikely that she and Jewett met until much later. Jewett's known correspondence with Wiggin began in 1904.
On the other hand, in the 1860s and 70s Jewett was in correspondence on a first-name basis with Birckhead, one of her closest friends at the time.
Shore House: Jewett's short story, "The Shore House," appeared in Atlantic Monthly in September 1873.
Ellen: Ellen Mason. Key to Correspondents.
Mary & Carrie: Jewett's sisters, Mary Rice Jewett and Caroline Jewett Eastman. Key to Correspondents.
story: Jewett published several stories during 1874, but only one for adult readers, "Miss Sydney's Flowers" in The Independent in July.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. bMS Am 1743 Box 7, Item 278.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Ellen Mason to Sarah Orne Jewett
[ December 1873 ? ]*
[ Begin letterhead ]
Walnut Street
Boston
[ End letterhead ]
My dear Sarah,
If I had not been so very busy these last days, I should have written you for I have often thought of you at this season of anniversaries when one's friends are much in one's thoughts. You must not be afraid of my breaking down though, for I try not to be imprudent, and when I feel myself getting tired
[ Page 2 ]
I do not go on just the same. I generally rush about before Christmas and fuss about presents, but this year I determined not to trouble myself and only gave presents where I happened to know what people wanted, so that my added cases & responsibilities have really taught me to be more careful. I should certainly not like to break down as a great many girls do. Health is such a blessing that one ought to hold on to it surely.
Since I wrote last, I have been to Newport for a Sunday.
[ Page 3 ]
Kate* & I had a delightful time together of course. I shall go down as often as I possibly can, since Kate cannot come to me this winter. We went to church in the afternoon, and staid during the whole service and sermon! Just think what an improvement!
The poor Hunter children* sailed yesterday I suppose. What a sad coming home it will be. I saw a letter from May [ or Mary ? ] which was heartrending in its
[ Page 4 ]
account of the partings. Captain Mathew [ or Mathews or Mathers ? ] is going to Japan,* and he will be quite a loss to Newport, for he was a standby and very convenient as a "walking stick." I forget whether you ever met him. Although he is not at all interesting, he is a person you cannot help getting quite attached to, and I am really sorry to lose him. You will send me the story* you spoke of writing will you not, or tell me where I can get it? It is so nice to be able to
[ Up the left margin, then down the top margin of page 1 ]
do good in that way, and you authors must feel that you have a great deal in your power -- I expect to go to New York & Philadelphia this month -- probably towards the end. Shall you be here before do you think? Yrs with love, E. Mason
Notes
December 1873: This date is purely speculative, there being no internal evidence as yet discovered to establish a date. This guess is based upon having another letter from Mason to Jewett with a likely date of 6 October 1873. This letter seems to have been written near or after Christmas, so there is a small likelihood that this letter follows that one.
Kate: Almost certainly this is Kate Birckhead. See Key to Correspondents.
The poor Hunter children ... letter from May [ or Mary ? ]: These people have not yet been identified. Because Kate Birckhead's mother's family name was Hunter and the family had resided at Newport, RI, it is possible that someone in that family has died.
Captain Mathew ... Japan: The transcription of this name is uncertain, and he has not yet been identified.
the story: If the 1873 date for this letter is correct, Mason may refer to Jewett's first Deephaven story, "The Shore House," which appeared in Atlantic in September 1873.
The manuscript of this letter is held by Columbia University Libraries Special Collections in the Sarah Orne Jewett letters, Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College, from a Columbia University Libraries microfilm copy of the manuscript.
Edited by Terry Heller, Coe College.
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