Sarah Orne Jewett to Frances MorseSarah Orne Jewett Letters of 1909
Katharine Peabody Loring to Sarah Orne Jewett
[ December 1908 - January 1909 ]*
I hope everything begins to go better with you & dear Mrs Fields.
With love, yours faithfully
Katharine P. Loring.
Notes
1909: This note is inserted in Annie Field's "Diary and Commonplace Book" 1907-1912, suggesting that it was received about the time Fields began to make fairly regular entries, in January 1909.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Massachusetts Historical Society: Annie Adams Fields's "Diary and Commonplace Book" 1907-1912: Annie Fields papers, 1847-1912, MS. N-1221. This transcription was made mainly from a microfilm copy, available courtesy of the University of Kansas Libraries, Lawrence Kansas: Annie Adams Fields Papers 1852-1912. Folio PS 1669.F5 Z462, 1986, Reel 2. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Mary Amelia St. Clair to Annie Adams Fields
Jan. 9. 1909.
My dear Mrs Fields
It was a great pleasure to get your dear letter. How kind of you to write it when you had been ill & not up to writing & such a sweet letter so full of the things [ that ? ] I most wanted said. I am so glad that you liked
[ Page 2 ]
my poor Kitty,* who seems to have offended so many of my American reviewers. You always understand just what I mean in everything I've written, & you can't think how dear y. approval is to me.
I wish you cd. give a better account of y. self. I can't bear to think of y. being ill.
Y. letter reached me when
[ Page 3 ]I was in the country, in the cottage I go to under the Sussex Downs. It was very lonely & quiet all the time, & I got through some work. I've finished about one-third of my new novel, wh will be longer than "The Helpmate"; nearly as long, I'm afraid, as "The Divine Fire."* It has been more joy to do than anything since the days of Ricky,* but it is different,
[ Page 4 ]
though more like him than his successors. There's really some interest in having a good solid piece of work stretching in front of you. But I don't know whether it has really "come off" or not -- so far.
I've just had a nice long letter from Mr Gilder* to whom it will go.
I saw Mrs Wharton* not long ago when she was staying with Lady St. Helier. I liked her very much indeed.
And Mr Morton,* too, has been here. He had [ unrecognized word ] with me, & I dined & went to the
[ Up the left margin and then across the top margin of page 1 ]
play with him. Such a nice man. A little [ unrecognized word grieved ? ] because I will stand up for our brave "Suffragettes!"
[ Up the right margin of page 1 ]
With much love to you & dear Miss Jewett [ Jewitt ? ] & best wishes for it is still new year: always v. affectly ys May Sinclair.
Notes
Kitty: Sinclair's novel, Kitty Tailleur (1908) is the story of a woman who has been the mistress of a powerful man and then seeks legitimate marriage. It was challenging to conventional morality of the period.
"The Divine Fire": Sinclair's novel, The Divine Fire (1904), preceded The Helpmate (1907). Her next novel, The Creators (1910), was a long book. See Miss May Sinclair: Novelist: A Biographical and Critical Introduction, by Theophilus Ernest Martin Boll, p. 81.
Savage Keith Rickman, nicknamed Ricky, is a fictional author, a main character in The Divine Fire.
Mr Gilder: Richard Watson Gilder. Key to Correspondents.
Mrs Wharton ... Lady St. Helier: American novelist, Edith Wharton (1862-1937). Wharton probably visited London activist and philanthropist, Susan Elizabeth Mary Jeune, Baroness St Helier (1845 - 1931).
Mr Morton: Possibly Johnson Morton. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, California: James Thomas Fields Papers and Addenda (1767-1914), Letters of Sinclair, mss FL 1-5637.
May Sinclair, when she abbreviates a word as well as with some titles places some of the letters in superscript position. I have elected not to duplicate this practice in the transcriptions of her letters.
Annie Adams Fields to Isabella Stewart Gardner
[In upper right corner, penciled in Gardner's hand: 1909]
Sunday. [ 10 January 1909 ]
Dear Mrs. Gardner:
You would be pleased if you could see the pleasure your little play* gave to my three ladies. Miss Longfellow* could not express the gratitude she felt in being told of it, and Miss Jewett (which is the real reason of this note) said quite simply from her bed this morning, she could not say when anything had left such an ineffauble [so written] impression of the purity and sweetness
[ Page 2 ]
belonging in our minds at least to that earlier era, where indeed we know* from Arts' positive proofs, that it existed{.} I have to thank you too for making the access so easy. Nevertheless I was not quite able to go myself. Mrs. Crafts* told me in the afternoon how beautiful your setting of the play was in the Gothic Room. I feel as if I had been there!
Affectionately and truly your
Annie Fields
All of us wish to send love & thanks to the much loved Lady of Fenway Court.
By the way, can you come on Thursday the 14th for a luncheon at one o'clock to which I am about to ask Mrs Stillman and Miss Grace Norton* with whom she is staying. Do if possible and oblige your
A.F.
Notes
little play: Penciled in another hand on back of the letter: "The Xmas play given for benefit of Messina earthquake sufferers." An earthquake of 28 December 1908 nearly destroyed the city of Messina, Sicily, and caused much other devastation in southern Italy. Shana McKenna, Archivist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum says this note was made by Morris Carter, Gardner's first biographer and her personal assistant from 1919-1924. McKenna provides this note on the play:
9 Jan 1909: Christmas Play performed in Gothic Room, for the benefit of the sufferers from the earthquake of 28 December 1908, in Messina, Italy. $1480 forwarded to Archbishop O’Connell, as a contribution to the relief fund of the Pope. (Morris Carter, Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fenway Court, 1925, p. 212).Carter also says that the "little French Christmas play," a New Year's gift to Mrs. Gardner from some of her friends, was first was given on 30 December of 1908 (p. 211-12). The play has not been identified.
Miss Longfellow: Alice Mary Longfellow. See Key to Correspondents.
Miss Jewett: Sarah Orne Jewett.
know: This word is underlined twice.
Mrs. Crafts: This transcription is uncertain. Others have read it as "Crofts." It seems more probable that Fields wrote "Crafts" and that she was referring to Clemency Haggerty (1841-1912), wife of former M.I.T. president, James Mason Crafts (1839-1917).
Mrs. Stillman and Miss Grace Norton: For Grace Norton, see Key to Correspondents.
While this is uncertain, it is possible that Norton is entertaining a visit from Marie Spartali Stillman (1844-1927), a British Pre-Raphaelite painter. Her husband, William James Stillman (1828-1901), a journalist and artist, had been a friend of Norton's brother, Charles Eliot Norton (1827-1908), American author and a professor of art.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Fenway Museum, Papers of Isabella Stewart Gardner, Fields, Annie (Adams) (Mrs James T. Fields) 1882, 3 M letters, n.d., 1909, and letter from Mary S. Savell [Mary E. Garrett] to Annie Fields, 1903. 1915.
In her manuscripts, Fields often uses "=" for a hyphen and "Mifs" for "Miss" when naming women. I have regularized these usages.
New transcription and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Edith Emerson Forbes to Annie Adams Fields
January fourteenth
1909*
[ Begin letterhead ]
MILTON HILL
[ End Letterhead ]
Dear Mrs Fields
My dear Ellen* died this morning at daybreak -- and we are rejoicing that she is released. In spite of every chance that she could not fail to suffer, the skill of her doctors and nurses and her own [ buoyant corrected ] happy temperament have carried her safely
[ Page 2 ]
through with no pain and great comfort and enjoyment -- triumphing over all ills with little heed of them and her clear mind and glad interest in every one else's pleasures have made her last two months beautiful to witness.
It is only six days since she began to lose speech and memory but not affection and her dear smile was quick to respond to a word
[ Page 3 ]
or a touch from us -- whom she knew till Tuesday when she lost all consciousness. They assure me there was no suffering -- she talked of recovery as long as she could speak -- On Friday or Saturday she told the doctors she had passed the two months of descent and was now beginning the ascent -- too true!
Please give my love to Miss Jewett and tell her if she is well enough to care to be with us -- the service will be Sunday in Concord at the Unitarian Church on the
[ Page 4 ]
arrival of the 1.10 train on the Fitchburg division & the return will be on the Lowell
road after four. I have not the minutes in my mind --
Affectionately yours
Edith E. Forbes
It has been a pleasant work to arrange a service with Edward* that shall describe my dear Ellen’s character in the language of the Bible she loves- -
Notes
1909: This letter was inserted in Annie Field's "Diary and Commonplace Book" 1907-1912.
Ellen: This letter concerns the death and funeral of Ellen Tucker Emerson (1839-1909), who died 14 January. Edith and Ellen were sisters, the daughters of American poet and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and Lydia Jackson (1802-1892). See Key to Correspondents.
Edward: Edward Waldo Emerson (1844-1940), brother to Edith and Ellen Emerson, then an anatomy instructor at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Massachusetts Historical Society: Annie Adams Fields's "Diary and Commonplace Book" 1907-1912 : Annie Fields papers, 1847-1912, MS. N-1221. This transcription was made mainly from a microfilm copy, available courtesy of the University of Kansas Libraries, Lawrence Kansas: Annie Adams Fields Papers 1852-1912. Folio PS 1669.F5 Z462, 1986, Reel 2.
Page 4 of this letter was transcribed by Sabina Beauchard of the Massachusetts Historical Society. The remaining transcription and the notes are by Terry Heller, Coe College.
[ Edith Emerson Forbes to Annie Adams Fields ]
January twentiethS.O.J and I were unable to go to the funeral because the weather was very bad, but there was a large church full, her father's beautiful passages written after the death of his first wife Ellen Tucker were read and her favorite hymns were sung, very beautiful altogether. We were very sorry not to have been there.
1909*
[ Begin letterhead ]
MILTON HILL
[ End Letterhead ]
Dear Mrs Fields
Thank you for the laurel wreath which we liked very much and were glad to have in the church for dear Ellen’s* last Sunday there. We think she would have taken great delight in the thought of being borne shoulder-high by five nephews
[ Page 2 ]
two nephews in law and a cousin nearly as dear – for I never introduce him without beginning to say nephew, and then remember I must make it cousin. The church was full all but a few seats of those who loved her truly – Her own pew was empty closed with a purple ribbon and a gift of white carnations and mignonette which Eleanor Whiteside* sent to me. Edward and I pre-
[ Page 3 ]
pared a service which we felt suited Ellen’s life and character. It is easy to describe her in Biblical language. We know how Concord will miss her with us – But poor Miss Legate* will suffer more than any one else – it seems to break up life for her after twenty years together – They are all urging me to go away for a rest -
[ Page 4 ]
I cannot yet – and have prevailed, I think, in my wish to wait till February fourteenth. Even then I shall go reluctant for I have much to do that will be a burden to me in the spring when my garden is wanting me.
Waldo* will take me away to Florida probably – I hope I can see you before I go – Affectionately
Edith E. Forbes
[ A note by Annie Fields, appended to this letter. ]*
Notes
Ellen's: This letter concerns the death and funeral of Ellen Tucker Emerson (1839-1909), who died 14 January. Edith and Ellen were sisters, the daughters of American poet and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and Lydia Jackson (1802-1892). See Key to Correspondents.
Eleanor Whiteside: Probably this is Eleanor Anne Shattuck Whiteside (1842-1918), who resided on Beacon Street in Boston, with her son, Alexander Whiteside, Jr., who was a lawyer.
Miss Legate: Helen Legate (1858-1945) was an educator and a close friend of the Emerson siblings: Edward, Ellen and Edith.
Waldo: This is somewhat confusing. Her brother is Edward Waldo; I am aware of no other close living relatives with this name.
Fields's note: Fields appears to have written the note on the final page, turning the page upside-down and writing around Mrs. Forbes's signature.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Massachusetts Historical Society: Annie Adams Fields's "Diary and Commonplace Book" 1907-1912 : Annie Fields papers, 1847-1912, MS. N-1221. This transcription was made mainly from a microfilm copy, available courtesy of the University of Kansas Libraries, Lawrence Kansas: Annie Adams Fields Papers 1852-1912. Folio PS 1669.F5 Z462, 1986, Reel 2.
Transcription by Sabina Beauchard of the Massachusetts Historical Society; notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Edith Emerson Forbes to Sarah Orne Jewett
January twentieth
1909
[ Begin letterhead ]
MILTON HILL.
[ End letterhead ]
Dear Miss Jewett
I loved your daffodils and they were arrayed on one side of the pulpit* with other spring flowers pansies, hyacinths violets and tulips and looked so cheerful and gay -- The other side of the pulpit had red roses and ^red^ carnations and ^the^ pulpit [was corrected ] all covered
[ Page 2 ]
with flowers callas and lilies in the centre with white and pale pink shading to the spring flower side and deep pink to pale on the red rose side -- It was beautiful and so were the flowers that covered Ellen -- The snowy day too pleased me -- but I am very sorry it prevented you and Mrs Fields from being with us. I am going back on Sunday when Mr Macdonald* has
[ Page 3 ]
a Memorial Service --
Thank you for your letter and the flowers --
Your loving friend,
Edith E. Forbes
We had your glass basket of the last birthday full of pink camellias in the study with dear Ellen who looked like a holy saint.
Notes
pulpit: Edith Emerson Forbes (1841-1929) thanks Jewett for flowers sent for the funeral of Ellen Tucker Emerson (1839-1909), who died 14 January. Edith and Ellen were sisters, the daughters of American poet and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and Lydia Jackson (1802-1892).
Annie Adams Fields wrote note on what appears to be the final page of the "thank you" letter addressed to her, turning the page upside-down and writing around Mrs. Forbes's signature. This note reads: "S.O.J and I were unable to go to the funeral because the weather was very bad, but there was a large church full, her father's beautiful passages written after the death of his first wife Ellen Tucker were read and her favorite hymns were sung, very beautiful altogether. We were very sorry not to have been there."
Macdonald: Loren B. Macdonald (1857-1924) was pastor of the First Parish Unitarian Church in Concord, MA. He was the author of Life in the Making: An Approach to Religion Through the Method of Modern Pragmatism (1911).
The manuscript of this letter appears in Fields's "Diary and Commonplace Book" 1907-1912, held by the Massachusetts Historical Society: Annie Fields papers, 1847-1912, MS. N-1221. This transcription was made from a microfilm copy, available courtesy of the University of Kansas Libraries, Lawrence Kansas: Annie Adams Fields Papers 1852-1912. Folio PS 1669.F5 Z462, 1986, Reel 2.
Alice French to Sarah Orne Jewett
[ 22 January 1909 ]
Notes[ Begin letterhead ]
321 EAST TENTH STREET
DAVENPORT, IOWA
[ End letterhead ]
My dear, dear [ Sara so spelled ] Jewett: --
For a long while I have been meaning to write to you a few lines just to say how I hate it to not have even seen you during the year. But many things have come in between and now I just will write it though an imperious bit of work is demanding me.
And I will just say only that lately I have been reading over a number of your books { -- }
[ Page 2 ]
they are the Real Thing.
The poseurs may come
and the poseurs may go
And Alden their trumpets may
flourish and blow*
but in the end to have understood the deep things of the human heart and revealed them so beautifully that they move the careless, so simply that the children of the soul can understand -- that is what shall endure. Please
[ Page 3 ]
know [ how you are and Miss so it appears ] Jewett and dear Mrs. Fields.*
It has not been happy with me of late: my dear sister-in-law* who was the same as a sister to me died last month after only four days illness, of [ apendicitis so spelled ].
It has been a crushing blow to us all. Her poor husband and son (her only child, a young man of twenty one) and her two sisters have gone South.
She was a most devoted wife and mother. When I tell you that she said once "I don't want George even to feel that he can't bring as many friends as he wants home with him
[ Page 4 ]
any time!" and that she always lived up to her principles{,} you will understand that the phrase is literal. She was at once a most exquisite housekeeper: yet one who never worried. She had taste that was a virtue as our dear Mme Blanc* used to say and was so charming{,} so dainty: yet she had the coolest and clearest head in the world.
She was one of those listeners who give you the impression of having said the very things you wanted because she seemed (and was) so interested.
Forgive all this but so often I have talked of you to her.
I truly hope you have had a good year and are feeling
[ Page 5, letterhead ]
better. And for this year please let me wish that I may see you.
Always yours affectionatelyPity me. I am writing a real not a play novel. (at least I try to think it will be real) a Study of the negro called The Long Way Out.* It's a mess, now.
Alice French.
January the twenty second = 1909
blow: French probably has composed her own verse. The transcription of "Alden" is uncertain. She may have used this word in its Old English definition, "old friend."
Fields: Annie Adams Fields. Key to Correspondents.
sister in law: French's sister-in-law was Clara Virginia Decker (1861 - 16 December 1908), wife of her brother, George Watson French (1858-1934). Find a Grave.
Long Way Out: Alice French completed this novel in 1909, but it was not published.
See Journey to Obscurity: The Life of Octave Thanet (1965) by George McMichael.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. bMS Am 1743 Box 2, Item 70 I. Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Friday afternoon [ January 23, 1909 ].
Dearest Fanny, -- I have just been to Berwick for a few days, and I thought I should certainly write to you, and then I didn't! I don't often have one of the days when I couldn't do anything but write, -- but this five minutes seems quite unaccountably to be mine this first afternoon in town. I have wished to ask you if you have seen or would care to see a new story of Mr. James's -- "The Jolly Corner" (it is a corner and was once jolly).* There are lovely things in it and a wonderful analysis of fear in the dark, so that it may please you better by day than by night, as it did me! I have been reading over again, too, Vernon Lee's "Hortus Vitæ," and wondering if that were the book of hers that we talked about last year; it is the one with the lovely dedication to Madame Blanc-Bentzon.*
I chiefly wish to tell you about a drive yesterday "down the other side of the river "; the river frozen (the tide-river I mean now); the snow very white and thinly spread like nicest frosting over the fields, and the pine woods as black as they could be, -- no birds, but the tracks of every sort of little beastie. They seemed to have been all out on visits and errands and going such distances on their little paws and claws; somehow it looks too much for a mouse to go half a mile along the road or across a field. Think how a hawk would see him! I think we knew every track but one, -- it had long claws like a crow's and a tail that never lifted; we settled upon a big old rat who had come up from an old wharf by the river-side.
Dear Fanny, I do so hope that you are getting stronger; being sick is fun compared to getting well, as dear Mr. Warner* used to say. Do take long enough; I have had such drear times trying to play well when I wasn't!
Notes
Mr. James's - "The Jolly Corner": Henry James's "The Jolly Corner" appeared in The English Review in December, 1908.
Vernon Lee's "Hortus Vitæ," ... with the lovely dedication to Madame Blanc-Bentzon: Lee's Hortus Vitae. Essays on the Gardening of Life.
dear Mr. Warner: Probably Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900), editor at Harper's (1884-1898), co-author with Mark Twain of The Gilded Age (1873).
(1904) opens with a dedication which consists of a letter to Madame Th. Blanc-Bentzon.
This letter appears in Annie Fields, Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911), Transcribed by Annie Adams Fields, with notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
31 January 1909
Jewett suffers a paralyzing stroke at the home of Annie Fields, Charles Street, Boston.
Some biographers give a March date for Jewett's stroke.
This date is based on the Annie Fields diary entry of 4 February 1909.
Chronology of Jewett's Final Months
4 March -- Mary Rice Jewett is helping to care for her sister at the Fields home.
21 April -- Jewett is moved to her home in South Berwick, ME.
There she is cared for by her sister, Mary, the household servants, and by two nurses, a Miss Ryan and Florence Estelle Merrill. She is able to dictate letters to Fields and other friends.
About 14 June -- Fields visits Jewett in South Berwick.
21 June -- Fields writes to Lilian Aldrich that Jewett is near death.
24 June -- Jewett's death.
Robert Collyer to Annie Adams Fields
201 West 55th Street
[ 17 February 1909 ]
Dear Friend
A rumor has reached us that Sister Sarah* is very ill and we want to know if this is true{.} I have waited some days thinking I might hear from you if there is any such trouble [ -- ] pray drop me a line{.}
Yours always
Robert Collyer
New York Feb 17th 1909
Notes
Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
She suffered a paralyzing stroke at Fields's home on 31 January 1909.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields Papers and Addenda Box 11: mss FI 1-5637. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Mary Augusta (Mrs. Humphry) Ward to Annie Adams Fields
[ Begin letterhead ]
25 GROSVENOR PLACE S.W.
[ End letterhead ]
[ 24 February 1909 ]*
My dear friend
I have been so deeply deeply distressed to hear from dear Sally* this week how very ill Sarah* has been and is. It goes to my heart to think of [ your corrected ] anxiety and her state. That it should have happened to her of all people, -- the darkening of so bright and dear a mental life! -- And what a strain
[ Page 2 ]
of grief on you! I do hope* there are kind friends [ looking ? ] after you and caring for you. But I am sure there are for you have so many [ who ? ] love you because you have loved many.
If dear Sarah is at all conscious or herself, will ^you^ sometime breathe to her that 'Mary Ward sends her dear love & tender sympathy.' I wait anxiously
[ Page 3 ]
for news that I trust you may be able to send me. -- I am so sorry that you and Ethel* have not met. She told me she wants to give ^5^ lectures in three days, which I suppose was a great rush, and horribly tiring! -- but I am sad that she was not able to go to Charles St -- -- She has had a very great success but I shall be glad when we get her home not quite worn out! -- As for me, I am well though very busy. 'Marriage à la Mode' was
[ Page 4 ]
finished a week ago. It is a 'moral tale', but I have put the moralizing into the mouth of my American officer Captain Boyson, which I hope will make it inoffensive to Americans! The gist of it does in fact represent what was impressed upon me in America, -- the levity with which divorce is sought, & the ease with which it can be [ deleted word ] got. I will send you the complete page proofs [ dear ? ]
[ Cross written over the first 6 lines of page 2 ]
any day this week or next; and on Friday I am to debate woman suffrage with Mrs Fawcett* before a crowded audience -- a horrid prospect. So life is full enough.
I must go back to the writing of my speech{.}
Ever dear Mrs Fields with deep grief and sympathy for our dear & honored Sarah
affectionately yours
Mary A. Ward
Notes
1909: Associated with this letter is an envelope addressed to Fields in Boston, cancelled in London on 24 February 1909.
Sally: Sarah Norton. See Key to Correspondents.
Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
hope: Ward has cross written on the first 6 lines of this page, and the transcription of these lines as well as of the cross-writing is more than usually uncertain.
Ethel: Ward's sister, Ethel Arnold (1865-1930), a British suffragist and niece of the poet, Matthew Arnold. Wikipedia notes that she lectured in the U.S. in 1909 and again in 1910. Though her topics were various, a main topic was woman suffrage; Ward and her sister had opposing views, Ethel Arnold in favor, Ward against.
Mode: Ward's Daphne (1909), published in the U.S. at first as Marriage à la Mode.
Fawcett: British author and woman suffrage activist, Millicent Fawcett (1847-1929).
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields Papers and Addenda: mss FI 5637, Box 64, Ward, Mary Augusta (Arnold), 14 pieces. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Margaret Emily Gaskell* to Sarah Orne Jewett
84. Plymouth Grove,
Manchester
24 Feb. 09.
My dear Mifs Jewett,
The very day after my darling Sister died, I had a very bad fall, owing to the shock -- and faintness.
I cut my facial nerve, and my eyes were affected for a time --
This has thrown me terribly behindhand with
[ Page 2 ]
my writing --
I really think that the more I believed in people's sympathy and imagination, the longer I dared delay acknowledgements --
Your delightful book (for I have "taken the fences", as reviewers say) brought back a whole flood of memories.
[ Page 3 ]
Julia* and I had so often talked about the day when you and Mrs. Fields came here -- and I can see quite distinctly the look on Julia's face as she talked to you, and I remember feeling that you recognized what an angel of goodness and sweetness she
[ Page 4 ]
was. She grew ever nearer to God, and her tender devotion and constant self-sacrifice made her the "Saint" that she has been called.
For me, the parting has been agony -- but I ought to dwell on what will, I trust, not be very far off --
[ Page 5 ]
that blessed reunion in the Kingdom of God --
If only I may be thought worthy to follow her.
Ever with heart-felt thanks, affly. yours
M. E. Gaskell
Notes
Gaskell: Margaret Emily Gaskell (1837-1913) and Julia Bradford Gaskell (1846 - 24 October 1908) were daughters of the British novelist, Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865). Wikipedia.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence I, Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Gaskell, M.E. 1 letter; 1909. (78).
This transcription is from a photocopy held by the Maine Women Writer's Collection, University of New England, Letters from Sarah Orne Jewett, 1875-1890, Box 2, Folder 99, Burton Trafton Jewett Research Collection.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Mary Rice Jewett to Robert Collyer148 Charles St.*
March 4th, 1909
Dear Brother Robert:
I am glad to tell you that dear Sarah* seems more comfortable today and we hope is really better. She had a very sharp attack of neuralgia on Saturday which took away much strength, for the moment, but she seems to be regaining it now.
We are always anxious of course in such a case as hers, and I believe I shall never cease to be now as long as we live, but at the same time so
[ Page 2 ]
grateful that she is being spared to us. She seems cheerful these days, but is not yet strong enough to talk or be talked to very much. The old fun is still there however and comes out in the most sudden flashes sometimes.
Mrs. Fields seems as well as usual I think now, and is able to get out for a drive on the pleasant days, you will be glad to know. It is wonderful what tremendous strain such a delicate person can go through sometimes, isn’t it?
We hear sad tales of Washington[ Page 3 ]
weather this morning, but here we only had a little snow which has already begun to disappear. I send love both from Mrs. Fields and Sarah knowing they will wish me to, as well as my own, and am always yours affectionately
Mary R Jewett
Notes148 Charles St.: The Boston address of Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
After this address appears what seems to be "4" in superscript, in the same ink and handwriting.Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held in the Sarah Orne Jewett Papers, Maine Women Writer's Collection, University of New England, Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence Box 3 Folder 206. Transcription by Linda Heller and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to Robert Underwood Johnson
148 Charles Street
Boston March 10th 1909*
Thank you dear Mr. Johnson for your very kind letter.
Mifs Jewett is, we hope, gaining although very slowly. I told her yesterday of your letter and the kind messages in it from Mrs Johnson for us both. Such things make her feel better, she says. She has been ill since the first day of February which seems a life-time as you can well believe but she does not suffer and is as comfortable as possible under the circumstances.
With renewed thanks to you both from your
Annie Fields
Notes
This manuscript is held by the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin. MS Johnson, RU Recip. Fields, Annie, 7 ALS, 1 APCS to Robert Underwood Johnson. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Robert Collyer to Annie Adams Fields
[ Begin letterhead ]
201 West 55th Street
New York
[ End letterhead ]
April 10th 1909
Dear Friend
How are you your own self, and Sarah, and Mary* -- I long to have the scart o' yer fren.* Are you in good heart and health. I mean well for you. Otherwise I know you are cheerful as they make 'em or can be -- I am* -- unusually well, no cold, no fever, and not fretful -- Mrs Savage* is with us for a visit from Cleveland, and placed Mr Savage in the Sanitariam or is it U m --, until her* -- return -- I am reading Whittiers Life and Letters* once more and with a new delight -- He seems to be "not dead but just away."* What a man [ is intended he ? ] is surely. I said a few days ago now I will read The Wings of the Dove* but have broken down. It is the only story of or by James I cannot read to the finish { -- } it tires me so. Have Austin Dobsons* early volume in hand but skips sadly -- Crawfords* death saddens me more than a mite but I think
[ Page 2 ]
he had done his best work and that is very good. I think The Atlantic* is changing in the new hands not for the better{,} don't you?
With love to the household as ever yours
Robert Collyer
Notes
Sarah ... Mary: Sarah Orne and Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
fren: Almost certainly, Collyer means that he wishes he could see his friends in person, but the precise meaning of this apparent dialect is not yet known.
am: Collyer has made a clear dash mark after "am" but above the line of his script. However it is not clear whether this is intended as meaningful.
Mrs Savage: Collyer's son, Robin/Robert Staples (1862-1928), married Gertrude Savage, daughter of his Unitarian colleague, Minot Judson Savage (1841-1918). His wife was Ella Dodge Savage (1845-1916), See Collyer in Key to Correspondents.
her: Collyer has made a clear dash mark after "her" but above the line of his script. However it is not clear whether this is intended as meaningful.
Whittiers Life and Letters: American poet, John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892). See Key to Correspondents. His two volume Life and Letters (1894) was edited by Samuel Thomas Pickard.
Wings of the Dove: The 1902 novel by American author, Henry James. See Key to Correspondents.
away: Collyer omits several periods in this letter. I have supplied them where they seem necessary.
Austin Dobsons: British poet, biographer and essayist, Henry Austin Dobson (1840-1921). As he was a prolific author, it difficult to know which of his books Collyer was reading.
Crawfords: Popular American novelist Francis Marion Crawford (1854- 9 April 1909).
Atlantic: In 1908, Ellery Sedgwick (1872-1960) purchased and became editor of the Atlantic Monthly magazine.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields Papers and Addenda Box 11: mss FI 1-5637. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Frank Sewall to Sarah Orne Jewett
1618 Riggs PlaceDear Miss Jewett
Washington DC.
April 20
1909
It is remarkable what treasures of wit{,} wisdom and history are thrown daily into the great abyss of the Congressional Record -- rarely ever to be seen again. [ Thinking you would appreciate ? ] this tribute to John Paul Jones* I cut [ from this ? ] days Record and send it
[ Page 2 ]
with my best regards and hope that you are quite restored to health and will be [ enabled ? ] to enjoy life in our dear York County as in the many summers past{.}
Very sincerely yours
Frank Sewall
Notes
Jones: Penciled in the upper left corner of page 1: See "Tory Lover" clippings. This does not appear to be Jewett's handwriting, and it is clearly different from Sewall's. Presumably, this note calls attention to Jewett's representation of American Revolutionary War naval captain John Paul Jones (1747-1792) as a main character in her 1901 novel, The Tory Lover.
Sewall's reference to the Congressional Record indicates that an item concerning Jones had appeared in April of 1909. Searching the Congressional Record remains too cumbersome to track down Sewall's reference for these notes, but it seems likely that it has to do with the then ongoing story of finding and repatriating the remains of Jones, who died and was buried in France. See Dorothy Tooker, "The Strange Search for John Paul Jones" in the Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute 81 (July 1855).
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, Item 196, I. Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
21 April
Jewett is moved to her home in South Berwick, ME
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
Thursday morning
[ 22 April 1909 ]*
Dearest Annie
Here I am in your bed and finding it very comfortable only I wish I could see you coming in and hear [ you intended your ? ] dear little "Cheep" at the door -- The birds have been cheeping at a great rate{.} Mifs Ryan and Mifs Merill have settled down with an accustomed air already and young Katie* is on hand with [ all ? ]
[ Page 2 ]
her nice remembering ways{.} I was so glad we could not say a word yesterday{.} As I came away I could not speak for drying [a intended all ? ] the way down stairs but the dear rooms did [ loo intended look ? ] so beautiful -- The hood was a great comfort{.} I was going to send for the Whistler* book for you. I felt [ lowest ? ] after depriving you of Mr. Hollands copy, but*
[ Page 3 ]
Mary had already ordered it. Good bye darling with my heart's love{.} Your Pinny.*
Notes
22 April 1909: Almost certainly this letter was composed on the day after Wednesday 21 April, when Jewett traveled for the final time from Fields's Boston home to her own home in South Berwick, ME.
Fields has written across the top of page one: "She left me in Charles St -- April 21st". This letter was composed when Jewett was hardly able to write. The lines become more slanting down the second page, and the number of unintended errors increases.
Mifs Ryan ... Mifs Merill ... Katie: Katie Galvin was a Jewett family employee. See Key to Correspondents.
Miss Ryan is a nurse who also cared for Jewett after her 1902 carriage accident. No more has yet been learned about her.
Miss Merrill is Florence Estelle Merrill (1881 - 1976). "Born in Pittsfield, Somerset, Maine, USA on 24 Jan. 1881 to James Washington Merrill and Lottie Maria Folsom. Florence Estelle Merrill married Henry Ernest Dunnack (1869-1938) and had 2 children. She passed away on 19 Aug 1976 in Pittsfield, Somerset, Maine, USA."
She published an account of nursing Jewett, "Little Kennebec" in the Lewiston (Maine) Evening Journal for 5 August 1939.
Whistler book: American painter, James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903). After his death and before Jewett's, several books on Whistler appeared that may have interested her. As Jewett often read biographies, she may have been reading The Life of James McNeill Whistler (1908) by Elizabeth Robins Pennell and Joseph Pennell. Jewett and Fields were familiar with their 1892 book, Play in Provence, apparently using it as a sort of guide book for their 1898 travels in Provence in France.
Mr. Hollands copy: Probably this is Arthur Holland, husband of Sara Ormsby Burgwin Holland. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript in the Houghton collection breaks off at this point. The rest of the letter is pasted into Annie Fields, "Diary and Commonplace Book" 1907-1912, held by the Massachusetts Historical Society: Annie Fields papers, 1847-1912, MS. N-1221. The transcription of this portion was made from a microfilm copy, available courtesy of the University of Kansas Libraries, Lawrence Kansas: Annie Adams Fields Papers 1852-1912. Folio PS 1669.F5 Z462, 1986, Reel 2.
Pinny: Pinny Lawson (Pinny / Pin) was an affectionate nickname for Jewett, used by her and Annie Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of the first two pages of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Annie Fields (Adams) 1834-1915, recipient. 194 letters; 1877-1909 & [n.d.] Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (255). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Harriet Jackson Lee Morse*
Tuesday
[ After 21 April 1909 ]*
[ Upper left of side 1 -- stamped in green ink,
inside a circle, superimposed initials SOJ ]
The sunshine today looks more like spring but the sky still looks cold -- I long to get downstairs and out of the door but the next room over seems quite impossible yet and dear good Mifs Ryan* countenances no rashness -- in such a weak and, undependable patient. I was delighted with [ Fanny's ? ] last letter -- it was so pretty about the [ unrecognized word ] that [ dwelt among ? ]
[ Page 2 ]
us. There are no magnolias in Berwick only a lovely tulip tree but I wish you could both see a ring of crocuses [ round ? ] the old lilacs in the front yard! Dear love to you both{.} I send you a loving thought
Sarah
Notes
Morse: See Frances (Fanny) Rollins Morse in Key to Correspondents.
1909: This note card clearly was composed in 1909 after Jewett's debilitating stroke and her move from Boston to South Berwick on 21 April, when early spring flowers were blooming. At that time, Miss Ryan was one of her nurses.
Jewett seems to have written the note herself, with some difficulty, for it is difficult to read. I have filled in at several points, without being perfectly sure what she intended.
The manuscript of this card is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. bMS Am 1743.1 (123) Box 4, II. Letters from Sarah Orne Jewett.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Julia Ward Howe to Sarah Orne Jewett and Annie Adams Fields
[ 23 April, 1909 ]*
So many thanks, dear friends, for the beautiful gift and accompanying good wishes. You have anticipated my birthday a little, as I do not attain the dignity of octogenarian until next month. All the same, I am
[ Page 2 ]
delighted with these tokens of kind remembrance, and shall hope that you can both be with me on my real birthday, which will be on May 27th.
Always affectionately yours,
Julia Ward Howe
April 23rd. 241 Beacon St.
Notes
1909: Howe was born on 27 May 1819.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence I, Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Howe, Julia (Ward) 1819-1910. 8 letters; 1901-1905 & [n.d.] (103).
This transcription is from a photocopy held by the Maine Women Writer's Collection, University of New England, Letters from Sarah Orne Jewett, 1875-1890, Box 2, Folder 99, Burton Trafton Jewett Research Collection.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
Thursday [ probably morning ]
[ After 22 April 1909 ]*
[ Letterhead printed in green ink,
consisting of the initials SOJ superimposed inside a circle ]
Dearest little Annie I really feel more like myself this morning though still weak and draggly and the pain in my neck that I got the day I came down still troubles me. It would have been better if I could have sat up in a [ godd intending good ] Pullman chair { -- } lying down it jarred [ unrecognized word ]
[ Page 2 ]
more [ I think ? ] -- but if I ever [ travell so written ] again I shall know better. I [ fel intended feel] ashamed to have your room all this time, it is lovely this [ seems to intend morning ] with the big red lily at one south window and the orange one at the other and the sun shining in and such a [ nice ? ] fire of curly birch wood. Mifs Ryan* and Miss Merill [ intends are ] whisking about as nice or nicer than ever!
[ Up the left margin and then across the top margin of page 1 ]
Dr. Ward was here yesterday and may well have told you I had such a [ nice visit ? ] with him. Goodby dearest
[ Up the left margin and then across the top margin of page 2 ]
from your most loving Pin.* I shall look for you sometime next week!
Notes
After 21 April 1909: Fields penciled "1909?" in the upper left of side one of this card.
Mifs Ryan and Miss Merill: Miss Ryan is a nurse who also cared for Jewett after her 1902 carriage accident. No more has yet been learned about her.
Miss Merrill is Florence Estelle Merrill (1881 - 1976): "Born in Pittsfield, Somerset, Maine, USA on 24 Jan. 1881 to James Washington Merrill and Lottie Maria Folsom. Florence Estelle Merrill married Henry Ernest Dunnack (1869-1938) and had 2 children. She passed away on 19 Aug 1976 in Pittsfield, Somerset, Maine, USA."
She published an account of nursing Jewett, "Little Kennebec" in the Lewiston (Maine) Evening Journal for 5 August 1939.
Dr. Ward: Probably William Hayes Ward. See Key to Correspondents.
Pin: Pinny Lawson (Pinny / Pin) was an affectionate nickname for Jewett, used by her and Annie Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Annie Fields (Adams) 1834-1915, recipient. 194 letters; 1877-1909 & [n.d.] Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (255). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to Sarah Orne Jewett
Wednesday --
[ 5 May 1909 ]*
Dearest: What a noble spring down-pour! Yesterday John* did a great days work in the garden as if he knew it was going to rain -- Ah! here is the sun! Well I put April at the head for surprises, where she has always stood!!
Better late than never you will say dear{.}
[ Page 2 ]
But the Cornhill is a-comin' ---
A long visit from Helen Bell yesterday P.M. -- She and Alice* go to Pomfret on the 15th of May -- for two weeks: then they return for a brief time here before they go to York -- a little late there is so much better for them. Sent you her love and wanted to hear all about your condition which I reported as [ favorably ?] as you did to me --
[ Page 3 ]
I must tell you little by little of all the dear & wise things and lovely things she said -- O we do have such unrivalled [ hours ? ] together -- you know all about it -- you remember your hour when you were at Mrs Cabots* -- by the way she says the Carlyle love letters* are she thinks the best things in the world of their kind. I am laying them up to read
[ Page 4 ]
with you this summer, those -- and to finish the Lamb --* We will not read them all aloud but we can read aloud and to ourselves catching up in this way if one reads too far ahead{.} Helen Merriman* came just after H.B. She is pretty worn with the [ illness ? ] and all it involves but she was very sweet and friendly -- After she went came lovely pinks from Mr. Black!*
Good bye dearest, do not write when you feel tired
[ Up the left margin of page 1 ]
and we will never say, because we can't how much we miss each other --
your A
Notes
1909: As the notes below indicate, this almost certainly is the correct year, for Carlyle's love letters were published in 1909. Whether 5 May is the correct day is less certain, but it is was a Wednesday some time before 15 May, when Bell plans to go to Pomfret. See Fields to Jewett of 15 May 1909.
John: A Fields employee.
Cornhill: A British literary journal, 1860-1975. Jewett published two pieces there in 1899.
Helen Bell ... Alice: Helen Choate Bell and, probably, Alice Greenwood Howe. Key to Correspondents.
Cabots: Susan Burley Cabot, who died in March 1907. Key to Correspondents.
Carlyle love letters: Alexander Carlyle, ed.The Love Letters of Thomas Carlyle and Jane Welsh. (1909).
Lamb: British author, Charles Lamb (1775-1834).
Helen Merriman: Key to Correspondents.
Mr. Black: George Nixon Black, Jr. (1842-1928) was a neighbor of Fields in Manchester. He was a prominent philanthropist and the builder of Kragsyde, the Black home in Manchester.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Sarah Orne Jewett Additional Correspondence, 100 letters from Annie Adams Fields, bMS Am 1743.1 Box 1, Item 33.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to Sarah Orne Jewett
May 15
[ Saturday 1909 ]*
I must send you a good morning, dear, because it is Saturday. Won't the leaves and blossoms smell sweet this lovely dropping weather! Helen* came for an [ shifts from ink to pencil ] hour ^yesterday^ to say good bye{.} They go to Pomfret today{.} Thank Mary* for her good letter -- Lilacs are out!
Your own
A.F.
Did the little picture go safely?
What can I send for gobbledowns?
Notes
1897: May 15 fell on Saturday in only three possible years: 1886, 1897 and 1909. In 1886, Jewett probably was with Fields at Manchester. On the other two dates, Jewett was in South Berwick. I am fairly sure that this letter was written in 1909, when Jewett was fatally ill and confined to her home in South Berwick. Fields's handwriting is unusually messy, suggesting she was having some difficulty at the time of composition, but that is ambiguous evidence. More persuasive is this letter's connection to an earlier letter, Fields to Jewett probably of 5 May 1909.
Helen: Helen Choate Bell. Key to Correspondents. Which Pomfret is her destination is uncertain: Vermont is likely, but Connecticut is possible; New York and Maryland seem unlikely.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Sarah Orne Jewett Additional Correspondence, 100 letters from Annie Adams Fields, bMS Am 1743.1 Box 1, Item 33.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
Monday --
[ 3 May 1909 ]*
[ Letterhead printed in red ink,
consisting of the initials SOJ superimposed inside a circle]
This is a nice bright windy [ morning or Monday ? ] Dearest [one ? ] Annie but I think it is [ is repeated ] wise for you not to come quite so soon as my eager heart planned { -- } it is still so [ cold ? ] and bleak -- and a fortnight later it will be better for both of us. I have not got into the [ next room ? ] yet and we [ could or would ] not do anything that we dont think or do now
[ No signature ]
Notes
3 May 1909: Fields penciled "May 3, 1909" in the upper right of this card. In the bottom margin and then up the right margin, Fields has written: "May 3d 1909 3 months & 3 days after she was stricken down AF". Fields refers to Jewett's stroke of 9 March 1909, which happened at Fields's home in Boston. Jewett moved to South Berwick on 21 April.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Annie Fields (Adams) 1834-1915, recipient. 194 letters; 1877-1909 & [n.d.] Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (255). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
[ 13 May 1909 ]*
Mrs. Ward's* was another true and lovely letter -- Oh how I would like to be at [ Aix les Bain so written ] with Josie D -- I could make her really enjoy it [ more than ? ] Helen [ How* so written ]. I wish you and I could go shopping this afternoon in the dear little Place and dine with La Jeune Daphin's.* Goodbye with love and all my heart from
Pin --
Notes
May 1909: Fields penciled "May 1909" in the upper right of page 1. This seems to be the final page of a longer letter. On the back of this page, Fields has written at note: "While Sarah was ill S. 13. May 1909." In 1909, May 13 fell on a Thursday.
Mrs. Ward's: Probably this is Mary Augusta Ward. Jewett's nurse after her stroke, while staying at the Fields home, was Florence M. Dunnack. In her account of caring for Jewett, she mentions that Mrs. Ward wrote to her from England. See Key to Correspondents.
Josie D: Josephine Anna Moore (1846-1937) was the second wife of Chicago lawyer Wirt Dexter (1832-1890). She returned to her Boston home after her husband's death, where she died, though she was buried with him in Chicago.
Helen How: While it seems likely Jewett refers to someone well-known to her and Fields, the only Helen Howe they seem to have known then was Mark Anthony de Wolfe Howe's 4-year-old daughter. See Key to Correspondents.
La Jeune Daphin's: Presumably, Jewett meant to write "La Jeune Dauphine," and to refer to an acquaintance in Aix les Bains, France.
Pin: Pinny Lawson (Pinny / Pin) was an affectionate nickname for Jewett, used by her and Annie Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Annie Fields (Adams) 1834-1915, recipient. 194 letters; 1877-1909 & [n.d.] Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (255). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
Thursday 20th
[ 20 May 1909 ]
Dearest Annie
I have hated not to send a single word but beside all the other great aches and pains I have had two great headaches and found it hard to [ write to say that ? ] I am beginning [ to look forward ? ] to seeing you but I am still very weak and good for nothing { -- } if I cant [ amount to ? ] any thing more I may come to the Parker House* where Mifs [ unrecognized name: Merrill ? ] is experienced and try a little [ changhe so written ] [ this ? ] [ unrecognized word ]. It would be so easy to get things done there that I should be glad to do with the elevator and all. I haven't been able to get up or down stairs [ 2 unrecognized words ] yet next [ unrecognized word ].
[ Page 2 ]
A poor old Pinny* but, Fuff* not to [ unrecognized word ] pleas* [ so written ]
Notes
20 May 1909: Fields penciled "May 20th 1909" in the upper right of page 1.
Jewett's handwriting after her March stroke is often unclear.
Parker House: A major Boston hotel. The transcription of "Miss Merrill" is uncertain. She was one of Jewett's nurses in South Berwick. Her name is spelled variously in letters from the last months of Jewett's life.
Miss Merrill is Florence Estelle Merrill (1881 - 1976). "Born in Pittsfield, Somerset, Maine, USA on 24 Jan. 1881 to James Washington Merrill and Lottie Maria Folsom. Florence Estelle Merrill married Henry Ernest Dunnack (1869-1938) and had 2 children. She passed away on 19 Aug 1976 in Pittsfield, Somerset, Maine, USA."
She published an account of nursing Jewett, "Little Kennebec" in the Lewiston (Maine) Evening Journal for 5 August 1939.
Pinny: Pinny Lawson (Pinny / Pin) was an affectionate nickname for Jewett, used by her and Annie Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Fuff: Nickname for Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
pleas: After Jewett's last line, Fields wrote these notes.
"[ In blue ink ] My courage and hope ended with this note --- AF.
[ In black ink ] written May 20th when she had been at home a month --
June 24th she died --"
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Annie Fields (Adams) 1834-1915, recipient. 194 letters; 1877-1909 & [n.d.] Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (255). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Louisa Dresel
[ Begin letterhead ]
I have [ wished corrected ] many times to write longer but it is still so difficult and I still feel so weak and ill I have not been in the condition or [ several unreadable words ]
South Berwick.
Maine.
[ End letterhead ]
Monday 25th
[ May 1909 ]*
My dear Loulie
This is [ is repeated ] a lovely looking June day and I hope you are going to be out and do something very nice in it
[ Page 2 ]
[ Page 3 ]I wish to join dear Mrs Fields* at Manchester on the 1st
Notes
May 1909: Dating the letter is problematic. The main evidence that Jewett wrote the letter in 1909 is strong, her very erratic handwriting -- irregular lines of varying length, repetition, spelling errors, and words that cannot be read. I note that this transcription is not exact. At several points, I have inferred her intention rather than present exactly what she appears to have written.
While it is possible that she wrote it the summer after her September 1902 carriage accident, when 25 May (but not 25 June) fell on a Monday, at that time her handwriting was readable and she was well enough to travel to Boston.
It is more likely that this letter was written during the final month of Jewett's life, when she was suffering the effects of a stroke. In other letters from this time, she expresses the hope of getting better and being able to leave her home to visit friends.
Still, Jewett would have to be mistaken in dating this letter, for in 1909 she could not have written it on 25 June, for she died on the 24th. And 25 May fell on Tuesday rather than Monday.
I have assumed that she did in fact write it in late May of 1909, and that she was mistaken in dating it.
Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ: Robert H. Taylor Collection of English and American Literature RTC01, Box 10, Folder 12. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to Sarah Orne Jewett
Friday. P.M.
[ 28 May 1909 ]*
[ Begin letterhead ]
CRAIGIE HOUSE.
CAMBRIDGE.
[ End letterhead]
Dearest:
I am going to town presently but before I go a little note to you must be written.
Alice* sends you her love and says that her motor shall be at your service gladly at [ Hamilton ? ]
[ Page 2 ]
when you will say the word. I will say one thing more -- She asked me in the winter if she might send you flowers but it was the time when you were having more flowers than you could even hear about so I said "wait" but now she wishes to do
[ Page 3 ]
something and it will be a real pleasure to her to send to Hamilton -- Also by & by I will speak to [ unrecognized name ]
-----
Goodbye dear
your
A.F.
Notes
1909: Associated with this letter is an envelope addressed to Jewett in South Berwick and postmarked 28 May 1909. It is likely that this is the correct envelope. Fields notes that Jewett has been receiving many flowers during the winter, and continues to receive them at the time of this letter, presumably in the spring. This sequence fits the time line of the final months between Jewett's 31 January stroke and her death in June. It is puzzling, however, that Alice Longfellow seems to offer the use of her car at Hamilton, presumably the Hamilton House, in South Berwick. At this time, Jewett was confined to her home.
Alice: Among Jewett's friends likely to have an automobile was Alice Mary Longfellow, whose family residence was Craigie House. Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Sarah Orne Jewett Additional Correspondence, 100 letters from Annie Adams Fields, bMS Am 1743.1 Box 1, Item 33.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to Sarah Orne Jewett
Saturday Evening
[ May/June 1909 ]*
My dearest;
Thank Mary* for her good letter! Tell Mifs Ryan* please that the little [ unrecognized name ] baby has arrived and I have written ^[ two unrecognized words ]^ to say a small package is soon to follow my letter --
Sarah Holland* came today, looking rather frail -- She is not well; hoped to see you before you went; brought a bouquet of lovely May flowers. They seem more lovely and plenteous than ever this year. General Pierson* came this afternoon bringing exquisite sweet peas for us both{.}
[ Page 2 ]
O I could hardly bear it! He is going [ into ? ] his [ own ? ] house this summer. He said, you know how she felt we were real friends we four !!
William James* came later{.} He said please tell her Mrs James and I both send her our love. He sat half an hour perhaps. Lilian Aldrich* came later{.} Also Mifs Bancroft* but I asked to be excused.
I have been watching the new moon for you every night since you left. The [ deletion ] (I have fallen asleep dear) [ two marks ] Good night --
Will try with another day{.}
[ Page 3 ]
Sunday Evening. Carmela Carbone and Loulie* came to supper and the little girl has been singing old Italian music{.} Just what you would [ love corrected ] She said she sang these old things of Palestrina{,} Pergolesi* and others of the Seventeenth Century to Miss Meynell* on Sunday evenings --
She is just like the old Italian pictures when she sings -- Loulie sends her
[ Page 4 ]
love and says I must not forget to tell you that she sang three little songs very well indeed. With her little teacher at the piano to help her she strikes no false note and does not sound one harsh one either. She has a pretty voice and sings like a little obedient child --
But Carmela is a true singer. Loulie says she grieves for her sister and I can seem to see her sorrow in her face as she sings --
Good night darling, I hope my long letter will not tire you! My whole love goes into it -- your
Annie
Notes
1909: This letter was composed in the final weeks of Jewett's life, when she was under the care of her sister, Mary, and a pair of nurses, one of whom was Miss Ryan.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. Key to Correspondents.
Mifs Ryan: Miss Ryan is a nurse who cared for Jewett after her 1902 carriage accident and again in the final weeks of her life. No more has yet been learned about her.
Sarah Holland: Fields's sister. See Fields in Key to Correspondents.
General Peirson: Probably this is Civil War Union General Charles Lawrence Peirson (1834-1920). His wife, Emily Russell Peirson, had died about a year previous, on 7 June 1908. It is difficult to be sure which four people she considered the best of friends, perhaps Jewett is the fourth, but perhaps Fields's husband, James T. Fields. Find a Grave.
William James: Key to Correspondents.
Lilian Aldrich: Key to Correspondents.
Mifs Bancroft: This person has not yet been identified. She may be a sister of Jewett family acquaintance Cornelius Bancroft (1831-1920). A Boston-born businessman based in New York City, he had one unmarried sister residing in Boston, Martha Gray Bancroft (1824-1917). Find a Grave.
Carmela Carbone: Damian Atkinson (2013) in his "Chronology of Alice Meynell," says that the sisters, Carmela and Grazia Maria L. Carbone were Italian-American singers. Grazia Carbone married Alice Meynell's son, Everard in 1908. The sisters performed together at Queen's Hall in London in 1907. See Catholic Who's Who (1936-1952), p. 61.
Loulie: Louisa Dresel. Key to Correspondents.
It seems likely, though not certain, that Dresel is the "little girl" who sings the Italian songs, while Carbone accompanies her on piano. This is uncertain in part because Dresel is almost certainly the older of the two guests.
Palestrina, Pergolesi: Italian composers, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525- 1594) and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736).
Miss Meynell: Alice Meynell. Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Sarah Orne Jewett Additional Correspondence, 100 letters from Annie Adams Fields, bMS Am 1743.1 Box 1, Item 33.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to Sarah Orne Jewett
[ May/June 1909 ]*
Dearest -- This is Wednesday & it is still rainy and dismal* like you will say "the spring comes slowly up this way." -- [ However Mifs ? ] Bolger* -- one sign of spring came yesterday and looked over my summer clothes. Later came the Russell Sullivans* and we had a merry little time together. They are going to move early in June and mean to come to Manchester during that very month. He has found some new stories by Lucas (E.V.) one called Over Bemerton's* which I must send down to you presently when you are ready for it -- Also he spoke of Joseph Vance* with sincere admiration: says he remembers things in it every day
-- H.L.H. presided at their annual meeting of the Tavern Club* which came off last week and M. DeWitt read a delightful paper upon Charles Norton.*
[ Page 2 ]
But now you are tired reading, dear; I can seem to see you! I suppose I do. I know I do though not with these poor eyes -- Kind remembrances to your two good nurses and loving thanks to Mary -- *
from your Annie
Notes
1909: This letter was composed after 21 April 1909, when, after her stroke, Jewett was moved from Boston to her South Berwick home.
dismal: This manuscript has perhaps been wet, leaving the ink blurred in places and generally difficult. I have guessed at many words, without noting which ones. Anyone wishing to work seriously with this letter should consult the manuscript.
Bolger: A Miss Bolger appears in a 19 December 1895 Jewett letter to her sister, Carrie, where she seems to be a dressmaker. No further information has been found.
Russell Sullivans: Thomas Russell Sullivan. Key to Correspondents.
Lucas (.E.V.) ... Over Bemerton's: British author Edward Verrall Lucas wrote Over Bemerton's: An Easy Going Chronicle (1909). Wikipedia.
Joseph Vance: American author and screen-writer, best remembered for his novels. Wikipedia.
H.L.H.: The Tavern Club was Boston men's dining club, with many notable literary members, including William Dean Howells and Charles Eliot Norton. Wikipedia.
H.L.H. was businessman and founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Henry Lee Higginson (1834-1919). Wikipedia.
M. DeWitt ... Charles Norton: Charles Eliot Norton (1827-1908) was an American author and professor of art at Harvard University. Wikipedia.
M. DeWitt has not yet been identified.
Nurses ... Mary: Jewett's sister, Mary Rice Jewett. Key to Correspondents.
Her nurses in South Berwick were a Miss Ryan and Florence Estelle Merrill.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Sarah Orne Jewett Additional Correspondence, 100 letters from Annie Adams Fields, bMS Am 1743.1 Box 1, Item 33.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick.
Maine.
[ End letterhead ]
Saturday [5th ? June 1909]*
Dearest [little ?] heart
for the first time in a [great ?] many years I am not going to be with you on your birthday morning* and you can [intended cannot ?] think how it [grieves ?] me. only I shall love you [ unrecognized word] and [think ?] of you [the ?] more. I haven't
[ Page 2 ]
been quite so well these last two or three days and [lament ?] because I couldnt [and ?] very well be and the dreadful cramps in my foot have lessened but so some other things have started up, and robbed me of the very end of my poor strength. I came near telephoning and begging [ you ?] to come over but I thought [ it would ? ]
[ Page 3, begins about 2/3 down the sheet ]Do you remember that
trouble you -- I hope to [see ? ] you soon or to have you here{.} I cant get [on without ?] it much longer. Your own
Pinny*
Much love to Jessie and Rose*
[ Page 3 ]
lovelovely birthday when we went to Chamounix{?} The first was in Ireland.*
Notes
June 1909: The handwriting of this letter, while mostly legible, is very irregular, as is the punctuation. Jewett seems unable, especially, to manage the left margin. Jewett's condition here seems identical to that in her other late letter, which Fields dates to June 1909, the month of Jewett's death. At that point, Jewett had suffered a stroke, was partially paralyzed, and within a few weeks of her death on 24 June.
birthday morning: Annie Fields's birthday is June 6.
Pinny: Pinny Lawson (P. L.), one of Jewett's nicknames.
Jessie and Rose: Almost certainly Jessie Cochrane and Rose Lamb. See Key to Correspondents.
birthday when we went to Chamounix: See Sarah Orne Jewett to Alice Greenwood (Mrs. George D.) Howe from Aix-les-Bains, Sunday. June 1892, in which Jewett mentions seeing Chamounix around the time of Fields's birthday.
The first was in Ireland: Jewett and Fields visited Ireland on their first trip to Europe in 1882.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. 40 letters to Annie (Adams) Fields (no date). Sarah Orne Jewett additional correspondence, 1868-1930. MS Am 1743.1 (117). Transcribed and annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to Sarah Orne Jewett
I have your poor dearest little note! Alas! what a strange thing to have you absent! Your own
Annie
June 6th 1909
Notes
1909: On the back side of this small scrap of paper is written: My Sarah --
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Sarah Orne Jewett Additional Correspondence, 100 letters from Annie Adams Fields, bMS Am 1743.1 Box 1, Item 33.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
[ Between 6 and 16 June 1909 ]
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick.
Maine.
[ End letterhead ]
Dearest Annie
I do so long to see you . . . I believe it would do me more good than any thing{.} you always help me to get a good hold on the best of myself. but I still feel too weak to plan any journeys. They still have to [carry corrected] me [unrecognized word or words] from one room to another and I ache dreadfully by night and by day. I dont know what to do about me{.} I did so [hope ?] to be out of doors [two or three unrecognized words] --
Notes
Between 6 and 16 June 1909: The handwriting of this letter, while legible, is very irregular, as is the punctuation. Jewett seems unable, especially, to manage the left margin.
Fields quotes from this letter in the preface to her Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett, where she dates it in June 1909 and implies that Jewett wrote no more afterward. At that point, Jewett had suffered a stroke, was partially paralyzed, and within a few weeks of her death on 24 June.
In the 21 June letter below to Lilian Aldrich, Fields says she visited Jewett the previous week and believes she saw her during her last moments of conscious awareness.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. 40 letters to Annie (Adams) Fields (no date). Sarah Orne Jewett additional correspondence, 1868-1930. MS Am 1743.1 (117). Transcribed and annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to Sarah Orne Jewett
Friday morning.Notes
[ 11 June 1909 ]*
Dearest: It is good to have Mary's* words when you are not quite up to a vast correspondence! Will you tell her so with my love and thanks. I found these little words of Vaughan* which I think you may like
"Sure it was so, man in
those early days
Was not all stone & earth;
He shined a little, and by
those weak rays
Had some glimpse of his birth."
There is a promise this A.M. of summer really coming.
Jessie* is naturally as we are much absorbed in the thoughts of Edward E.Hale* the great prophetic soul escaping from us after 88 years of loving service.
Your A.
1909: This letter was composed the day after the death of Edward Everett Hale on Thursday 10 June 1909.
Mary's: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Vaughan: Welsh poet, Henry Vaughan (1621-1695), author of "Corruption," which opens with these lines.
Jessie: Jessie Cochrane. See Key to Correspondents.
Hale: Edward Everett Hale died just two weeks before Jewett's death. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence I. Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett. Fields, Annie (Adams) 1834-1915. 16 letters; 1894-1901 & [n.d.], 1894-1901 bMS Am 1743 (64).
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to Lilian Aldrich
June121st Manchester.
1909
Deary Lily:
You probably do not know that our dear Sarah* lies at the point of death at South Berwick. She no longer suffers, no longer hears any echoes from this, our world. I went to see her last week and stayed two days. She is quiet and beautiful and does not suffer. She knows me and told me the few last things she had in mind and seemed to love to have me there.
She soon relapsed into sleep -- a sleep from which she will not entirely awaken.
Thank you for your affectionate note. Good bye ----- your
Annie Fields
Notes
Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents. She died on 24 June.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Thomas Bailey Aldrich Papers, MS Am 1429, Box 6, Items 1446-1538. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Thursday, 24 June 1909 -- Death of Sarah Orne Jewett
Saturday, 26 June 1909 -- Funeral in South Berwick, ME
Link to Notices & Obituaries
Edith P. Wolcott to Annie Adams Fields
Sunday [ 27 June 1909 ]*
[ Begin Letterhead ]
RAILROAD STATION
& POST OFFICE,
READVILLE
MILTON,MASSACHUSETTS.
[ End Letterhead ]
Dearest Mrs Fields,
My heart is very full of sympathy for you, & sorrow that that beautiful presence is no longer with us in the flesh. You who live in the spirit will
[ Page 2 ]
never really part from her, & we shall think of you always together, associated with all that is beautiful & good. I know too that in the midst of your loneliness you will give thanks that she is set free.
Was there ever
[ Page 3 ]
a richer, more harmonious nature! voice, Eyes, heart & mind "according well{?}"* One can well believe the music is vaster now that she has joined the heavenly choir, & we who have had the blessing & the privilege of knowing her will ever keep the sound of that
[ Page 4 ]
harmony in our lives.
I was dressed to take the early train to Portsmouth & go with Fanny Parkman* by trolley to the funeral today, but my little grandson who is very ill, did not seem sufficiently better for me to be away so long & I gave up going. My love & thoughts are with you. Do not answer dear, but believe me always your grateful loving
Edith P. Wolcott
Notes
27 June 1909: This is the Sunday following Sarah Orne Jewett's funeral. See Key to Correspondents.
according well: Wolcott alludes to British poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson's (1809-1892) "In Memoriam," stanza five of the Prologue:
Let knowledge grow from more to more,Fanny Parkman: Mary Frances Parker Parkman. See Key to Correspondents.
But more of reverence in us dwell;
That mind and soul, according well,
May make one music as before,
But vaster. We are fools and slight;
We mock thee when we do not fear:
But help thy foolish ones to bear;
Help thy vain worlds to bear thy light.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Willa Cather to Annie Adams Fields
June 27, 1909
London
Dear Mrs. Fields;
Yesterday at noon I learned of the bitter loss that has come to us all and to you more than to anyone else. I think you will know better than I can tell you how constantly my thoughts have been with you since then. This city, and my walking about the streets of it, seem very much like a dream when my heart is straining over-sea to you and to her who loved you so well through so many years. For I cannot bring myself to feel but that somehow she is there near you, and that if I could go to you today I would feel her presence even if I could not see her, as I felt it when I went to see you when she was first ill in the winter. When one is far away like this one cannot realize death. Other things become shadowy and unreal, but Miss Jewett herself remains so real that I cannot get past the vivid image of her to any other realization. I know that something has happened only by the numbness and inertia that have come over me. I find that everything I have been doing and undertaking over here I have done with a hope that it might interest her -- even to some clothes I was having made. And now all the wheels stand still and the ways of life seem very dark and purposeless. There is only one thing that seems worth hoping or wishing for, and that is that you and Miss Mary* are finding strength and comfort from some source I do not know of, for I know that Miss Jewett's first care and anxiety would have been for you. She was always so afraid of losing you, so afraid, as she told me at Manchester last summer, "that her life might be blown away from her without warning."
I shall sail for home some time next week, as soon as I can get a boat, and I can hardly expect to hear news of you from anyone until then. 1 shall let you know as soon as I land in New York. If there is anything, little or big, that I can do, if there should be anything which I could attend to for you, or any way in which I could lighten your loneliness, it would help me more than anything else in the world could and give me deeper pleasure.
Dear Mrs. Fields, one cant speak or write what I want to say to you, for nobody's heart can ever speak. Let me love and sorrow with you, and think of me sometimes when you are thinking of Miss Jewett. I could never tell you, I cannot ever tell myself, how dear you both are to me.
Willa
Notes
Miss Mary: Mary Rice Jewett
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Sarah Orne Jewett additional correspondence, MS Am 1743.1, Series III. Letters to Annie (Adams) Fields, item 143. This letter has been transcribed previously by Andrew Jewell and Janis Stout, appearing in The Selected Letters of Willa Cather, New York: Knopf, 2013. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
David Douglas to Annie Adams Fields
[ Begin Letterhead
Underlined portion filled in by hand. ]
DAVID DOUGLAS[ End Letterhead ]
PUBLISHER
10 Castle Street
Edinburgh Oct 15 1909
My dear Mrs Fields
I do not wish to plague you with books when you may be in no mood to read them, but {because} the volume that goes today [ deleted words ] ^is one which^ our dear friend* had she been still with us, would have relished greatly I venture to send it to you, hoping that you will be able to enjoy a volume which contains nothing new to you or to any careful student of Walter Scott* but I think is carefully executed and the result of a good deal of thought and labour. You will see that it is written by a too partial
[ Page 2 ]
friend of mine a daughter of the late Professor Sellar -- who makes far too much of any little aid I was able to give her --
If you see Mrs Eaton* pray remember me kindly to her --
I wish I had known that my granddaughter had been in Boston a fortnight ago, where she went with her father Professor Herdman* [ to receive ? ] the Doctorate at Harvard --*
Pray do not think of acknowledging this note though you know a line from you is always welcome. --
I am thankful to tell you that our dear invalid keeps wonderfully well
[ Page 3 ]Notes
though the [ hurricane ? ] last night and this morning keeps her from sleep thinking of her grandchild at [ sea and nearing our channel as her father & she sailed from the other side on the 8th ? ]*
[ unrecognized word ] yours
David Douglas
Dear Friend: Sarah Orne Jewett, who died the previous June. See Key to Correspondents.
Walter Scott: Scottish author, Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832).
Douglas refers to Sir Walter Scott's Friends (1909) by Florence Anne Sellar MacCunn (1857-1939). See also The Online Books Page. She was the daughter of Scottish classical scholar at Edinburgh University, William Young Sellar (1825-1890).
Mrs. Eaton: Mrs. Eaton is mentioned in a few Fields and Jewett letters, but she has not yet been identified with certainty. They were acquainted with Vashti and Bradley Llewellyn Eaton; she may be the Mrs. Eaton mentioned here.
Professor Herdman: The Douglas's daughter, Sarah Wyse Douglas (1861-1886) married Scottish marine biologist William Abbott Herdman (1858-1924). His second wife was Jane Brandreth Holt. Daughters from his first marriage were Beatrice Sophie and Winifred Flora Sarah Herdman. He received an honorary doctorate from Harvard University in 1909.
8th: Though the transcription in brackets seems reasonable, I have guessed at many of the words, finding this passage quite difficult to read.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields Papers and Addenda, Box 16: mss FI 5637. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to George Edward Woodberry
Manchester by Sea
Sepr 19th 1909
___________________
Dear Mr. Woodberry:
Surely your kindest of letters was not needed to bring back some of the pleasant hours we have lived together! but you could not know how much it was needed to bring me your message about her* and your feeling for us both. She sank away out of our arms into bliss so silently that the ears of earth could not hear the flight of the soul. She had been carried six weeks earlier to her dear
[ Page 2 ]
home where she could hear the first voices of spring and be laid on the grass there -- as she [ hoped ? ] and watch the flowers -- that was not to be -- and late in June she left us altogether for that new life and new experience which must be a deliverance and a joy; for the sense of life was a joy to her though long darkened by suffering & incompetence of the body. Now that she has awakened into a longer life she is often very near prompting and "touching me from the past",*
[ Page 3 ]
as our very near or dear ones are known to do.
And with me, life is again doubly quickened for the [ unrecognized word ] who are yet [ unrecognized word ] and [ most or more ? ] beloved companions than ever if that were possible -- ^ are speaking to [ unrecognized words ]^ By the way, I have spent half the time which was [ to be been ? -- intended to have been ? ] dedicated to a letter to you in trying to find our poem the Proserpina* -- written in Sicily. I wish to read it now with others! and among those "others" Thomas Whittemore* who has just returned from his "Sabbatical Year" to Tufts College ^ was [ unrecognized words ] ^ asked me to lend it to him -- But, alas! I cannot remember the date of the magazine ( I will write a p.c. to Harper and ask for it! [ behold an idea ! ? ])
[ Page 4 ]
Now I have written the little message and can begin once more)
I am reading your Life of Poe* with much interest because, although he was before my time, all his treatment of Longfellow and his association with Willis* were known to my husband and hence to me. The [ pages ? ] in the 2d volume about [ unrecognized words ] are of especial value it seems to me, for the [ common ? ] world even of readers of poetry have been a good deal fogged respecting Poe's poetry -- should they value it or should they not? and if they happened to be charmed by it -- why? No especial mighty new thought was there. The alliance with music of which you speak is very true -- but what a sad strange opposition he was! It makes me remember Lanier* who should have counted Poe as his best example in his book on poetry & music but I do not recall his name in L's pages -- The ^ [ unrecognized word ] ^ book is most successfully put together ----
of my dear Sarah -- I believe one of her noblest qualities of character was her great generosity -- others could only guess at this but I was allowed to know it -- not that she made gifts, but a wide sympathy was hers for easing disappointed or [ incompetent ? ] fellow creatures. It was
[ Up the left margin and part way across the top margin of page 1 ]
a most distinguishing characteristic! Mr. [ Andrew ? ] spoke of Judge Bigelow* once "as friend to every man who did not [ need bread! ? ] Sarah's quick sympathy knew a friend was in need before she knew it herself: she was the spirit of beneficence and her quick delicate wit was such a joy in daily companionship!
[ Up the right margin of page 1 ]
Good bye dear friend. I shall be in winter quarters [ unrecognized word Boston ? ]
[ Up the left margin of page 2 ]
in a month from now. The year is [ unrecognized words ] in
[ Up the left margin of page 3 ]
evening splendors here -- Goodbye till your return
Annie Fields.
Notes
her: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
the past: What Fields is quoting has not yet been identified.
Proserpina: Fields seems to refer to a poem about Proserpina, written by either Woodberry or Fields and published in Harper's Magazine. This poem has not yet been located.
Presumably a "p.c." is a postcard.
Whittemore: American scholar and archaeologist, Thomas Whittemore (1871-1950). Wikipedia.
Poe ... Longfellow ... Willis: American poets, Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) Wikipedia, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Key to Correspondents.
Of American poet and editor, Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806-1867), Wikipedia says: "Willis often tried to persuade Poe to be less destructive in his criticism and concentrate on his poetry. Even so, Willis published many pieces of what would later be referred to as "The Longfellow War", a literary battle between Poe and the supporters of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whom Poe called overrated and guilty of plagiarism."
Lanier: American poet and musician, Sidney Clopton Lanier (1842-1881)
Almost certainly, Fields refers to his The Science of English Verse (1880). However, there are multiple references to Poe in this book.
Mr. Andrew... Judge Bigelow: Probably, Fields refers to George Tyler Bigelow (1810-1878), who was Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court (1860-1867). The transcription of Mr. Andrew is uncertain, and he has not yet been identified. Likewise, his remark about Judge Bigelow has not yet been located.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: George Edward Woodberry correspondence and compositions I. Letters to George Edward Woodberry, Fields, Annie (Adams) 1834-1915. 65 letters; 1889-1914., 1889-1914. Box: 2, MS Am 1587, (71)
This transcription is from a photocopy held by the Maine Women Writers Collection, Burton Trafton Collection, Box 2, folder 87.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Alice Meynell to Annie Adams Fields
Granville Place Mansions
Portman Square
London W.
December 7
[ 1909 ]*
My dearest Mrs. Fields,
It was more than kind of you to write to me in the midst of your grief. You spoke about the letters of dear
[ Page 2 ]
Mifs Jewett.* If you really wish me to contribute an introduction. I shall think it a great privilege, and would do it with great pleasure. But should it not rather be something to accompany or follow a preface from your own pen?
[ Page 3 ]
I send for your kind acceptance a copy of my own latest little book* -- the first for eight years. Family things have taken up my time, and these efsays are of very various dates.
One of my best reasons for having patience with my own
[ Page 4 ]
work is that Mifs Jewett cared for it, and that you did so.
Politics* are surging so high here this winter that little books do not make themselves very conspicuous.
Please remember me very warmly to Mifs Cochrane and Mifs Dresel, and Mr. Whittemore,* if they are in Boston. Ever very affectionately yours
Alice Meynell
Notes
1909: Sarah Orne Jewett died on 24 June 1909. See Key to Correspondents.
introduction: Annie Fields authored the preface to her selection, Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911). There was no other introduction.
Fields's selection included one letter from Jewett, dated 14 December 1904. In her preface, Fields quoted from Meynell's letter of 11 November 1910:
I shall be so sorry to be entirely out of the volume you are preparing, of dear Miss Jewett's letters, that I send you two to use or not as you will decide. Her letters to me are too much about me and not enough about her. That is why I hesitated to send them. I always thought of her as the most selfless creature I had ever known -- a few hours in her company convinced one of that. And her letters are inevitably like her. (Atkinson, p. 281)little book: Damian Atkinson (2013) identifies this book: Ceres' Runaway and Other Essays (1909).
Politics: Atkinson notes that an inconclusive parliamentary election was held in January 1910, leading to another election in December.
Cochrane ... Dresel ... Whittemore: For Jesse Cochrane and Louisa Dresel, see Key to Correspondents.
American scholar and archaeologist, Thomas Whittemore (1871-1950).
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields Papers and Addenda Box 47: mss FI 3305, Folder 1. Archival notes on the manuscript have not been reproduced. This letter was previously transcribed by Damian Atkinson for The Selected Letters of Alice Meynell (2013). New transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Mary Amelia St. Clair to Annie Adams Fields
1
4- Edwardes Sq. Studios
Kensington. [ W ? ]
Dec: 14. 1909.*
My dear Mrs Fields
It is a very long time since I have written to or heard from you. I was ill for some time in the summer, & it was not till long, long afterwards that I heard of your great trouble.
[ Page 2 ]
I did not like to write then, when it was so late, but I think you will know how often I thought of you & grieved for you. I shall never forget Miss Jewett's sweetness & kindness to me when I was with you. It is a great loss -- & we feel it over here -- to American literature; her work stands alone, so simple, so beautiful, so perfect.
[ Page 3 ]
Mr Gilder's death,* too, has been a great shock to me. He had written to me a few days before.
I am very much afraid that you will have neither strength nor inclination to see any strangers now. But if later, this winter, you were able, I know it w. give great pleasures to my
[ Page 4 ]
friends, Mr & Mrs George Prothero* to call on you, when they are in Boston. I have ventured to give them a letter of introduction, but I have prepared him for y. not being able to receive him; you must not think of it if it is in any way an effort. He is a great scholar* & a charming [ person ? ]. She is altogether lovable. They will be staying with Professor William James* at Cambridge part of their time. Mr Prothero
[ Page 5 ]
3
is giving lectures in the States.
I have very little [ unrecognized word ] to give & feel too sad to give it. I have been very busy over my new novel "The Creators"* wh. is appearing in "The Century"; it is nearly finished, but it has been long & difficult. I think, perhaps,
[ Page 6 ]
it is an advance. I hope so, but I hardly know what to think yet. I am grieved that I did ^not^ finish it in time for Mr Gilder* to read it all. A great deal of the pleasure ^ I sd. have had^ in its appearance has gone now.
I wish I were coming
over to America with my friends, & oh! I wish that I cd see you, if it was only for ever so short a time.
[ Page 7 ]
With love,
always y. very affectionate
May Sinclair
Notes
1909: In another hand and ink, in the upper left corner of page 1 appears this note: " [ unrecognized word ] -- New Years Eve ---- 1909 --" Possibly this note was written by Fields.
See also the other letter of this date from Sinclair to Fields.
Mr. Gilder's death: Sarah Orne Jewett died on 24 June 1909. Richard Watson Gilder died on 19 November 1909. See Key to Correspondents.
Mr & Mrs George Prothero: Sir George Walter Prothero (1848-1922) was an English historian. His wife was Mary Butcher. In 1910, Prothero gave the Lowell Lectures in Boston and was Schouler Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University.
scholar: Sinclair appears to have underlined this word and then either deleted or emphasized the underlining.
William James: See Key to Correspondents.
The Creators: Sinclair's The Creators appeared as a book in 1910.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, California: James Thomas Fields Papers and Addenda (1767-1914), Letters of Sinclair, mss FL 1-5637.
May Sinclair, when she abbreviates a word as well as with some titles places some of the letters in superscript position. I have elected not to duplicate this practice in the transcriptions of her letters.
Mary Amelia St. Clair to Annie Adams Fields
4. Edwards Sq. Studios
Kensington. [ W. ? ]
very first letter of introduction I have sent you in all these years; so I think I must have been 'saving up' till I [ cd. ? ] send you of the very nicest & the best.
Dec. 14. 1909
My dear Mrs. Fields
This is to introduce to you my friends Mr. & Mrs. George Prothero,* who are staying in Boston.
I believe it is the
[ Page 2 ]
I want [ them ? ] to have the [ same ? ] pleasures
[ Page 3 ]
that I [ had ? ] the first day I saw you, [ & to ? ] take back with them something of the same memory.
& as always dear Mrs. Fields
[ v. affectionately yrs ? ]
May Sinclair.
Notes
Mr & Mrs George Prothero: Sir George Walter Prothero (1848-1922) was an English historian. His wife was Mary Butcher. In 1910, Prothero gave the Lowell Lectures in Boston and was Schouler Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University.
See also the other letter of this date from Sinclair to Fields.
A photocopy of the manuscript of this letter is held by the Van Pelt Library of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. May Sinclair papers Ms. Coll. 184, I. Correspondence. Fields, Annie (1834-1915) (13 items), 1905-1912. Box 1 folders 26-27. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Selected from Robert Collyer to Annie Adams Fields
[ 29 December 1909
201 West 55th St. New York City ]
Ever Dear Friend
This brings my wealth of good wishes for a Happy whole year and then all the years you can wish for, Honor and Love and Troops of Friends{,} some new and all the old who may be spared in the old world and this we hold as the new ....
A large and lovely photograph came the other day of Sarah* just herself, but with no name of the donor{.} It will be framed and placed in this my own room -- Gertrude thinks she can find her ^Sarah's^ autograph to place on the margin and I hope she may....
Notes
Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields Papers and Addenda Box 11: mss FI 1-5637. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Louise Imogen Guiney to Annie Adams Fields
42 Pinckney St. Thurs. eve.
[ 30 December 1909 ]*
Dearest Mrs. Fields:
Of all the delightful queer things, your sweet letter takes the cake. For today my old cough was such a plague that I was driven to a Dr. -- I who never go near one! He was very nice, prescribed; gave me some prohibitions as to diet &c.; found some interior damages -- nothing serious -- due to the effects of repeated colds; and ordered me to bed! I remarked something which was the polite equivalent of Pooh! or Bah! for of course bed was a moral impossibility, situated as I now am. I never even stopped to realize that I regretted that it was
[ Page 2 ]
such; but intended to fumble along as cheerfully as might be. Then I came home to find your letter. The prospect -- I feel that I am a Pig to blurt it out! -- was like paradise. I can't resist it! I would, if I felt I were going to be ill; but oh; the restfulness of being petted with breakfast in bed, and with the proffered solitudes and silences which I adore, and draw such vigour from, when I can only get them! It will be beatific for me, and I know I shall keep the Rule, my Lady Abbess, so that you shan't have an extra drachm* of fatigue for your hospitality. I can't begin to
[ Page 3 ]
say how grateful I am: grateful to the marrow. Look for me with a small suit-case on Sunday P.M., as I cannot break away so soon as tomorrow. I shall be there between five and six, I think: after teatime. I shall bring some belated Christmas letters (English) in my mind, to get written; a hot-water bottle; and little else. If my room is to be next to yours, it is plain that I must stop barking at night. Excellent inhibition! Do not let us revoke it. A Happy, Happy 1910 to you. With love and blessing from your much-beholden.
Louise.
Notes
30 December 1909: This was the Thursday after Christmas in 1909, the time at which Guiney indicates she wrote this letter.
drachm: A weight unit of 1/8 once. Also dram.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields collection Box 26: mss FI 1534. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Edited by Terry Heller, Coe College.
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