Nell, William Cooper. Letter to Amy Kirby Post.

Title

Nell, William Cooper. Letter to Amy Kirby Post.

Creator

Nell, William Cooper

Contributor

Post, Amy Kirby, 1802-1889

Date

1849-12-12

Description

Handwritten letter from William Cooper Nell to Amy Kirby Post. Nell writes to Post about the development of the Spiritualist movement in Boston.

Subject

Post, Amy Kirby, b. 1802

Is Part Of

Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers

Rights

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

Identifier

770

Location

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

Transcription

(Page 1)
I am now seated at a Table in my          Boston December 12^th 1849 cold
Landladys Parlor = Herself and 2 Ladies       Wednesday Eve. 9. oclock weather
with 2 children being about =                                        though I am now using Ink
I am reminded of sitting down thus                 from the Ink stand you
in Amy Posts Room = and How I do miss    presented me
                                        Her and Sarah


My Esteemed Friend. Amy Post =
                                                   This evening being disappointed
in my anticipated meetings with My Sister Louisa and Mrs
Mary Bibb = and of an interview with a committee of the
Young Men’s Literary Society = I gladly avail myself of the
leisure moment to acknowledge the reciept [sic] of those two
valuable and interesting letters =the First with my Box of
Books =(for the safe transportation of please accept my sincere
thanks) Second =devoted mainly to the spiritual
matters which have thus far excited many Circles =
aside from Western New York = = Mr Garrison is somewhat
interested in the matters and intends publishing the Tribune correspondence
on the Mysterious Knocking and wishes me to impart some of my
experience with the Spirits and the Girls = He does believe as You do
but for many reasons seeks light = The Peoples to whom I
mention the matter. Friends and Strangers. listen with every
kind of expression on thier [sic] countenances = and to me it is still
a mystery and most sincerely do I wish it was explained
as You may well remember I regarded. Leah Margaret
and Cathy as entirely honest in the business and on those
premises the wonder and mystery is augmented.
I can appreciate the trials to which You and they were
exposed during the investigations. Knowing the
associations surrounding You in consequence of Your
believing them to be true until proved to be
otherwise = Your motives are Godlike and Your
satisfaction will be ample = even though the result may
be different so far as the Girls are concerned from what
You and other friends expect = in this opinion
Mr Garrison concurs and strongly censured those
who interfered and broke up the meetings.

(Page 2)

I. have at times thought the Spirits were manifesting
a readiness to communicate here with me= but to the
present nothing tangible has been developed.
I. await further intelligence
I know of no such name as You ask about = and mentioned by
the Spirits = but should I learn of any such the earliest information
                                                                 will be forwarded.
Mondays Tribune supplement: contained an able article
on the Mysterious Knocking = accounting for it as of a
Similar fact with those eventful traits in the history of
Swedenborg and A Jackson Davis = when You write
do tell me How William and Mary and other Friends now
feel on the matter = F.D.&.J.D of course are not easily
made Proselytes of = but I must now dismiss the
subject and talk of other matters -
Mr Garrison regrets his inability of attending Your annual
meeting. feeling grateful for Your Kind offer -
I would be extremely happy to wing my way to
Rochester. during the meeting or Fair – but this happiness
will be denied me = I must content myself with being
in attendance here = and my spirit much of the time
with my choice Rochester friends = Anne W. Westen
a few days since in the Anti slavery [sic] office enquired of me
the address of John S. Jacobs = I. presume intending to
Solicit his aid here for the Boston Bazaar =
they Know his worth and so do the Western New York
Anti slavery [sic] friends = Please tender my Kind remembrance
to him and his good Sister = Miss Fowler recently had a letter
from Louisa Jacobs
Will You at convenience learn from Leah Fish whatever became
of those musical Pamphlets and Scraps= I left with Her?
If You are not tired hearing of and performing such a favors

(Page 3)

Mr. Douglass passed through here some days since but I did
not see him. I hope to do however before he leaves for West
                                          Thursday Eve = 8. oclock

Here I am at the Town and Country Club Room No 15
Tremont Row   of which I. have the charge = which with
my other offices Keeps me busy = and helps put Bread
and Butter in my mouth = It would please You to meet
here and share the society of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
A. Bronson Acott = and Literary men of various shades
of in belief and practice. = next Monday Evening
will be a pleasant season at the Ladies and Gentlemens
Conversazione. Fredrika Bremer will be present
This room is an incentive to poetic inspiration -
a splendid Bust of Homer the Father of Poetry adorns
one Niche = Engraving of Goethe and Carlyle
in appropriate pendant situations = the cream of
American and foreign Literature cover the Tables Vc
I can assure You I. glean much valuable information
from the different Circles = Members and Strangers
(Rev Pharcellus Church is a member ) =Radicals and
Conservatives = embracing= Clergymen= Lawyers Physicians
Artists = in Music Painting Architecture Vc all meet
here and discuss about the many things Celestial.
and Terrestial [sic]
I have been promising to attend Sunderlands Course of
Lectures on Pathetism = He is now creating a similar
excitement as that of Professor Rogers. Last season =

Frederick Douglass. I learn by Remond passed
through here to day [sic] enroute for Rochester = I lost the
                                  chance of      seeing him.

(Page 4)

I am much ^obliged^ for all the Rochester news Your letters
contain, escpecially so much relates to the anti slavery [sic]
friends with whom I. became acquainted = the least
word concerning any of them -I richly appreciate.
When and to whom is my good friend Jacob
going to be Married = Does Joe make
seizures now upon Bridgets Store of Milk
Pies Vc= Does he generally rise in time for
Buckwheats? How does Bridget and Her
Cousins come on = Is Joanna lively as usual
Is it to be understood that Isaac and Amy Post
William Mary and Sarah Hallowell will grace the
next New England Convention with thier [sic]
presence =? How sincerely do I hope so.

Should I ever again visit Rochester I should hope
to have Willie remember me= at least as the
Individual who some mornings would emancipate
him from Bed and covered with a stray shawl
introduce him to Father and Mother at Breakfast
Who sits now in my corner behind the stove
Dont You and Sarah sometimes think of the Evening
when the Lamp fell and the Gas on fire spread
over carpets= Dresses Vc= I. verily believe
one third of my thoughts are busy with
Rochester associations-
many thanks for Your Kind donations to Harriet
she remembers You gratefully = she is now in poor
health.

Annotations

William Cooper Nell, an abolitionist, is writing from Boston to fellow activist, Amy Post.

Nell's landlady was Mrs. Benjamin Weeden. Sarah Kirby Hallowell was Post's sister. Mary Bibb was born into a Quaker family of free blacks and married former slave Henry Bibb. Both were active in the abolitionist movement.

Nell refers to the growing Spiritualist movement that began in Rochester. The Posts and other followers believed that through mediums they could communicate with the dead. William Lloyd Garrison was a radical abolitionist and the editor of the Liberator.
Leah, Margaret and Catherine Fox founded the Spiritualism movement. The mysterious knocking that Nell mentions refers to the Hydesville Rapping’s, which came to mark the beginning of Spiritualism.

Emmanual Swedenborg was a Swedish scientist, philosopher and theologian, who influenced many famous writers, artists and cultural figures. Andrew Jackson Davis was a Spiritualist healer. William R. Hallowell was Post's son-in-law, and Mary was his wife. "F.D." likely refers to former slave and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass.

Anne W. Weston may refer to a member of the Weymouth Female Anti-Slavery Society. John S. Jacobs was former slave and author, Harriet Jacobs's brother.
Louisa Jacobs was Harriet Jacobs’s daughter.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a writer, poet, and Transcendentalist, as was A. Broson Alcutt. Fredrika Bremer was a Swedish writer and feminist, who lived in the United States from 1849- 1851. Homer was a Greek poet, who wrote the Illiad and Odyssey. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer.

Charles Lenox Remond was an abolitionist leader. Nell refers to Post's three sons: Jacob, Joseph and Willie.

Tags

Abolitionism; Personal; Spiritualism

Collection

D.93 Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers

Citation

Nell, William Cooper, “Nell, William Cooper. Letter to Amy Kirby Post.,” RBSCP Exhibits, accessed November 23, 2024, https://rbscpexhibits.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/3061.

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