Jacobs, Harriet Brent. Letter to Amy Kirby Post.

Title

Jacobs, Harriet Brent. Letter to Amy Kirby Post.

Creator

Jacobs, Harriet Brent

Contributor

Post, Amy Kirby, 1802-1889

Date

185 ?

Description

Handwritten letter from Harriet Brent Jacobs to Amy Kirby Post, 185-. Jacobs writes to Post and discusses her home life, her daughter, Louisa, and a letter she received from her brother, Joseph.

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

784

Location

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

Transcription

(Page 1)

fortgot my message I think and I had
      not time to write he was so harried
      at the time
                  New York February ^12^

My Dear Friend
                            I must begin by ask
ing you to forgive though I cannot find
an apology as I shall tell you the truth
this is the third letter that I have writ
ten to you the two previous one [sic] were
filled with trouble and care ^I burned them^ I deter
mined not to write again untill [sic]
I felt some encouragement to do so
and in so doing ^[obliterated]^ I will promise not
to do the like again but I trust that
that the present year may not be
so painfully spent as the past but
perhaps I have been foolishly sensitive
and ought to be ashamed I am still
with Mrs Willis Louisa is with me
at the present but expect [sic] to return
to Mr Brockett this spring I shall
go with her and if I can possibly
stretch my visit as far as Rochester
I will nothing would afford me more
pleasure than to see my friends again
though I could only stay one day and
night but you will hear from me

[Text aligned vertically along left margin of Page 1]

which will afford me pleasure to send William

(Page 2)

again before I leave I had three letters
from my Brother during the last month
he was well and doing well you may
know with what joy I hailed the news
for I had been very unhappy I had a
letter from him last July and he had
just completed his arrangements to com
mence his work in the bed of the river
and seemed so full of hope and expec
tations said that he would write the
next month and send me some gold
I did not get another line untill [sic]
December and to me it was a sad let
ter my Brother said that he had been
so burdened with care that he could
not write he said before he commencd [sic]
working he was offered five hundred
for his share which he refused and
worked until the first of October and
came out poorer than he went in
the Claim below him at the same time
paid each man two thousand dollars
[obliterated] he then left and went to the Mor
mon Island to the dry diggins [sic] where
they have done very well there is five
in the party and they have gone so far
under the hills that they work by candle

(Page 3)

light he says that there has been a great
many new discoveries where persons never
thought of looking for gold and it has
given new life to mining my Joseph
has gone to his Uncle Brother is very
anxious to have me go he thinks that I
could do well out there but he wants
Louisa to remain at Mr Brocketts until
I go and see for myself and if I like
after a years time come for her she
is much opposed to being left behind but
I intend to go if possible you must write
me what you think of it I could do
any thing [sic] for the sake of a little shan
ty to call home and have my Children
to come around me you dont know
what a comfort it was to me to see my
Joseph so often last summer his ways
are so much like my Brothers that you
would think that he had never been
from under his training the tears ran
down his cheeks when I read your letter
to him where you alluded to the anxiety
the two Joseph [sic] had given their parents
Mrs Bush told me that Sarah was
on Long Island will you let me know
when you write if she in near New York
so that I can see her I hope that you

(Page 4)

a letter from my Brother before
this reaches you Dear Amy I have tried
to do the best that I could last year
I paid eighty five dollars of my own
earnings for Louisa so I have left no
debt there and brother sent me a hun
dred dollars with that I intend to
pay Mr. Kellogg [sic] balance on Louisa [sic]
schooling which is sixty two dollars
and Mrs Bush then once more I shall
be happy their was some little debt
due Mr Willets which if my Brother
dont remember I shall have I wish I
could just run in an spend a little
with you and your Dear good Husband,
to whom I know that you will allow me
to give my kindest love regards is too cold
a word for him kindly remembering me
to Jacob & Joseph wishing them all the hap
piness that the New Year can give not
forgetting my kind friends Mr & Mrs
Hallowell give little Willie a kiss and
my love Dear Amy ^you^ must not think
that I would send your son that poor
little sack it was given me to give a
away and I thought Francis would
not feel as it would save a few stitches
and the dresses for Hellen your Willie
shall have a present of my own earning

Annotations

Harriet Brent Jacobs, a former slave and abolitionist, is writing from New York to Amy Post, a close friend and benefactor. During this time, Jacobs was living and working in the Cornelia and Nathaniel Parker Willis's home. The Willis's had paid for Jacobs's freedom from slavery. Louisa was Jacobs's daughter.

William could refer to former slave and abolitionist, William Cooper Nell. Joseph Jacobs was Harriet's brother. Mormon Island is off the coast of California. The members of the Bush family were fellow activists. Sarah Kirby Hallowell was Post's sister. Francis Kellogg was an activist and her Louisa's teacher. George Willets was a friend of the Posts, who became a believer in Spiritualism. Spiritualists believed that through mediums they could communicate with the dead.

Jacob, Joseph and Willie were Post's three sons. Mary was Post's daughter, and her husband was William Hallowell. Frances Nell was one of William Cooper Nell's sisters.

Tags

Abolitionism; Personal

Collection

D.93 Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers

Citation

Jacobs, Harriet Brent, “Jacobs, Harriet Brent. Letter to Amy Kirby Post.,” RBSCP Exhibits, accessed November 23, 2024, https://rbscpexhibits.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/3075.

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