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 expresses concern because she has not heard from Harriet Beecher Stowe regarding her slave narrative.

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

788

Location

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

Transcription

(Page 1)

March April ^4th^
My Dear friend I steal
this moment to scratch
you a few lines I should
have writen [sic] you before
but I have been waiting
with the hope of having
something to tell you
from our friend Mrs
Stowe but as it is I
hardly know where to
being for my thoughts
come rushing down with
such a [obliterated] ^spirit^ of rivalry
each wishing to be told
you first so that they fill
my heart and head make
my eyes dim therefore my
silence must express to
you what my poor pen
is not capable of daring

(Page 2)

but you know dear
Amy that your I have a head
towards you filled with
love and gratitude for
all the interest you have
so kindly shown in my
behalf I wish that I could
sit by you and talk instead
of writing but that pleasure
is denied and I am thankful
and I am than for this Mrs
Stowe recieved [sic] your letter
and Mrs Willis she said it
would be much care to her
to take Louisa as she went
by invitation it would not
be right and she was afraid
that if her situation as a
Slave should be known
it would subject her to
much petting and patronizing
which would be more plea
sing to a young Girl than

(Page 3)

useful and the English
was very apt to do it and
sh [sic] was very much opposed
to it with this class of peo
ple I will leave the rest
for you to solve but remem [sic]
that I mene [sic] to pay Louisa [sic]
expenses your letter she sent
to Mrs Willis asking might
she trouble her so far as
to ask if their most extraordi
nary event was true in all
its bearings and if she
might use it in her key
I had never opend [sic] my lips
to Mrs Willis concerning
my Children in the Char
itableness [sic] of her own heart
she sympathised with me
and never asked their origin
my suffering she knew it
embarrassed me at first
but I told her the truth

(Page 4)

but we both thought it
was wrong in Mrs Stowe
to have sent you letter she
might have written to en
quire if she liked Mrs
Willis wrote her a very
kind letter begang [sic] that
she would not use any
of the facts in [he key?] say
ing that I wished it to
be a history of my life entire
ly by itsslf [sic] which would
do more good and it need
ed no romance but if she
wanted some facts for
her book that I would be
most happy to give her
some she never answered
the letter she wrote again
and I wrote twice with
no better success it was not
Lady ^like^ to treat Mrs Willis so
she would not have done
it to keep any one [sic] I think
she did not like my objec
tion I cant help it

(Page 5)

if he is in Rochester make my kind regards

to him tell him that my Brother wishes him

to write to him please give my rememberance [sic]

to Mr & Mrs Cleggett Mrs Collins and all

the family Mr & Mrs G W Clarks family and

Doctor Clarks family and do not forget

my kind friends Mrs Phebe and fanny

Frost remember me to Mrs Willets and all

the family I am sorry to hear od Mr Willis

(Page 6)

long illness I hope that you and your family

have been blest with good health this winter

it has been very sickly among the few that

I know I have been expecting to hear of Mrs

Bush being in the City again but I have not

I shall write to her this week I have not

heard from the South in a great while I never

go [any] ^out^ in the day light accept [sic] I ride write

Dear Amy I shall be glad to hear May God bless

[Text upside down, in top margin]

you and crown you with his choicest blessing is

the prayer of Harriet Yours in heart

Annotations

Harriet Brent Jacobs, a former slave and abolitionist, is writing to Amy Post, a close friend and benefactor. Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and the editor and promoter of Jacobs's slave narrative. Louisa was Jacobs's daughter. Cornelia Grinnell Willis and her husband had paid for Jacobs's freedom from slavery and supported her during her first years in the North. Jacobs refers to the seven years she spent hidden in her grandmother's attic, prior to her escape from the South.

Tags

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/3079.

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