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

1855-11-30

Description

Handwritten letter from William Cooper Nell to Amy Kirby Post. Nell writes to Post about recent events in the Boston anti-slavery community.

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

1098

Location

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

Transcription

(Page 1)

a large and elegant variety of goods have arrived
    for the Bazaar which opens on the 19^th -
wish You and Some other Rochester friends were
to be with us.
                                       Boston Nov 30^th 1855
Kind friend Amy
                                            Yesterday was our
ThanKsgiving = I passed a portion of the
day here at 21 Cornhill =   all alone in my
glory of hammering             out some Jobs
on my    mental   anvil              = which may
turn up Yet somewhere else -
       Rev Theodore ParKer had a good
audience        who in turn of course had a
good        Sermon =     I dined with
   Louisa who as were ^were^ alone narrated
a graphic account of her pleasant times
in Rochester for a great part of which
She acKnowledges special indebtedness to
You . =              Ira the Elder was engaged
Ira the Younger was parading with a
Juvenile Military Engine Company of
which he has for        Some time been an
active member - among his School
mates [sic] he was Selected as Drummer
in which capacity he executed StriKing
Service if not for his Country
certainly to the Sheeps Kin -

(Page 2)

On Wednesday Eve met Wendell Phillips at the Depot
and learned that he spent some very pleasant
hours at Rochester . hoping during the Season
to revisit        and lecture there -
I called last evening upon him to get his
answer to the Committee for my presentation
meeting - . He has abandoned for that evening
a Lyceum lecture =and with Missr Garrison
Theodore ParKer et al will be on hand
It will probably taKe place on the 17^th of Dec
of which You will hear more. -
             Mrs . Chapman has Just sent me from
Weymouth by her Son a handsome letter of
    acKnowledgement for my BooK . = which She
Selected for her   ThanKsgiving reading -
                   I recieved [sic] the Rochester
American        containing a notice but have
   not Yet Seen the Democrat though I
Sent for it         and am very anxious
for to get It. - ^as a means of promoting^ its Sale -
                              I did not Know
until Henry Collins wrote me
that my letter had not been
forwarded = Its all right now
   I presume Dorcas is on the
            recovery -

[Text aligned upside down along top margin of Page 2]

child . Parker Nell Bailey -

[Text aligned upside down along right margin of Page 2, text originates along upside down horizontally across Page 3]

that ence to past

[Text aligned upside down along bottom margin of Page 2]

Mrs. Webb had -a magnificent
audience last night and
acquitted herself finely -

(Page 3)

          Mrs Webb is to be at Washington
Christmas WeeK = and I presume
will in a few weeKs pass through
Rochester - I did not learn the
precise time =    I hope when She
does   come   a good audience may be
Secured for her - and as I have
SpoKen    to her of my friends You
Mary     Sarah        William et al
will find her very agreeable
(Confidential ) Mrs Stowe has written to
        F . D .        protesting against his
misstatements about her promising
funds for        the College = She has also
written to J . G . in England about
Some erroneous doing there (in
character) =    and I Learn Mrs Stowe
will through the press disclaim
what F.D. has Said -

I really think She owes it to
herself to put this into execution
   especially when considering the
pecuniary bestowments She has
    made       F.D-

[First line of text aligned upside down along top margin of Page 3]

John B. Bailey ( a relative of W.[J.?] WatKins = has named his

[Additional material inserted upside down along the lower margin and between several lines of text on Page 3]

F.D. met me Yesterday as he was       Dec. 7
   coming out of Lewis Haydens= Says He How do you do Mr. Nell!!!

W.W. Brown also met him but tells me
he did not return F.D. - greeting .
Did I err on the right side in acKnowledging his civility with referen[ence] the

(Page 4)

Clarissa Brown is not coming
immediately to this Country.
                           -.
   next weeK a Social party comes
off here where If present I
    Shall remember our dance at
36 Sophia St = = though I exhibited
my     not my best foot on that
occasion . -
                    I was very sorry not to have
Seen more of Jacob as indeed I was
not at all seeing Sarah and Edmund
and Joe -        But I am so glad that
Louisa enjoyed - so good a Visit
She will have stores of pleasant
recollections to beguile my Bachelor
hours with = I protest daily
against my Singleness = I am
afraid that in this particular I
shall die a Protestant -
I wanted also to have seen
Mary Cooper but it is no use to
Complain now = especially as such a
pleasure may be mine Yet - .

[Text aligned vertically along right margin of Page 4]

Love to all
Yours Fraternally    W. C. Nell

[Text aligned upside down along top margin of Page 4]

Jeremiah B. Sanderson has been appointed Teacher of a Public ( Colored ) School in California !

[Text aligned vertically along the left margin of Page 4]

Mr Mays Father on ThanKsgivg Eveng = Reflection was Served up in
   Tableau =      as was once you remember it George Willets-

Annotations

William Cooper Nell, an abolitionist and former slave, is writing from Boston to fellow activist, Amy Post. 21 Corn Hill refers to the anti-slavery office in Boston, where Nell worked. Theodore Parker was a Transcendentalist and a reform minister of the Unitarian Church. Louisa was one of Nell's sisters. Ira was her husband and their son’s name was also Ira. Wendell Phillips was an abolitionist, a Native American advocate and lawyer. William Lloyd Garrison was a radical abolitionist and the editor of the newspaper, the Liberator. Maria W. Chapman was an abolitionist. Both the Rochester American and the Rochester Democrat were newspapers. Mrs. Webb performed in a play titled, "The Black Siddons" during this period. Mary was Post's step-daughter, and William Hallowell was her husband. Sarah was Post's sister. Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist, who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist and former slave. Julia Griffiths supported Douglass's newspaper, the North Star. William Watkins worked with Douglass. Lewis Hayden was an abolitionist and former slave. William Wells Brown was an African American abolitionist, lecturer, novelist, playwright and historian. He was born a slave, who escaped to the North in 1834, and wrote the first novel by an African America- Clotel. Clarissa was one of Brown's daughters.

Nell refers to the Post family home at 36 Sophia Street. Jacob was one of Post's sons. Edmund Willis was Sarah's husband. Joseph was another of Post's sons. Jerry B. Sanderson was a free black man, who settled in California during the gold rush and advocated to get public funding for schools that educated black students. Samuel J. May was a radical reformer, who advocated for women's rights, access to education and the abolition of slavery. George Willets was a relative of the Post family.

Tags

Abolitionism; Education; Personal

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/3388.

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