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

1862-06-10

Description

Handwritten letter from William Cooper Nell to Amy Kirby Post. Nell writes to Post about new arguments regarding the future position of black men and women in American culture.

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

1363

Location

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

Transcription

(Page 1)

                                            Boston June 10^th 1862
Stopping en route at
                   Pennsylvania Progressive Friends Meeting-

My Valued Friend Amy Post
                                               What are You
thinKing of me for not before this acKnowledging
Yours of So long ago that I am ashamed
to be particular about the date ? Well ,
the truth is I could and Should have
put away procrastination and talKed with
Your penwise [sic] quite soon after its
reception for now I can never expect to
even glance at the hundred and one .
topics . which are engraved upon my tablet.
of intention =       . I allowed myself to
    indulge a hope of meeting Some
representative from 36 Sophia Street at
the New YorK annual meeting- where
through much tribulation I succeeded
in reaching but the only Rochester
face that my Vision greeted was
Susan B. Anthony   .I was glad to meet
her.    but oh           how sorry not to
meet You and others of the
meetings You have been informed_
that they were very interesting and
encouraging .      as were also the
New England Conventions = the latter
Spiced with a greater Variety of Free Speech.

(Page 2)

Your determination never to grow
old is Just in accordance with my
own. and indeed very few people
thinK me as old as indeed I
happen to be . You need not tell how old
that is =. but then if   ^You should it wont harm this old Bachelor.^
                                       Of my situation in the
Post office I have as Yet no progres [sic] to
report except the maKing friends
with most of those in the Various
departments with whom I come in
Contact = the effort of Mr Sumner
and others in Congress to remove
the proscription has thus far been
unsuccessful.       People sing the
Same old Song to me.
“ Hope on, Hope ever.”

      Francis JacKsons = House is now accupied [sic]
by a Boarding Establishment. Mrs Eddy
has removed to Edinboro Street
     How Strange it seems now to pass
31 Hollis Street. and thus call to
mind past associations .
     Peace to the memory of the Just.
                      -
Your Kind invitation to Visit the old
familiar place stirs up many fond

(Page 3)

recollections - _ and as You say = the old arm
Chair [sic] Still Stands in its wanted place behind
the Stove = - ah = That old Arm Chair [sic]!
    “ I Love it .   I Love it = and who Shall dare
       To chide me for loving . that old arm Chair [sic] ,
         instead of now writing or attempting to
of the clustering faces and reminiscenses [sic] -
    now it suggests . I will waive the
recital until ( I hope before many months)
I may be there in Propriae Personae . to
recur to them Viva Voce with Amy and
the Rochester Circle.
        F. D.’s First or Fraternity Lecture = -
Pictures and Progress walKed Very much here
but did not do him as much Justice as Some
other efforts especially his other and later
one. who on the Black Mans Future in the
United States = before the Emancipation League.
Wm W. Brown myself and others had a
free and early Criticism with F. D. in
reference there to .
                               Mrs Chapman feels that
the worK of Abolitionists = specifically is
done = in that the Nation is aroused to
the question   this if I understand
her is the position She now accupies [sic] -
Not but what these are many bunches
of usefulness for antislavery [sic] reformers to worK in

(Page 4)

but thier [sic] main mission is completed.
and hence She retires from active .
participancy [sic].-
                        Harriet A. Jacobs has left for
Washington with some things for Contrabands
V= also with a view to Selling BooKs.
    I thinK She told me. She had not heard
from You or Isaac whether a letter
Containing money from her Brother
ever reached You. -
                              Louise Jacobs is now at
the White Mountains with Mrs Willis -
By the Bye. glad to hear from the
other Mrs Willis =whom I first
Knew and Shall always remember
as Sarah L. Hallowell .
My Sister Louisa has been Since April 3^d
almost inconsolable for the loss of her Little
Girl Gertrude Louise aged 5 Years .
a remarKably bright and interesting Child
She had taKen part at my 5^th of March Tableaux
and was preparing in a new Character at the
repetition April 2^d. but the Malignant Scarlet
Fever terminated her bodily existence-
   My first Exhibition Cost me 80 dollars. Reciepts [sic] 85.
   my Repetition Lost me 20   ”
Please distribute my Kind regard to all the
Circle . (oh How I would LiKe to see them).
     and believe me Ever Fraternally Yours
                                        William C. Nell.

Annotations

William Cooper Nell, an abolitionist and former slave, is writing from Boston to fellow activist, Amy Post. The Progressive Friends meeting refers to an organization dedicated to preserving human rights. Nell refers to the Post family home at 36 Sophia Street in Rochester. The New York annual meeting could refer to an abolitionist or equal rights meeting. Susan B. Anthony was a woman's rights leader. Charles Sumner served as Senator from Massachusetts during the Civil War, and as a leader of the Radical Republicans. Francis Jackson was an abolitionist from Boston, who was affiliated with the Boston Vigilance Committee. Mrs. Eddy was Jackson's daughter. The Latin phrase "in Propriae Personae" means in one's own character, or personally. "Viva Voce" translates to a lively voice.

Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist and former slave. William Wells Brown was an African American abolitionist, lecturer, novelist, playwright and historian. He was born a slave, and escaped to the North in 1834, where he wrote the first novel by an African American, titled- Clotel. Marie Weston Chapman was an abolitionist, who worked with the American Anti-Slavery Society. Harriet Jacobs was an abolitionist and former slave. She wrote the book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Louisa was her daughter. Cornelia Grinnell Willis and her husband helped Jacobs escape from slavery and employed her for a time. Sarah Willis was Post's sister.

Tags

Abolitionism; Family; Freed Slaves

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 22, 2024, https://rbscpexhibits.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/3650.

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