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

1867-06-23

Description

Handwritten letter from William Cooper Nell to Amy Kirby Post. Nell writes to Post about a recent Spiritualist meeting.

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

1650

Location

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

Transcription

(Page 1)

                             Boston June 23 . 1867.
Sunday Eve 9 . O ‘ClocK =
              all alone in my Bachelor
                                                Sanctum

My Kind Friend Amy
                                I have too
long deferred the pleasing duty
of penning a line in the attempt
to acKnowledge the reviving
influence imparted by my brief
Visit to 36 Sophia Street. -
     The presence of Yourself and
Isaac.     the trio of Post Boys_
and the pleasant hours
with William and Mary
Hallowell . Sarah and
Edmund P. Willis constitute
a Chapter from which much
Solace will be derived
to cheer my otherwise
lonely Seasons. I need
not Say how I regretted
the Circumstances which
allowed me so Short a time
for Rochester Associations.

(Page 2)

But I must not forget to
be grateful for the rich
treat it afforded me
brief as it was .
                             I found
FranK and her Six Children
well and apparently
comfortable. I left there
Friday Evening and reached
Worcester Saturday afternoon
Spending Sunday with
   Mrs Putnam who and
Mrs Gilliard ^who^ are pleasantly
Situated-
                  Louisa was
delighted to hear from
You . She is now in daily
expectation of leaving
for the Profile House NH
and is either looKing
for ^a letter^ or getting ready to
write You herself.

(Page 3)

I. found but little opportunity
to attend the New England
Convention or the
Spiritualists Meeting =and
Knew nothing of the
Colored Medium Mrs Wilson
it may be Some one [sic] of my
acquaintance = Andrew T.
Foss presided = but of all
this and of the other
Convention You will learn
from the Standard and
   Banner -
                    a few evenings
Since Wendell Phillips
delivered the lecture
before the John Brown
Division ( of which W.W. Brown
is President-) that He was
to have delivered the
Evening Mr Hallowell
and myself called at
his house 26 Essex Street

[Text aligned vertically along right margin of Page 3]

on the 19^th went to

[Text aligned upside down along bottom margin of Page 3 and continues on Page 2]

the Fraternity Picnic at Walden

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

woods , Concord . =a beautiful Spot

[Text aligned vertically along left margin of Page 2]

and a delightful time . Ralph Waldo Emerson . A Bronson

[Text continues along top margin of Page 2]

Alcott F . B. Sanborn and other

[Text aligned horizontally across top margin of Page 3]

choice Spirits.

(Page 4)

I had the pleasure of
accompanying him Home
across the Common after
the lecture -
                      I met Sallie Holley
and Miss Putnam at the
Convention .-
       Mr Wetherell formerly
of Rochester and myself
have been for Years in the
habit of meeting and
recently at the Post office
and only a few days Since
did he learn that it was
in Rochester we often passed
each other on the Streets
He speaKs well of the People
there.
                      A Letter has reached
here from Indiana for
Frederic [sic] Douglass which I
will forward to Rochester -
Please distribute my Kindest
regards to the Rochester Circle
      I remain Ever Fraternally Yours Wm C. Nell

Annotations

William Cooper Nell, an abolitionist and former slave, is writing from Boston to fellow activist, Amy Post. Nell refers to the Post family home at 36 Sophia Street in Rochester. Jacob, Joseph and Willie were Post's sons. William and Mary Hallowell were Post's son-in-law and step-daughter. Sarah was Post's sister, and Edmund P. Willis was her husband. Frances was one of Nell's sisters. Mrs. Putnam and Mrs. Gilliard were both abolitionists. Louisa was one of Nell's sisters. Nell refers to the Spiritualist movement. Spiritualists believed that through mediums they could communicate with the dead. Andrew T. Foss was a lecturer for the Massachusetts Anti- Slavery Society. The Standard and Banner could refer to two newspapers. Wendell Phillips was an abolitionist, Native American advocate and lawyer. John Brown planned and led the attack on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in 1859. William Wells Brown was an 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, title- Clotel. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a writer and Transcendentalist. A. Bronson Alcott was a social reformer and a Transcendentalist. Franklin Benjamin Sanborn was also a Transcendentalist, and he helped to fund John Brown's raid. Sallie Holley traveled as an anti-slavery lecturer with Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone and Sarah Remond. Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist and former slave.

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/3938.

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