William Audley Couper papers

Ormstead - her husband is a minister - The students are all returning & the Town looks gay again. Several are in this house - but they are all very orderly & respectful. John King tells me there was a light frost last Night in Springfield - I hope this cool weather has extended to the South & will put a stop to those vile caterpillars - Mr Preston gave his wife a dismal account of that storm. The planters in the neighborhood of Augusta must have suffered greatly. How have the rice Planters on the Altamah are in our part of the Country come off? I cannot but be uneasy at not having a letter from you today. Oh! my Tootee how anx-ious I am about you & William & those dear Children. God grant my fears may be groundless. I have certainly been blessed thus far - your dear Sisters and brothers are all perfectly well - when so many have died since we came to this place. Death has been very busy among the poor Irish - On Sunday 3 funerals past [sic] this house at one time. They like their friends to die as near Sunday as possible, they like a showey [sic] funeral - & will hire every public conveyance in Town & fill them as full as they can hold they manage this by each one putting in or paying 25 cts for the use of a carriage They enjoy their rides exceedingly - dress in their best & go along laughing & talking A number of children have died this summer, but it is more healthy now.

The time is drawing near for me to leave New Haven - It is not likely I shall ever return here & that will make me feel sad when we go. We certainly have met with a great deal of kindness - & attention. I do not think we shall remain at the North longer than the 15^th October. I would return sooner but on account of your brothers & sisters. It is getting late dear Tootee & I must conclude - I trust tomorrow will bring me a letter from you, & relieve me of the anxiety I now feel about you. G., F. & Appy send you much love, the same to William & a thousand kisses to the babies. To William say all that is affectionate for me Kiss my own darling Anna Willie Bob & King as often as you can find time to do so. Our love to Mrs Gale if she is with you - & remembrance to M^r Dunham. Remember me to all the servants. Rhina begs to be remembered - she will write to Maria very soon Good night my precious child - God! bless & protect you all - May a happy return be in store for your devoted Mother

AM King

[written in pencil] [end: 14 Sept 1852] [centered]

a.m. 10 o clock 15^th September [upper right corner]

Had Lord come up to me before going to the Office I would not have had the pleasure of adding this P.S. [Postscript] to my letter - And as my letter was too late for the 8 o clock mail & cannot now go before the 8 o clock mail this evening I am glad he did not take my letter down. Thank God, you are still able to say you were all as usual Oh! my Tootee what a blessing is health to those we love. What is all the riches of this world if those for whose sakes we value it, are taken from us! Truly God! has thus far been merciful to us! In your letter to Georgia you say you had a bad headache. God! grant it was not a forerunner of fever - I am satisfied that dear William will do all in his power to guard you & the little ones from danger. I hope he will also take care of himself. I very much fear poor Dunham will have to leave my service - It will be difficult for me to re=place him. Surely that explosion can never be forgotten by us. I truly sympa -thize with Mary Gould - the little feeling she does possess must now be touched Her Father was ever an indulgent parent to her. I wonder if she will contin-ue to reside on the Island? Surely 1852 has been an eventual [eventful] year. God! grant that we have past [sic] the worst of our trials. If so how light in compar-ison with those of Stephen Kings [sic] family & many hundreds of others.

I am grateful that we shall not have to purchase corn. Pray entreat of William to advise M^r Dunham to be on the look out against robbery & to see to the proper harvesting of it, & insist on the house being kept dark he made a great mistake in keeping the door & windows open last year. It would be sinful for me to complain about the short collard crop, when I have been so much blessed - so much more so than I deserve Alas! what do I not deserve for my ingratitude to God! I must say that it does distress me to be spending so much money -------------

I hope my missing letter was received by the next mail-fall well do I know the pain of suspense. My greatest difficulty now is that old annoyance - D^r Curtis' pills make me always so sick I could not take them regularly. Lordy brought me a bottle of Congress water

[written sideways, from top to bottom of right side of page]

shall have a great deal of trouble in selecting the piece necessary for the parlour Beg William to get the oil cloth for the stairs & the little entry upstairs - I will have to think about the 38 yds for Georgia's room - Money may be too scarce for me to get it at the North - & the difficulty of getting it home is a consideration - In two weeks from this time I will write you what to do about it. In my late letter I begged you would attend to my negro [sic] clothing - I expect to have a great deal to do on my first arrival at home - & will be glad to have the negro [sic] clothing out of the way. I fear you will find it difficult to read this letter but do try & read every [word] to end of it - God! bless you my own darling Child

Your Mother AM King

last night - I divided it this morning between Rhina & myself - I will try it for a few days. Now you must not let W. read this I know he would laugh that I should be writing such things - Tell my own Bob that it does seem like 10 years since I last heard her sweet voice. My own little man Willie - how I wish I had not only him but all of you dear ones here. As I have not encountered Mumps - Scarlett fever Measles or whooping cough I now regret your not giving Anna to me There is a grand parade on the green just opposite our windows today it has collected perfect crowds of men & boys - women & girls of all colours. Rhina is delighted - sits at the window enjoying the sight I fear she will do but little work today. Flora got a letter this morning from Rosalie Floyd which she has already answered. Georgia begs to say she thanks you for your sweet note & will write very soon. Appy is taking her music lesson. She has finished her second Ottoman. I will have to wait until I get to Savannah before they can be made up. As the other one was left at Allentown I will be obliged to go there for a few days - as I left a number of my things there. I must now stop dearest Tootee - as it is time I should begin my letters to California. Tell my good Old Jane I hope she will take good care of her health & not forget how to roast a Turkey, & pigs too if there should be any - Flora says she likes the ear of a pig when crisp. I am really confused by the racket this morning - no one coming here this morning would call this a quiet place. Add some dozen of kisses to those sent last night to those sweet babes. Say all that is affectionate to dear Wil -iam for us - And for yourself no words could express the love of your sisters & brothers & Your devoted Mother

AM King

Malley has just brought in your dear letter of the 10^th reached Dear baby how sorry I am for the news you give me. But do not give way to low spirits - We must pray for Gods [sic]! mercy - It is all we can do. I had letters from M & Henry King - very kindly inviting me back to Allentown - I have not yet decided what to do - I certain-ly cannot remain here much longer. I think with you that the oil cloth for the stairs will be better than carpetting [sic]. I fear I

18^th September 1852 [upper right corner]

My dearly beloved child

I must begin my letter tonight - it must be put into the Office tomorrow night so that you shall not be disappointed next Sunday. My own dear Tootee too well do I remember the feeling of sick-ening disappointment when the Mail bag is opened & no letter from those we love meets the eye. I have been writing a great many letters the past week so that all that I have seen or heard seems stale. I rejoice to say my dear little Tip has recovered & [is] able to return to school today, he came to see me this afternoon & would have been glad to remain the night - he does love to be with his Mother. In one of my former letters I mentioned my intention to let Georgia & Flora go to New York for a few days. Lord concluded it would be just as well to go this evening as to wait until Monday, 4 o clock was fixed on - & after all the hurry of preparation - two dresses which were indispensible [sic] could not be had so they had to put it off until 1/2 past eight tonight. I got the girls all ready packed - but Lord went off to make calls - trunk unpacked when the clock struck eight. Then he put me in a perfect fever by his deliberate movements - Flora did not wish to go, but Andrew & Louisa were particularly anxious that she should ac-company Georgia & Lord declared he would not go without her So she got ready - Just when all was ready some gentlemen called & there I sat on pins for fear they would be too late at the Depot well to make a short story of it - they did get out in time. I do miss them so much - only poor Appy & myself left. I ought to have began [sic] with a day or two back. Upon the whole dear Tootee we really have been spending our time very pleasantly in New Haven. We cannot have all we want. If your Father Butler William yourself & the dear babies were with me perhaps there would yet be something more to form an if to perfect happiness. The anxiety on account of you dear ones & the want of money have been the only drawback I am very ungrateful dear Tootee not to appreciate my blessings more highly than I do - May God forgive me ------------------

I think it was on Wednesday the 15^th that I sent my last letter off to you On Thursday evening Georgia & myself first went to see Mrs Gordon to inquire after little George Gordon who was quite sick - after which we went to Maple Cottage - the evening was very delightful I do not know which was most pleasant the walk - the pleasant visit - or the beautiful garden, the late rains have set all the flowers blooming. G. made an arrangement to call with L.D. Flora & Lord on young Mrs Eli Whitney who lives some miles out of Town at Whitneyvilla / the husband is a Cousin of Lillies [sic] - Flora had headache - so the others had to go without her. They had a delightful drive & made several other calls - to my great delight / returning of calls is a terrible bore to me. After they went Mr & Mrs & Miss Reed called. This young lady has just returned from Europe. Lord thinks her one of the very best of young ladies - superior even to L. in some respects. I wonder he did not fall in love with her She had your sisters to take tea with her last year, when they were here. Mrs Reed is a very fine looking woman. Mr Reed paid Lord some fine compliments which of course pleased me very much. Yesterday morning we went again to see little George & sat some time with Mrs Gordon, the child was better. We there saw the young lady to whom George Cuyler is engaged - I thought her handsome I think she will not find much happiness with G.C. Last evening Miss Kerr & her daughter & son returned from Boston - We were all so glad to meet - Flora will tell you that Mrs Kerr & myself when together may be taken for two school girls - we laugh & are so merry together. I do like Mrs Kerr & her son because they are great admirers of your dear Father. We past [sic] a very pleasant even-ing together - Mrs Kerr & her daughter, Miss Lines & her three daughters - Mrs Ormstead (a very pleasant lady) - Mrs King & her three daughters Not a single gentleman except little Tip. You would be pleased to see how much Tip is admired - I am surprised at the attention he attracts - both from ladies & gentlemen, he takes it all very quietly. This evening Malley took tea with us. Mrs Daggett & Miss Lines seemed really glad to see him in his old seat by my side. There is an old lady here of 65 - who was the a great beauty in her day

She is Sister to Mrs Commodore Hull, her name is Jarvis - She married a minister of great wealth - her extravagances would have ruin'd him. After having 3 children they parted - & eventually were divorced. She has still the remains of beauty - but dresses most ridiculously for a woman of her age - Wears her own hair curled - & it is really beautiful hair - it must be dyed - has a full set of false teeth She has lived a great many years in France Spain Portugal Italy &c has quite a foreign accent - did I tell you of her in my last? I think I did. Well now that I have become accustomed to her I like her better - she is very pleasant & lady like - One reason that I like her better is that she likes Georgia's singing & takes a great deal of notice of all of my children - how easy it is to win a Mothers [sic] heart ---- (All the time I am writing this I am thinking of my dear Lordy & those dear girls. I hope they are near N.Y. by this time, poor children, I wish I had not let them go.) We shall all feel sorry to leave New Haven - & espe-cially to leave dear Mrs Daggett & Miss Lines - The former especially seems really to love the girls - & is never tired of hearing Georgia sing I It is now 11 - I hope our dear ones have reached N.Y. They went in the Express train. Good night my Tootee - I will finish this letter tomorrow evening. But I must yet write a few lines more I am really uneasy about my dear Amanda - it seems when she reached Allentown she was so imprudent as to wash her head this gave her a terrible cold - which she cannot get rid of - Had M^r Woolley written to me how sick she was I would certainly have gone to her - but he purposely kept it from me - as he did not wish to make me unhappy. I had a letter from him yesterday they intend going to Philadelphia on the 21[st] & from there by land home. I have written them no less than 3 letters this week trying to persuade them not to venture the land route or to return before you shall say it will be safe for us to do so. But I fear it will not deter them - He informs me of what I suppose you have heard of the distressing condition of Stephen King & his family - their being still shut up in that fort - sickness within & Indians without - he had offered $17.000 for an escort to

guard them to a place of safety - but could not obtain it - Oh! my children if such be their condition how much more are they to be pitied than those two who lay buried - Truly do I feel for them. May God! be merciful to them. Sunday evening 19^th September Appy & myself were among the last to go down to breakfast this morning - Lord has been trying to persuade me to drink Congress water - it does me no good - all the effect it has had was to throw me into a chill & deprive me of appetite for my breakfast - You have often enquired after Mrs Hall. I wrote to you that she had spent a part of a day here with us - Since then until this morning we have not heard a word of her or from her. Soon after breakfast one of the young gentlemen of this house brought me a letter which he had found at the New Haven Hotel. It was from dear Mrs Hall, written in her own affectionate style. She supposed of course we had gone to Newport - but had just heard that we were now in New Haven. Poor thing she has been quite ill for some time & is now barely able to ride out for exer-cise. I will answer her letter tomorrow. I must say I had began to fear she had taken miff at something, tho' I could not imagine at what -- This day you will perceive is the 19^th September - we shall leave this really pleasant place on the 4^th October on our way to Allentown. I would leave on the 1^st but that I am unwilling to lose by a single day my next letters from California. I am busy trying to get some warm clothing for your sisters & brothers - we all begin to feel the want of them - there was a frost at Springfield last week & we have fire now in the parlour & I would be glad of some in my bed room. I do earnestly pray there may soon be frost on our Island - to put a stop to these fevers & to admit of our returning home. If it were not for you & the expense I would be content to remain here until November. But the desire to be with you dear ones & the awful expense I am incurring - puts quiet or happiness out of the question. I cannot decide yet whether I will be able to get the carpet for the girls' room. I hope to be able to do so before I leave for home, & that your next letter may inform me of the reception of the two I have already sent - I am now sorry I did not send for your room 38 instead of 30 yds - I know 30 would be enough to cover our parlour as it formerly stood - & was of the opinion your bedroom was no larger that that was - I hope I was not mistaken --- I wrote to Euphemia Cunningham last week, & asked her to engage

[upper right corner] New Haven 22^nd September 1852

My own dear Tootee

Your most welcome letter of the 17^th has just been read. I ought to have got it last night, but there was no one to go to the Office for me. I dislike going out at all - but I did muster courage to go down Chapel street this morning. I wanted to enquire for letters I wanted paper - I do not now regret going - your dear letter is an ample reward. Praise be to God! you are still able to say you are well! When such joyful news greets me - how dare I murmur at the gloomy account of crops. Oh my Tootee I cannot but regret my having come from home - But it is too late now. So we will say no more about it - at least not now ----

Oh my Tootee it is not for us from short-sighted mortals to judge what is best for us. God! knows best, & if He witholds the riches of this world He permits us yet to enjoy that which no money can purchase - the possession of a numerous & a loving family! What would tempt you or I to part with - husband or a child: surely not the riches of the whole world! If we are scrimpt we yet will be able to live & should be content --- I have a great deal to be grateful for - My dear little Tip has quite recovered & the rest of us are all well - even Rhina is getting fat. But dearest I must begin in my old style or you will not understand what we have been after since my letter of Satur-day last. I ought to have written to you yesterday - but if this can get into the Mail Steamer it will reach you on Wedneseday next.

Well let us begin - L. G. & Flo got off in the 9 o clock train as I told you. On Sunday Appy & Tip intent went to Trinity Church - Floyd & myself went to S^t Thomas' - I go to this Church every Sunday & I like M^r Beardley very much. On Monday evening I had a great many calls - Mrs Esty & L. D among them. On Tuesday I believe I staid [sic] in door all day. Yesterday I paid a call which had been due many weeks. Mrs Isaac's neice [sic] Charlotte - I have no respect for her - but did not like to make an enemy of her. Mrs Horace Smith went with me - we listened to some wonderful stories

[written sideways, in left margin] be glad ---

which we did not believe - This morning walk put me quite in the notion of taking another walk after dinner - Malley had made me promise to go with him to Maple Cottage - I believe we neither of us liked it - as we have no love for visiting. I had got my sun shade broken & was hanging on to that circumstance -(it being impossible to go out you know without one) Malley found out that I really had as much as $2 in my purse - so he ran off with it & purchased a shade gave 1.75 for it - & as he had been so smart - I gave him the 25 cts for his trouble. Virginia laughs at the shade most unmercifully - but as she has lost hers - she will be glad to borrow it the first time she goes out. I love Mall to walk with me, he will do just as I please

We found others just about to ring at the door - well none of us were admitted as there was no one at home. I was determined not to have my walk for nothing so I stopt [sic] to see dear Mrs Baldwin - I found that her daughter Elizabeth had returned home. She certainly is a very agreeable young lady. I spent an hour there very pleasantly She walked with me to Miss Lines' - I had expected the girls & Lord home. Just before tea Mrs Devereux called - herself & L. had been making a visit in the country. The young people did not return last evening - Andrew had written to beg I would let them stay at least one week with them. In reply I left it to the girls to do as they liked - hoping all the while they would conclude it best to re-turn. I have missed them very much & I believe they are missed by all the boarders. There are some half dozen students just come to board here - they are either very sleep diffident - or very stupid & has thrown a kind of damper [sic] on all of us. Now G. & Lord are the life of the table. He talks to the students & they talk to Georgia -

This afternoon I accompanied M^r & Mrs Amstead to visit the library & the Mineral gallery. In the former I saw the Daguer-reotype of Hamilton among those who graduated in 1849 - a very good one it is. From thence we went to the Cemetary [sic] where we spent an hour. I forgot to say Mrs Baldwin sent her little son to invite us to tea this evening - but Appy would not go

in fact I was not very willing - (I do so hate to go out) - so I declined She called this evening when I was out. After tea I came upstairs to finish this letter - found that Tip had brought me one from M^r Woolley & one from Mary King. M^r W. & dear Amanda were in Philadelphia - her health I rejoice to say is much better. They were boarding at a private boarding house at the same price we pay here. He did not say when he would positively leave P. for home. Mary King very kindly urges me to go to Allentown - which I will do as soon as I get my next California letters & can get some money from Messrs Andersons [sic] - The want of money is a grievance & throws everything back. I think I shall return home more bear [sic] of clothing than I left it. I feel perfectly incapable of getting anything for myself. How you got so much done the short time you staid [sic] in Savannah I cannot understand - I wish I had dear Sarah Bourke here to help me out of my difficulties - these Yankees are such cheats - In fact I have found goods better & cheaper in Savannah than any I have attempted to purchase here. I mentioned that I had got a very kind letter from Mrs Hall. I answered it & the next day M^r Hall wrote me a very kind letter - begging me to let Floyd & Tip make them a visit. I am thinking I will do so. Lord & Flora has [sic] returned from N.Y. dear Flora could not be persuaded to remain there longer - tho' Andrew & Louisa did all in their power to induce her to remain. So much was said on the subject Georgia consented to remain a few days longer - Lord is to go back for her on Monday. I dare say dear Tootee if I was as able to remain in N.Y. as they are, I would do so too. Andrew really has business there & I could not expect Louisa to leave her hus-band to stay with me. Florence was very much pleased with her visit - She stuck close to Louisa - but she preferred being with me. Mrs Daggett & Miss Lines seem almost as glad to see her as I am. I am both glad & sorry that Geo has remained. I am glad because she may enjoy more pleasure & I really wish Andrew & L - to know her more intimately - for these reasons I would have liked Flora to have remained also - & I am sorry because I do miss her so much & there are a number of calls to be made before we leave here