Blackwell Family Kitty Barry Sanford, Amanda28 South St. Auburn, N.Y. Sunday, Jan. 22. 82 My dear Miss Barry, Here you are settled again at pleasant Rock House, all the toilsome journey over, and I have not had a wink of you. I was only reconciled when you wrote me of your sore chest. It would have been too bad if any accident had come of your journey. But I should have been so glad to see you. I had so much to talk of with you, some things very sad. My dear friend Miss Murdockof whom I wrote you died on Tuesday Nov. 15th at my house of paralysis. Her ill- ness began the last of June in France while she was working on her last great picture "May in an old Land" She first lost partially the use of her right foot then of her hand and before she reached home Sept 1st her speech was slightly affected. There was no stay whatever in the terrible disease but a steady progress until Death came. It was too sad. She had just arrived at the maturity of her power, and was ready to do the best work in Art an American has ever done. She was nearly fifty one years old and had doubtless overtaxed her powers. Drs. Dimon and Gorton of Auburn especialists in diseases of the brain who saw her with me believed her disease to be thrombus of one of the large arteries of the brain, probably in her case due to constant over-distention of the vessels. She left but little finished work, only five pictures, but they are wonderful. Your dear photograph came all right, and is excellent. I shall keepit among my treasures. My work goes on as usual. My annual three months at the Hospital closed Jan. 1st and now I have only my private practice. I was so fatigued by Miss Murdock's sickness and death that I could not take any patients in my house or at least did not, and shall not have any one until spring, when a gentleman wishes to send his insane wife to me, but I shall wait before deciding. We are having a little of our intensely cold American weather, after an exceptionally mild winter the thermometer suddenly ran down in 48 hours from 40º above zero to 20º below, reaching the latter point at 6 this morning. Think of it. We have a furnace and four open fires and so keep comfortable indoors, and out of doors I wrap myself in fur and wool. I have nothad a cold of any gravity since I came from England, and am stout and well so that weather is not of much consequence to me. Dr. Blackwell's paper read at Buffalo attracted much attention and must do good. May I trouble you again to tell me the nature of her publishing house in America. I have lost the address you gave me Please give my best love to the Dr. As I sit now I can see the pretty view from your library window. It is a pleasant change from our ice-bound outlook. With love always Amanda Sanford 28 South St. Auburn.[*Amanda Sanford*] 28 South St. Auburn N.Y. Oct. 15: 81 My dear Miss Barry, Where where are you? I have been hoping every week to receive a card telling me you were coming, and now October is flying away and you are not here. I cannot bear to have you go back to England without coming to my home. Do come for a good rest My dear friend MissMurdock, of whom I think I wrote you last summer is with me now. She was nearly 5 years at [Econcu?] France painting, and is a wonderful artist. She is much enfeebled from overwork and needs medical care, but is such a dear true woman. I hope you may meet her. She has two paintings on exhibition at the Mechanics Fair in Boston. one "La Barriere," the other "May in an old Land." I hope you may see them. I think I cannot wait to see you. I have been very busy and much worn, no rest since my return from Europe, but am feeling much better with the cooler weather. Will you kindly write when you tell me you are coming the name of Dr. Blackwell's publishers in New York. With love always, Amanda Sanford Amanda Sanford Sandford Amanda Sanford 28 South Street, Auburn, N.Y. Sept. 19, 1880 My Dear Miss Barry, I have been wondering today where you are, and whether you really left pretty Rock-House the first of September. Then I wondered if my letter would reach you directed there, and finally decided since I wanted to hear from you so I called at the Infirmary in New York and had intended to call on Dr. Emily Blackwell but she was not in town.much to trust the chance of sending one at least. You will wish to know of our journey and our fare, and I am most happy to tell you that we were prospered. We started as expected on the the good ship Scythia with all our bags [?] Aug.7th and arrived in New York Aug. 18th. We had one gale and much head wind that delayed us a little, and we were as usual somewhat sick, but on the whole did well. How charming it is that the pleasant things stay with us and the disagreeable ones disappear. We came to my house the day after we landed, and you can imagine my pleasure at finding everything arranged as exactly as possible as I left it, my mother well and happy, and some of my dearest friends here to greet me. Dr. [Mosher?] received a call nearly as soon as we arrived to the position of Superintendent of the South Framingham Prison and after a little deliberation decided to accept. It seemed imperative that some one should take up the work who understood its bearings and as the former Superintendent did not get on well with the Commissioners, it seemed quite likely that unless Dr [Mosher?] took the place a man would be appointed. She finally decided to accept it at least for a time, even at the cost of sacrificing her medical work, feeling that she might perhaps do as much for women in that way as any. You will be glad to know that I am not idle. Work has come to one quite as fast as I wished it. I have averaged seeing over seventy different patients a week, which has quite proved to one that one can take a vacation if one wishes. Since I went away our little Hospital has been completed. It is beautifully situated with three acres of ground on a little eminence, is light, airy, well ventilated and well drained. I have been appointed attending physician three months in the year, any term of service beginning the first of next month. How I wish you could see our pretty Auburn during these Autumn months. It is beginning to look its very loveliest with its maples and woodbines Come and see! Do you know that when Madam [Bodcitron?] sent the picture to Dr [Mosher?] she sent two little paintings of her own. One a view of Hastings Beach, so real, and another a pretty wood view of beeches. Dr [Mosher?] insisted upon my having one, and we tossed up a penny to decided which it should be The beeches came to me, but a friend is copying the sea-view for me. Shall I not be rich? Please give my best love to Dr Blackwell. I shall never forget her kindness and hope some time I shall be able to return it. You will write me Lovingly your friend Amanda SanfordWhat a good time we did have at Hastings! What charming pictures I appropriated sitting in the covered seats and I shall not lose them. No place in Europe is dearer. I have loaned Dr. Blackwell's book where I think it will be appreciated, & shall order more copies. Amanda Sanford"Pension Suter," Lucerne, Switzerland June 9th 1880 My Dear Miss Barry, If we had written you and Dear Dr. Blackwell as often as we have summoned our intention to do so, we should almost have given you a diary, for I think certainly no week had passed that we have not thought and talked of you and our pleasant Christmas stay and wondered what your plans were, and hoped we might meet you on our summer tour. It is difficult to believe that four months have gone since we heard from you, difficult because we have been so busy and time flies under such circumstances. We were fortunate in Paris in securing board with Madame Raynal niece of Mr. Pinet, Secretary of the Faculty of the Medical School, and thro' her found the Hospitals and lectures we desired without trouble, but it all 1.involved for us who had only a reading knowledge of French a great amount of labor and study, but we gave ourselves little rest or recreation until the lectures were easy for us. My weekly letter home was for some time all I could do in the way of letter writing, and even these were hardly full enough to be at all satisfactory to my dear people. We are thro' with it all however, and feel that our work has been very profitable to us. The opportunity for study in Paris is certainly superb. And now we are having our lovely vacation. We came from Paris to [Bale?] then to Zurich, where we stayed three days visiting a friend at the medical school and enjoying the scenery, and last night came here. We chose this Pension because Dr Blackwell and yourself had been here and every moment we rejoice in our choice. I need not tell you who know it all, how beautiful everything is here. We have had some rain since we started from Paris, but not as much as the people there have had, not enough at any time to interfere with our excursions or enjoyment, and our view of the grand Alps is scarcely obscured at all. How I wish you could have seen the sunset here last night, it was glorious. Miss Suter is very kind, and the "pensioners" about sixteen seem very intelligent and pleasant people. We plan to stay here until some time next week, then go to Milan over St [Gollhard?] if it is practicable, then to Venice for a few days then back to [Innsbruck?] and Munich and down the Rhine, to London and home. How I wish we might meet you somewhere on the way. We are both well and strong. I hardly think you would know me for the tired woman you saw last winter. Dr Mosher unites with us in best love to Dr Blackwell and yourself. Can you not send me a word soon of your plans? If you write before Mondaydirect to "Pension Suter" after that to my bank in London, Alliance Bank, Bartholomew Lane, London Most affectionately yours Amanda Sanford 80 )70( 3. 2.15 Amanda Sanford (Dr. Mosher's partne)4 South Crescent, Bedford Sq. London N.C. Jan.27.80 My dear Miss Barry, For many days of late when anything particularly pleasant occurred to us we have said "Now we must write to Miss Barry" but we seemed to need the stimulant of your delightful letter last evening to start us off. I wish you could see us and see how much Hastings did for us. Dr Mosher has gained five pounds in weight since we left Canterbury and I ten. We have had many delightful things hap-pen to us in London too since, all the more delightful because we were well enough to enjoy them. We attended a very pleasant party at Mrs. Andersen's, and were invited to dine at Dr. [Morell?] Mackenzie's and also to attend a musicale at his house. Wasn't this a favor? We called on Dr. Allingham presenting our papers as Dr Blackwell suggested and were invited to attend his operations at St. Marks Hospital as long as we remain in London. We went for the first time on Monday and saw him operate for the internal hemorrhoids and for fistula. We are invited to see Dr. [Gordlaw?] operate in the same Hospital next week. We spent last Sunday at Prof. Bennett's and had a charming restful day. We met there Dr. Luke who spoke as respectfully of Dr Blackwell that he quite charmed us. He said he was in the class with her at St. Bartholomew's. We are going to try for two or three more Hospitals and then off for Paris on the seventeenth. I wrote Dr Dolley about coming to the Genoa meeting but have not had time to hear from her. Our summer plans are yet indefinite. How I wish we might be in Switzerland with you! We shall go to Dr Hoffman's next Monday hoping to see Dr Blackwell. Dr Mosher is going to write you so I will only send my own grateful love and good wishes to you both Amanda Sanford Sanford 10 Rue [Aime?] Paris, France My dear Miss Barry, I cannot wait any longer to know something of you and your doings. September seems a long time to wait, but if you only will come I will try to be patient. The petition for the Congress came and I signed it. But I fear all will have little weight with the powers in London who have the matter in hand. It is going to be a wonderful meeting tho: how I should like to be there. I am well and very busy but I shall keep a corner of my heart very free from care and [?] for you. I hope dear Dr Blackwell is well. Please send my love. I want the new book. With much love Amanda Sanford