BLACKWELL FAMILY Emily Blackwell Kitty Barry B.[12] West Tisbury. Sep 4th 1866 Dear Kitty If this letter reach you before you leave Ware, I think you had better not come to the Vineyard. Mrs. Lucy is going to Gardner to her sister on account of Emma's illness, Mr. Sam who is here will probably take Florence home with him and Alice will very likely go with her mother, and as I am going home at the end of the week, and things will be rather in disorder here I think you would find it dull, and had better return to N.Y. and join me at Second Avenue. If you stay till next Monday Sep 10th I should think that we probably be as long a visit as wd be desirable, but you may fix the day of yr return yourself, only don't make it much later, as it is well to leave before there can be any feeling of yr overstaying yr invitation. I shall probably53 East 20th St July 21, 1874 Dear Kitty I was glad to receive yr letter this morning. I will give it & Drs as requested to Mr G when he comes in to dinner. He will probably go to Boston in a few days but has not named the day. I am sleeping at Rockaway every night now, and we have not had a hot night or evening or morning down there yet- and very Leave Monday and reach home Tuesday or Wednesday, but don't be astonished at day or two's delay for we are having foggy disagreeable weather, and shall not come in a storm, but shall wait for calm settled days as the journey is very disagreeable in rough weather. No news from Europe. Mrs B is gaining gradually. As I shall see you so soon I shall not write you particulars, but will tell you all the gossip when I see you at home. Remember me kindly to Maria, and tell her I am very glad that you have had so pleasant a time together. Your friend Dr Emily.few mosquitoes, so I find it very beneficial The scraps are all well - I am teaching Nannie her letters on a colored penny alphabet card - she is making progress, and is quite proud of her new occupation. Mrs. Hewlett & Mrs Russell from Rock Hall called yesterday - they have ten children under eleven at Rock Hall they say that have great time playing in the barn and they invited Nannie & Neenie to come and play too - I think I shall let them go for the Rock Hall children are said to be very well trained. Mr. Williams is in town again and will be glad to occupy yr room - so I shall be provided for the summer. I was glad to hear yr report of the girls - I shd like to see some opening forthem the next two or three years. If Mr G's houses do well perhaps it cd be brot about. I suppose you stay this [month] week at Somerville - do you incline to Rockaway then or Boston? The best time to go to Boston is Sat night if you go by boat because the Sunday train stops at Harrison Sq. If you go by train it dont matter - write us beforehand when you are coming in Love to the children Do you think Floy wd enjoy Rockaway if you were not there ? Yrs affty Dr Emily 53 East 20 th July 31 1874 Dear Kitty- I am sorry about Kedder's bill, but not much surprised as I knew his terms were not low. I don't know what we can do. We might call on him and tell him yr means were not large and that you had not known what a bill you were running up, and he might make it smaller. If you feel as though you cd do this it wd be the best chance. It wd be no use for me because he cd say I knewhis terms. If you don't feel that you can do this then I don't see anything to do but pay the bill and hope you'll never [?] another. Mr George is now sleeping at Rockaway and will until he goes to Boston. I don't come in every day -- I shall be in Monday probably not Tuesday-- and not Saterday or [?] of this week. Mr. Williams sleeps here & Nora is here. So you had better write us the day you go to Bostson or you might find no one here though you cd always get into the house. We have brought the house in Stuyvesant Sq for the Infirm[?] -- and move in Sep. It is very nice & coolat Rockaway -- blankets every night. I suppose you will be going down to Boston as this is the 31st. I shall go in a week or ten days, Love to all the Sommerville people Yrs afly Dr Emily New York Feb 21 - March 6 1875 Dear Kitty I recd yr budget a few days ago, and was very glad to get the last report, and all the little gossip. I should exceedingly like to come to Europe this summer - there are two or three years of travelling that I shd like to do before I am too old, and as these lectures draw to an end, the days lengthen and everything suggests the approach of the holiday [?] comparatively, I wish very much to come over and see all the people on the other side. Since Christmas we have had steady hard weather, thermometer down to zero several times, and only just above it for several weeks. It has been one of the severest [?] I have known - not damp or slushy or dirty weather for there has hardly been a thaw or let up, but fierce hard cold, and sometimes high biting winds. I had one of the worst colds, and the [?] bad cough I ever remember, and have only gradually got rid of it. I began to sympathise with Mr Harry & Mrs George in their wish to go to some climate without winter. The children took bad colds, and were ill - finally with an attack of diptheria, of which there has been a great deal this winter. I greatly [?] not having brought them in for they were quite ill, and I found it exceedingly hard to look after them, and it was in rushing in & out I got cold. They are well now and are coming in on Tuesday. I have arranged the [?]entor's room -- [?] and the hall room & adjoining for them. Making the room on my floor the spare room, so that they may not be over my office, but a little more out of the way. I have Maggie & Maria with me, and as they like the children, and get on with Miss Ellen, I hope we shall not have so much trouble. Miss Ellens house - The children have their breakfast at the table between the Kitchen windows - their dinner is our lunch in the middle of the day which they take in the dinning room with us, as Mr G is always away I am trying to teach them to behave at table, and they are far more amenable to reason & discipline than last year. They have their supper at five and our dinner is at six. They make a good deal of extra trouble & work, but nothing like what they did last winter. Next winter they can come to breakfast as well as lunch and then the worst trouble, the complication of meals, will be over. Fortunately the servants like the children, and I have raised their wages to sweaten the labor. I don't think they get much into Mr George's way, and they are so much more of little girls that I hope we may get through the three months without being overwhelmed. In the middle of May or first June they will probably go down to Rockaway. Florence took the scarlet fever in Newark - She had it so slightly that they did not recognise it, but they took her home, and Agnes & Ethel immediately took it and both have been sick. They have all had it lightly. as yet Edie has not shown it but I expect to hear of her taking it. I am keeping Gracie for the present partly on this account. Mr. S & Miss A are seriously thinking of sending Florence over. They wd like to send her in May with Dr Wattles who is coming to Europe for a year, but it is not yet decided. The money question is the obstacle, and Mr. G has made no intimation of any help, and I begin to fear he does not mean to do so. He is still occupied with his houses - this is the season for selling and letting and he is trying to get all the new houses disposed of as they are ready. I think he has done very well and feels satisfied and hopeful but his visiting Europe this year depends I suppose upon the results of his spring work. It has been quite a relief to my mind to find that he was in the habit of dyeing his hair when he returned from Europe - and that the sudden development of grey hair which made him seem to grow so much older last summer and which alarmed me for his health only meant that he has used up his hair dye. My anxiety has been relieved by this, but I almost regret his giving up the dyeing for it certainly makes all the difference between his appearing rather a young & rather an elderly man for his whiskers are getting white, and his hair is very grey. You will want to hear some account of Mr Abbott's death. He died about the 15th Feb - the excessively severweather had tried her severely-though she had every comfort-double windows an open fire, a special attendant and every thing the ladies cd do for her. For several days she was so weak we thought she might go any day, and her sister had been summoned thrice because they thought her in danger. Still she kept exceedingly bright & cheerful - I saw her about a day and a half before she died, and she talked with the greatest interest about everything though only in a whisper. I saw her on Monday and Sunday, on Tuesday afternoon Miss Collins saw her, and thought her a little stronger than the day before. on Tuesday afternoon Dr Cushier and Miss Cary one of the [?] students, and Dr A's sister were with her-she had one of the fits of exhaustion after coughing that she often had. Suddenly she beckoned her sister to come-said "it has come now" and was dead as the words passed her lips. Her brother was in port-and delayed his sailing till after the funeral, which took place at the Infirmary. Young Dr [Grey?] officiated-and the body was taken to her old house in Maine to be buried by her mother. Although it was sad for her to die at an age when she ought to have been still strong & active, yet if she had too she had all the circumstances that cd soften it-her sister was with her her brother was with her a great deal, she liked all the people round her-and had all the kindness and friendly attentions and comfort that cd be given her and I really think despite this weakness & failure she had a great deal of interest and even happiness in the months she spent in the Infirmary. It seemed as though there were a sort of justice in the fact that the Institution she worked so hard for at one time, should have been an asylum and haven of rest for her at last. When I saw her lying quiet and at rest in the coffin, it seemed as though another landmark of the old infirmary epoch was gone.I have told you that Dr Wattles is coming abroad to study for a year - Dr Cushier sails for the same purpose in April - they will both study in Germany - Dr Ayeh is already there at Leipsie - delighted with her opportunities. She will return next winter - Dr Wattles next summer - Dr Cushier the year after. When they have returned and settle in New York I shall feel that there is a group strong enough to take up the task of keeping things going. Dr Baldwin steps in as Assisting this year... There comes Miss Ellen home from church with Gracie Naunce & Keene - I hear them stamping the moss off on the steps, and the eager little voices - I wish you ed come in and pay them a visit, and see how cheerful the nursery looks with its open fire. With love to Doctor and Miss Marian. Yr friend Dr Emily has two people dickering for her Orange house, and will probably let it unfurnished. In that case she will move the furniture into the little stable. Norah went off just before Christmas - she went out to do a little shopping, and I heard nothing more of her for a week. She went on a spree. So I went out and brought in Maygie, and as they were not happy apart Maria followed a fortnight after. I wrote them all to come in, but Miss E was exceedingly reluctant, and got a girl out of Orange. Had they time in we shd have anticipated the children's sickness. The girl went off and left her, and for the last fortnight Miss E & Gracie have done without a girl, Mr McDonald looks after the cow, and his wife does the washing & ironing - they say they are not at all uncomfortable, and wd rather stay out on the whole It is quite odd what a fancy GracieWas taken to the little household. I can't quite make out why it is, but she is entered unwilling to go home, and she has grown fat & wry -- looks much better than when she came to us. Miss Ellen likes her very much, and would like to keep her all winter. March 6. Here I was interrupted and now a fortnight after I begin again. Miss Ellen has let her [orange?] home for $500 unfurnished. The people have bought the parlor furniture and parlor & hall carpets and [rotten?] blinds - part of the other furniture will go to Rockaway - part will be stored in the stable. The house will probably not be furnished again. Miss Ellen and the children are established in 2 old rooms, and the one below on my floor is the spare room, and is at present occupied by Gracie who came in with them. I find it a great improvement to have the children at the top of the house. Miss Ellen takes care of them, and I [loathe?]Dr Emily Pittsfield, Mass. Aug 9th 1886 Dear Kitty I always feel that a letter from the Vineyard is peculiarly acceptable and so I write you of our Vineyard visit, though Alice must keep you pretty fully posted as to our doings. This year I took Dr Cushier and Lucy Kerrison with me. The first to spend a week on her way to join her parents in the White Mts, the second to spend some weeks with us. Ellen opened the house early - June 4th and took Nannie Grace & Alice with her - Mrs Lane also joined her, so she had the house full. On July 16th our party reached Cottage City and were joined there by Alice - Dr Smith, who has been looking after Laurie, & Dr Culbertson who arrived at the same time. Dr Smith's father has a cottage at the Bluffs, and they came to visit him. Our party drove to the Cliff house in a carriage, arrivingabout four o'clock. We met N & N in a wagon - they had been with Ellen to Tisbury and were now lingering in the road hoping to meet us. The old house looked very fresh & Comfortable in gypsy fashion. Grace & Agnes before leaving had helped get every thing into nice order - we were all delighted with the old Vineyard - and had a very pleasant month. Drs Smith and Culbertson, and a bright young friend - another old Vassar girl, Came up and boarded for a week with Miss Jemina Smith - and these Came and stayed a couple of days with us. So we had quite a society, as G & E are in one a daily journal for the other's benefit. We set off in the old stage at five in the morning, reached Boston at one o'clock and went to the house of Drs S & C, who had a cordial welcome, and a magnificent lunch ready for us. Then we left at 3p.m. in the train, Harry meeting us for a few words of greeting, and reached Pittsfield at 8.20p.m. The last part of the journey was through very picturesque scenery, and in a pale moonlight we ran down quite a steep grade to Pittsfield, with its lights, lying in the plain below. Here we found an open wagon with 3 seats and a pair of Capital horses, which spun along over the five miles of road to the house. There we found our rooms ready & lighted - a good supper, and a welcome. The house belongs to a Mrs Stevens a widow, an old friend of Dr C's. It is is near Richmond -about equally distant from Lenox Stockbridge & Pittsfield. The household at present consists of Mrs Stevens a very nice kind N England woman - her sister-in-law Mrs Perry and her son Roland a boy of 17 - and our own party. Dr C. L. K. N. & myself Nannie and I have a large pleasant room downstairs - looking across the valley to distant ranges of Hills, while the steep slopes of Yokun - one of the higher hills lies behind the house. It is cool and pleasant, and we hope to have a nice time. Wish you cd see Nannie in her short Blue Mountain dress & broad hat & climbing pole. The child looks as pretty as a picture. But I must stop. My paper is full - I rcd letters from Dr E & Miss A first before leaving the Vineyard - and was glad to think of you all enjoying Swanage. Summer holidays are good things & it is a pity they slip away so fast. Love to all the party. Afftly EB side, and the girls were with Florence on the other. But Alice has doubtless written you accounts of our pic-nic at the old boat house on the beach, and our excursion to Gay Head, and other small dissipations. After that party left, Harry came for a few days, and is always a bright lively addition. The air, the ocean - the beach and the Downs are as glorious as ever. We did have some afternoons, when, sitting at the Point of Rocks, seeing the magnificent breakers, and the soft distances, and endless changing variety of light & shadow on the cliffs & headlands - the exquisite play of colors on the ocean - the golden mist spray stealing up the hollows of the Downs - the whole scene seemed perfectly aerial & fairy likea sort of glorified world - a perfect land of Beulah. We sincerely regretted when the time came for leaving despite the rough accommodations and sometimes scanty fare. We had planned that Dr C shd pent the first month with me, and then I shd go and spend three weeks with her in the Berkshire Hills, I decided to take Nannie for a change, and to give her a new experience. So I invited one of Cornelia's schoolfellows to spend a fortnight with her, and I had already promised that she go in Aug 19 to pay a visit to another schoolfellow, a most beloved crony - at Hampton Hales, so Nannie was to have the Berkshire visit as a set off. The two girls parted - each promising to keep a New York March 5th 1871 Dear Kitty I believe I am yr debtor for two letters, but this is just my very busiest time, and I find all letters that can be postponed are very apt to lie over. It is Sunday night, Miss Ellen, Mrs Lucy, & myself, are all sitting round the office table. the student lamp in the centre, and a little fire in the grate - Mr George & Miss Marian were in this afternoon so I suppose we shall not see them tonight. Mrs Lucy & Miss Ellen have been writing a budget to Sir Harry at St Domingo and I am finishing up with this note for you. Mrs Lucy has come down to let her Montclair house, which is vacant, she is spending a few days here for that purpose. She reports Montclair wonderfully grown, they are building the rail- road in the neighborhood of the telegraph road, and there is to be a station near Mr Harrison's. Property has risen greatly, they all tell her her place is worth $60,000 and she feels very cheerful in consequence. She seems to like their new Boston house very much though they have had agreat deal of trouble with repairs & furnishing &c. Alice is reported pretty well. She is not going to school, and Mrs Lucy says is devoting herself largely to raising eggs, and preparing for planting climbing plants, for which she has developed a passion. Emma Lawrence is there, and Charley Blair, the son of one of their old neighbors, who takes care of Billy and "does chores" for his board. I think Mrs. Lucy enjoys having young people about her. She is very desirous of having the house nicely in order before Harry returns. We have had a great deal of small gossip about the new carpets, the gardens and all the details. Mr Harry is writing enthusiastic letters from St Domingo to the papers for which he is correspondent. We are going to send some of them to Dr. His last was a grand array of figure & statistics before the great profits of raising bananas & other tropical fruit. We all said if people only knew that was Mr Harry's writing they wd'nt put too much faith in it; but the letters were quite amazing. Miss Ellen has let her house to a very good tenant therefore she is feeling a good deal more cheerful. She has not been very well this winter, but is better now. She has not been sick, but a little dyspeptic & out of sorts. I think however letting her house will have a very good effect on her. Mr George has just returned from a little western trip - trying to dispose of some of his western lands. I think it is very likely he will run across to Europe this spring. If he do he will bring all the news. In the Infirmary & College we are all very busy. Commencement will be on March 28th. I dont think we shall have any graduates but Miss Wattles & Miss Angek. They are working hard for their examinations. They have been very good pleasant girls in the house this winter. The affair is to come off in the Union League Hall. Mr Sands, Judge Daly & Rev Dr Hostinpore to be the speakers. Miss Wattles gives the Valedictory. There have been 30 students at the College this winter, and as all our old graduates have been working in it, it makes quite a group, and I think they have had pretty good times among themselves, and got up quite a little college interest. We have had some good new students this year, one is a Miss Authon, a niece of the Latin Authon - a very well educated woman, of good connexions, who will I hope be a good worker. The children are all growing up, and often ask me when you & Aunt Elizabeth are coming back, but I suppose London is beginning to look more natural to you than it did. Yr friend Dr EmilyI often wish for my little house, but do not see my way to it yet, but I like things as easily as I can. Every Saturday evening I go up and dine with Miss Marian. I always find her little table set with a white cloth, as neat as a pin. I always carry up a contribution in a basket. Sometimes a roast chicken, sometimes bananas and oranges - or any nice thing I might. We dine, and put every thing by, and then sit over the little stove drinking a cup of English breakfast tea, and having a little gossip over things in general. On the whole Miss M has been pretty well, & tolerably cheerful this winter, but she is not strong, and just now is having a miserable sick fit. I hope it will not last long. I think you wd like to make acquaintance with my baby. She is growing to be quite a little mite of a girl. She has bright round blue eyes, that are going all the time watching everything - a fair skin, and her little bald head is beginning to be covered with a soft yellow silky cap of short hair. She sits up and plays with her toys, and stands up on her legs when she is held, and has a nice strong little back. She will be six months old tomorrow. She knows every one very well, chatters & babble after her little fashion. She is made a great pet of in the house. But she has been quite ill this week, and is only just getting up again. I am very glad that you have found a pleasant companion in Fanny Rogers, and that yr eyes are no longer suffering. But I am sorry there is any talk of moving for I hoped Dr was nicely settled for the present, if she really stay ever in England.Dear Kitty, Many thanks for letters, and also for the pains you took for Nannie, who greatly appreciates your kindness in writing her so fully. She too greatly have enjoyed a Scotch trip had it been feasible. She is now at Mrs Gale's Country home on Lake Minnetonka, and seems to be having a very good time, though clouded by Mrs Gale's unsatisfactory health. Use all your influence to intice Dr to stay in Scotland if it be best for her. I shd be grieved to curtail her enjoyment or her improvement, and let me know what you both decide upon. I shall stay quietly here until I hear from you. and shall hope to meet you somewhere before very long. Affty EBMiss K Barry.York Cliffs . June 27 1904 Dear Kitty I have only just yesterday recd yours of the 14th. I don't know why it was so long on the road. I understand that you write one especially to let me know, that the needed repairs, summer expenses, and the journey to Scotland, cd not be met out of Dr's income, and that you propose to sell a bond for 100 pounds in order to meet them. If you had told me just what sum wd be needed to cover the deficiency without touching her principal, I wd have forwarded you the amount. And if it wd be in time if you let me know now I wd do so. I wd always I hope you will have a pleasant time in Scotland. Afftly Dr EmilyAnd I feel sure Mr George ed do the same, w always help meet an emergency without curtailing Drs regular income, which is as little as she absolutely needs. We certainly desire that her comfort shd never be curtailed by want of means. If you will let me know what amount of her invested money you will be, or have been, obliged to use, I will see that you have the money to replace it. I shall always feel that whatever you have done I may write her to you care. Tell her how glad I am that Harry Titterton is well again, and they are home has been in Drs interest. But you may always give me notice if any special need comes up. I am now established at York for the summer. All the first part of there was remarkably cold for the season but to day is real mid summer weather, thermometer 85 degrees which will bring people out of the City in shoals. The Inn opens on the 29th. It is always very rural and pleasant before it opens. I expect the Huntingtons on the 4th July Dr H's order to Pensacola is delayed so he will bring [???] [????], and stay with them until his order comes. any permanent address. If so drop me a postal orAntoinette Mrs Antoinette has been on the Vineyard nearly two months superintending the addition she is building to her house. The other families go later. Alice & Uncle H, go first week of July. Uncle G's family about the same time. If Dr Elizabeth Mercelis should write or ask to meet Dr, she is Dr C's niece who lives with us at Montclair where she is getting a very good practice. I think Dr wd like to meet her for she has ability & character , and I shd be glad for her to see Dr if it wd be feasible. They - the party she is with will only be two or three days in London They are making so hurried a trip I don't know that it will be possible. But I want you to know who she is if you hear from her. I am glad Frances & her husband are safely home. York Cliffs. July 24 1905 Dear Kitty, I sent your last letter to Mr. George, and he writes me that he has sent a cheque to Dr Elizabeth. I dont know whether he wrote with it or not - if he did not she may be surprised at receiving cheque but you can tell her he knew she was short in funds, and sent it for summer trip, or explain it in any way you think best. I suppose you are just setting for Scotland but doubtless you have letters follow you. You ought to receive the cheque before this letter. I hope Dr keeps well, and will enjoy her Scotch trip. I think it wd be well to have some securities transferred to you, if Dr is willing. I suppose she has made a will of course she should do so as you wd not be her legal heir if she did not leave one. Mr George & family are at Martha's Vineyard So are Edith & Grace. [????] & family are at New Market N.H. on her Jones Senior farm. I expect Agnes & Tom here on Thursday. Mr Harry & Alice are on the Canadeain Pacific RR. on their way home. Mrs Antoinette is on her Alaska trip. Dr Huntington is also in Alaska on the Albatross, which sails along the coast. Nannie & children at home in Montclair. The weather has been terribly hot, but is now better. Everyone is well I am glad to report. I think however Alice keeps you posted on family news. Did she tell you that Ethel has bought the house and land that belonged to Mrs Deborah Mayhew near the pond. The family here gradually bought a good deal of that Little neck and made quite a family settlement there. Another generation of children are learning to regard it as their summer camp. Bookes & Blackwell & Ethel & Antoinette are growing up to what their Mothers were, and to have the same associations with the place, and another year Nannie may join the settlement and add Gale & Frederick to the group. It will be a more mixed group, not so exclusively girls. So far the boys preponderates Hoping that the way is now clear for the household. Affty Dr EmilyYork Cliffs. Me. July 13. 1909 Dear Kitty I have yours of July 2 enclosing letter from Frances. I certainly did not think I had not written since Feb. though as I can not write to Doctor, since she no longer sends letters, and as Alice writes you every week, and keeps you posted in family gossip better than I can, I have got out of the habit of writing. I recd two photos of Doctor in response to my letter asking for a half a dozen which I thought you would order taken from the negative, And for which I wd have been glad to pay. [???] earlier I recd one for myself, and Dr Cushier recd one with which she was very much pleased. I know some of the others of the family recd some, but I can not specify them. I think all you sent probably reached their destination, and were appreciated, for it is really the only good photograph of Dr E. that we have, much better and pleasanter than any of the earlier ones, except a Daguerreotype of her as a very young woman, almost a girl, which was very good. Ellen had it and what has become of it I don't know. I think it must have been destroyed in the fire that burned her Lawrence house. I am always glad that you report Doctor as free from suffering and cheerful. It is a thing to be profoundly thankful for, it wd be most Country, the North West corner of the Pacific They are delighted with Seattle, Alice thinks it wd be a nice place to live. They have a busy, sometimes a hard life, but not a dull one. Dr Huntington is on the Vineyard on a three months leave of absence. The three little boys came back very miserable from Porto Rico which is a hard place for Northern children, but they have picked up wonderfully at the Vineyard, which is a Paradise for children. There are 12 of them only one more than 7, 10 of them below 7. So they have company enough. There are 5 houses now, summer camps, beside Florence which is a settled home. They turn out quite parties at bathing time, and all the elder children go in and play in the shallowswater. Elon bought for a very small sum a small wagon and horse, second hand, which is a great pleasure and convenience. and the big Smith barn is a delightful play place for all the children, and an informal meeting place for the grown ups. Anna & Mr Belden spent last Sunday with us here. He is a very intelligent and very kind man, Scholarly, and not very much of a business man. He & Anna are still somewhat in the honeymoon stage. I think it promises to be a very happy marriage. All the families are thriving, and Just now having a good time. Wish Hastings were not so far off, that we cd do more for Dr Elizabeth in every day interest & attention during these last days — and help you in her caring. [*Afftly Dr Emily*] distressing if she were suffering so far away beyond our reach. But I am grieved and surprised that your household has so failed you. It was a comfort to think that you had good attached servants, who wd faithfully second you in the work of caring for Dr Elizabeth. That Laura has behaved so ill, has failed you so egregiously must add greatly to your care. A demoralised household to reconstruct is a great additional hardship. Don't try and economise in help, you should have the best and most efficient help you can get, for however much affection may make the nursing interesting and absorbing the close long continued effort must be wearing And you need to be saved as far as possible that your strength may hold out. So what ever new arrangement you may make, let the Doctor's comforts and efficient aid to yourselfbe the first & main consideration - I wd like to know how you are off for money. I suppose you borrowed from Alice in order to have a small fund on hand for emergencies, not because you were in debt. Are you running much behind hand in every day expenses? If so to what extent. Of course we want the Doctor to have every comfort, and you must keep us posted about her affairs. You know she could always give you a power of Attorney if she desired to. Any lawyer cd draw [--], it is very simple, and Doctor cd sign it. It is summer here also, the rose bush you saw as you sat at table, is in blossom it always reminds me of your visit. I am glad the Doctor saw the place and I can associate her with the verandah. Martha's Vineyard is in full session. All are there but Alice & her father who are in the opposite corner of the