Blackwell Family
Emma Blackwell
Blackwell, MarianEast Orange NJ
Feb 6, 1881
Dear Marian,
I sent you down
days ago, 1st Exchange for £28.1.9
proceeds $136 50/100 dollars [?] due
1st this month. I now send 2nd Ex.
for same. There is little of family
interest to narrate. The various
members of the family are, as far
as I know, well. Our children
grow, baby walks, & begins to try
to say a few words but will not
speak for a long time. Our
cow gives us about 18 quarts
of milk a day of which we sell
about half - our 9 hens lay
4 or 5 eggs a day, so we have
lots of Milk, Cream, & Eggs.
I have sold one of my houses
to Dr. Brown (Nettie's brother) who
rented it last September. I
let him have it very low, but
think he will prove a pleasant
[*We all look forward with pleasure to Kitty's coming over.
Howard speaks of her as familiarly as if he were well acquainted,
and tells what he
shall do "when
Kitty comes-"
We have all your
photographs, except
Kitty's, arranged
in order of age
in our large
album, and he
is familiar with
the thought of
aunties across
the ocean,
whom I hope
he may
some time see.
With love to all.
Emma -- *]useful neighbor. 
Our winter
has been exceptionally cold + stormy.
Sleighing has been good for the
past six weeks, the snow about
15 inches & up + hardened almost
into ice - The ground has not
been bare for nearly two months
The thermometer has many
nights been at 0 or below
once reaching -10. We have
had almost no rain + what
has fallen has [has not] been on
frozen earth and not sunk in
so that wells are dry in all
directions, citizens are supplied
by water carts at so much
a load. 
Since the 20th October
it has been steadily cold so
that the furnace is kept going
full blast and I suppose it will
continue so till about the
middle of April. We can't help
envying you this mild winter of
Nice. Personally the cold &
snow has not much inconvenienced
me and we have had less colds
than usual, but incidentally and

in all matters of outdoor work & improvement
of ground etc. It has
been a great annoyance. I take
care of my own animals, feed, water,
milk &c. and do not mind it.
Commercial business is in general good,
but real estate outside of New York does
not move much, still it is better
than it was & houses near stations
& in good developed neighborhoods rent
moderately well- If general
business continues good, I suppose
a year or two more will bring
activity in real estate- Several
of my houses will be to rent this
Spring, but I think they will all
be wanted - I hope Anna will
be able to spend the Spring if not
the Winter with you, it must
be very forlorn to live continually
in an atmosphere of disappointed
hopes and unavailing efforts to
catch her will-o'-the-wisp.
Dear Elizabeth,
I have just been re-reading
your letter, telling us of your work
which is such a useful and much needed one.
It makes our life, so much occupied withwhat one might call the merely physical 
details, attending to and providing for 
food and drink and clothes, seem quite 
prosaic by contrast.  But since we have to 
eat and wear, and children have to be 
little before they can be large, it is 
evident that it was in the intention of 
Providence that some one should to these
things, and, as far as it can judge, the nurse
maids that are hired are not equal to mothers or
grandmothers and the kitchen needs a good deal
of thought from the house mistress, even 
when one has such absolutely faithful, and 
trustworthy help as I have there.  But we are 
all quite well, and live tranquil and 
contented, though we seldom rise to a pitch
of exhilaration. You have probably 
heard of Frances Gerken's visit to New York
I have invited her to Orange, but she wishes
to defer the visit until later in the season
She told Ellen that she suffered much from 
the furnace heated house-taking cold
nearly every time she went out and has
had an attack of quinsy which made her 
quite ill.  You will be glad to know 
That Ellen hopes that little Paul has 
now found a permanent home in a 
family who have no children of their 
own in Flushing.  He left Englewood and 
Mrs Grosvenor on the 1st of February.  It
seems a forlorn life for a little child to
go from place to place, and I do hope both
for his sake and Ellen's that this last
may be a real home.5 Follen Street
Cambridge
March 19th 1897
Dear Marian
I have written no letters 
to Hastings this winter, not because
I lacked interest or sympathy, but
George was writing often, and it
seemed as if I had little to add-
A letter from Kitty, received lately,
says that she carries you all the
bits of news she can get, no
matter how small, and that you
like to have them, so I am going
to show you some of the little
daily doings of the Cambridge home.
It wont be news, but you can 
think how life goes with us on
this side of the ocean- I would
promise you a diary letter, but I
am afraid it would be like my
other diaries in years gone by-
I used to set out with great zeal
on the first of January, to write
something every day, and soon thespaces would grow long between 
the dates- Alice has volumes of
her early journals, if she has
not burned them, but mine
never would have made more than
the tiniest booklet.
Do you know the kind of room in
which we all spend most of our time
when in the house?  It is the library-
A large mahogany desk occupies
the centre of the room, and serves as
the family table- George has one side
of it for his writing materials, and
mine take the opposite side, while
the work basket has one end, and
the latest papers the other- the
children paint pictures, and make
dolls clothes upon it, and it is
a more than daily duty to keep the 
contents of its four sides from
quarreling, or infringing on each
others space- But it is a very
useful desk- The room is large,

and the chairs are nearly all so, too-
I have to pad them with cushions
to have any comfort in them- There
is a great grey leather chair, so 
broad and so deep it makes you 
think of the seats of the giants- Even
George and Howard rarely take it-
The little girls are fond of curling
themselves up on the big blue
velvet sofa, or they take the long
seat in the bay window-
There is a fire place opposite this 
window, where George has a pile of 
ashes which is our principal source
of difference- for he insists that a 
wood fire cannot be comfortable
unless it has a large and solid
bed of ashes to rest upon- and he
wants to be able to bury a log in them,
or to form a slope, and build the
fire on the side of it- While I
maintain that the fireplace looks
much better, and that the fire is
just as good with about one
quarter the ashes- I used to take
some away, surreptitiously, but healways missed them, so now he
has just as many as he wants, and
keeps a very pretty fire upon them,
and happiness reigns in the domestic
circle- The room has a great many
books-There are book cases on four
sides of the room- They are tall and
dark, and if we had not two windows
besides the large bay, it would be
a dark room, but we can let in plenty 
of sunshine, and do it- The spare
wall space is well filled with
pictures- all photographs- there is
the Cathedral of Notre Dame, with
Dante at one side, and some old
warrior over it, and the frieze of
the Parthenon below- The interior
of St. Sophia- and the exterior of
the Parthenon, and somebody with a
baby on his arm- maybe Apollo-
All our doors, throughout the house,
are red-probably Indian or
Venetian red- I dont know the
difference- but it is not a gaudy
red- quite artistic- and shows the
dust, if not watched-

2
Such is our family room- a
revolving book-case (where we keep
our own books, and the children's
boxes of games) and a great
Turkish rug of red and blue, which
covers the floor- complete the list
of its principal furnishings-
Here we read and write, sew
and study, and entertain Harry by
the fire on his weekly visits-
It is the centre from which we
radiate- Howard has been out this
evening to offer himself as a 
candidate for a debating society-
There were about fifty candidates-
each of whom was to offer a five
minute argument on the question
whether Greece was justified in its
attempt to annex Crete, and take it
from Turkey- Howard took the 
position that Greece was not
justified- and will know next
week whether he presented his
views well enough to be admitted-Anna and Frances have been to
dancing school today- each to a
different class- and each looking
fresh and pretty in a pink gown,
one in pink muslin, and the other in
a pale pink woolen gown- They both
like to go, and their comments are 
sometimes rather amusing- "I dont 
see why Winifred likes Priscilla-
she such a shut up girl- just
as shut up as a chrysalis, mamma,"
"I like Matt Davis-His face looks
always very happyfied- as if he were
just going to smile"- "How can a
boy have so many pimples as
Don Tower?  If he had one more,
I think his face would not have
room for another"
Today Anna's class discussed the
very important question whether they
should close with an afternoon or
an evening dance- with a large
majority of the young ones in
favor of the evening, though

some of the mothers preferred the
afternoon-
You must not think that in
telling these trifles I forget how
ill you are, and that perhaps
the change which seems to every
one so great is not far off-
But I remember how my dear
Aunt Lucy thought of the little
things of this life, when she knew
herself to be approaching the
next- and said with a smile,
as she made a household
suggestion, "is it not strange
that I should think of these things
now, when I am going away from 
them so soon?"
Yet I dont know that it was
strange- Why should we give
up thoughts of this world until
the interests of another replace
them?
We all think of you withlove, and the deepest
sympathy, and if letters
about the little things of our
every day life can divert
your mind for a few 
moments, and give some
small relief from weariness,
it will be a pleasure to
write them-
Affectionately yours
Emma-

5 Follen Street
Cambridge
March 22nd 1897
Dear Marian
Yesterday was Sunday,
and a dull day, and the little
girls regard every rainy Sunday
as an interpostion of Providence
by which they may stay at home
from church- I wonder if all
your mother's children did not
like to go to church?  I do not
remember ever feeling especially
grateful for an opportunity to stay
at home, though I was often glad
when the sermon ended- And
my mother says that she was
always glad to go- not that she 
was an abnormally spiritually
minded child, but she lived
three miles from the village, and
had so many brothers andsisters that they could not all
go every Sunday and she was
pleased when it was her turn to
have the drive, and see the
people- But our children look
upon church attendance as a 
task, and I sometimes wonder
whether it is good to insist upon
it- Still, after a Sunday at home
I generally conclude that it is
better for them to have the morning
occupied in that way, than in
sitting over a book all day-
Yesterday I told them that we
would have a little sermon at
home- So we all went to Howard's
room, where he listened with 
us to a short sermon from a
little volume of discourses to
boys at Harrow, given by Mr.
Weldon, the head master-

It was on the best use of
Sunday, and gave a pleasant,
simple view of reasons for
distinguishing Sunday from the
rest of the week, and the ways
in which young people could
do it-
By noon the weather had
improved and in the afternoon
I went with Lovina, who is
our good helper as Mary is
yours, to the museum of the 
college to look at some additions
lately made.  The museum is open
on Sunday afternoons, and is the
resort of many children of the 
poorer class.  Policemen are 
stationed about, so that there
is never any disorderly conduct,
and the children get some ideas
of the variety of life in the
world, which they would never
get at home- The collectionsare very fine- in all the
departments- animals, birds,
fishes, flowers and minerals-
the collection of models of
flowers is extremely beautiful-
It can scarcely be imagined by
one who has not seen them-
They are done in glass, by a
secret process, said to known
now by only one man, since his
father is dead- and the university
contracted with the father and son
for their whole product for ten
years, which have now nearly
expired- They (the models) do not
remind you of glass at all-
They are wonderfully exact copies
of the plants, with the smaller
parts, stamens, pistil & seed vessel,
magnified to show the structure-
and illustrating botanical orders-
I hope that Mr. Blaschka, the
maker, will not allow his

2
secret to die with him- Even
now I should not think he need 
to fear imitators, for the work
is of a master, and artist, and
would defy competition.
I did not take the girls to the 
museum- They have tired of it-
stuffed things and inanimate
objects soon lose their interest for
a child- but if there had been
one live monkey to be seen, I
suppose it would have been
a perpetual interest.
Later in the day Howard and I
went to a meeting at the
Unitarian church, which was
especially for young people- It
was the third of a series- Howard
had been to one other, and
thought I was not so old as to 
be conspicuous, and that he had
seen some elder ones who would
support me by their presence-The talk was chiefly a pleas for a 
more active interest in their
church on the part of the young
people belonging to the congregation
and a gentle suggestion that they
should distinctly announce their
sense of connection with the church 
by the public acceptance of a very
simple statement- something like
this-that they wished to unite with
this church for the worship of God
and the service of man- I felt
a little like an intruder- an outsider
strayed in where it was not quite
proper for her to be- We have been
to that church a good many times,
and I supposed these talks were to
give instruction to the young people
as to the history and present
position of their denomination-
something that any one might like
to hear- but this one was rather
restricted in its application-
We have visited all the churches

in this part of Cambridge,
and have lately divided our
attendance between the Unitarian
and Congregational- Anna very
much dislikes the Congregational
minister who is elderly, preaches
long sermons, and especially
offends her by occasionally
taking troches during the sermon
she thinks he "eats candy" in the
pulpit, and refuses to be convinced
of a good reason for it-
I like the length of sermon at
the other church better, myself-
and the manner of the preacher
is more pleasing- but he lacks
life and vigor in his preaching-
I dont know whether this
impression is due to the man
or to the sect- whether it is true
that there is less vitality in the
Unitarian church than in the
orthodox churches.  President Eliotand the number of the professors
attend there, and one would think
that the denomination ought to be
adequately represented.  Mr. Crothers
told his young people that it was
easier to be a good Unitarian in
Cambridge than in most places-
It would require some self denial
for them to confess that form of 
faith in many parts of the country-
Here it is equally respected with
its neighbors the Episcopalians
Methodists and Congregationalists.
After our meeting was over,
Howard and I went to the Botanic
Gardens where we saw delightful
orchids, hyacinths and lilies of
the valley- and then staid at
home and rested the remainder
of the day- Here you have a 
picture of one of our Sundays-
and now goodnight.
affectionately-
Emma-Gardner. Mass.
Tuesday- March 30th, 1897.
Dear Marian
Here are three of our family
in Gardner today- The two girls have a
week's vacation and we came here last
Saturday, to return on Thursday-
Howard's vacation of a week does not
begin until April 18th, so he and
George keep house with Lovina
while we are gone.  George thought
the little girls might find the
country, in March, a dull place, but
it is quite the contrary- The fields are
bare and brown, but not too wet to
ramble over; Sunday afternoon we
took a walk to one of the places
where I used to go when I was a
little girl, and Anna learned the
difference between a hemlock and a
spruce tree, and we chipped off
small lumps of spruce gum, and

**she has spent a year.  They have written frequently to each other,
and Anna looks forward to seeing her again with much pleasure-
Goodby, dear Marian, We all think of you lovingly-
Emma-**she learned the difference between
that and the gum which they want to
buy and are not allowed to. She thought
it infinitely better than being in school!
On the way home we paused by a
sugar maple, where a little tin can
was catching the dripping sap- There
also was a new experience- she did
not remember to have seen sap before-
The next day Grandpa and the two girls
went for sumach stems, and they
watched while he cut the spiles, and
took out the pith from them to make a
channel for the sap, and then he bored 
three trees for them, and Anna has
gathered sap and watched the receptacles
most industriously since- She is resolved
that it shall not be stolen this year,
which has often happened in times past-
We have boiled enough to make
about a quart of syrup, which is
certainly very nice, and she this is 
incomparably finer than anything which 
can be bought- A small can of it is
to be carried to the papa and Howard
when we go home to show them how

good real maple syrup is.
She has ridden the little black horse,
and made love to the other two,
and fed the heifer with apples-
gathered a quantity of wintergreen berries
to take to Lovina, who is especially
fond of them- and a big bunch of 
pussy willows for me- There is no
lack of employment- This afternoon
they have playmates, and the Doctor's
hill for a play ground.
I wish they had better companions
here.  Some little Swede girls, who 
are really very bright children,
and probably quite the equals of
ours in natural gifts, are the
favorites.  They became acquainted
several years ago, and Anna always
writes to Mary Andersen when she
expects to go to Gardner, in order to
be sure that they shall play
together- while she considers other
girls there, a little higher in the
social scale, as dull and
uninteresting, and hopes that Iwill not plan for any visiting 
with them.  She is faithful to her
friendships, when once they are
made, but not eager for new
acquaintances.  She and Mary will
sit and read in the same apple tree,
or go over the fields together, or
play "house" in the barn, with the
younger ones for their children,
and Anna likes it very much better than
enlarging the number, by the 
necessary effort in learning to
know people.  She is not exactly
what I call social in her nature;
not like her uncle Harry, who is
ready to beam upon every human
creature, from the cook and the
stable boy to Presidents and
Senators, and who pleases them
all.  However, at thirteen one has
a great deal of growing to do,
and she has time to learn that if
we are to have many friends we must
take some pains to make them-
She has made a few pleasant girl acquaintances
in Cambridge, and thinks that the very
best one of all is the one who is coming
home from Germany next month where