42
and buried, and that he was a lookin out for another,
and that he had taken a house in Brooklyn, inviting me
to come and see him. To Frank Leslie s, got my
$10, met Thomson and Cahill, anon Welden. Up town,
looked in at the Mejor s and found Bellew there. He was looking
over account books I fancy he does the planning and getting cre-
dit part of the business. Mrs Bellew has another child, a boy, born
on the first of the month. Swinton came up and called on me,
when I returned to room. He has been sick of bilious remittent
fever, for three months; had just been to Leslie s to get $30, was
told I d got $10 so came on to see if he could borrow $5.
In the afternoon, as invited, with Haney over to Brooklyn.
(Cahill was to have accompanied us, but having passed part of
the afternoon at Haney s, with Arnold and Thomson, he came
home so deplorably drunk at 5, we had to leave him on the
bed, he agreeing to come over by 9.) Met Fay & Swinton in
Broadway. Thomson s he not come yet. Parton and the Fern s
arrived, Miss Jacobs with em. Burlesque acrobatic feats by
Ed. Wells and Cahill; Shadow Buff by the company; dance a la
cachuca by Wells, in ballet costume, songs, music and fox and
geese, with more gambols than I can set down. The feature
of the night was Doesticks wife in male costume. She went
up stairs and dressed herself in a suit of his clothes and came
down in them, being introduced as a boy. I can t describe how
exceedingly pretty she looked how very exceedingly pretty. Espe-
cially when the girls, Grace and Miss J, would take off
her coat and vest, leaving her in dark pants, clean white
shirt with broad lay-down collar, neckerchief tied sailor-fash-
ion and pretty brown boots. In this costume she continued all
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Nine: page fifty-two |
| Description: | Describes an evening filled with games and performances at Mort Thomson's house in Brooklyn. |
| Date: | 1858-01-05 |
| Subject: | Arnold, George; Bellew, Frank; Bellew, Frank, Mrs.; Cahill, Frank; Clothing and dress; Davis; Eldredge, Ellen; Eldredge, Grace (Thomson); Fay; Fern, Fanny; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Haney, Jesse; Jacobs, Louisa; Parton, James; Piercy; Swinton, Alfred; Thomson, Anna (''Chips''); Thomson, Mortimer (Doesticks); Welden, Charles; Welles, Edward; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | Brooklyn, [New York]; [New York, New York] |
| Coverage (Street): | Broadway |
| Scan Date: | 2011-02-02 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Nine |
| Description: | Includes descriptions of boardinghouse living, a picnic at Hoboken with other New York artists and journalists, his drawing and writing work in New York, attending a lecture by Lola Montez, visits to James Parton and Fanny Fern and the Edwards family, a controversy over Fitz James O'Brien's story ''The Diamond Lens,'' artist Sol Eytinge's relationship with writer Allie Vernon, the suicide of writer Henry William Herbert, antics of the New York Bohemians, the interest of people living in his boarding house in spiritualism, a visit to his friend George Bolton's farm in Canada, a visit to Niagara Falls, and a scandal involving Harbormaster Willis Patten, who lives in his boarding house. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Farms; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Publishers and publishing; Suicide; Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Rochester, New York; Elmira, New York; Paris, Ontario, Canada |
| Note: | Thomas Butler Gunn was born February 15, 1826, in Banbury, England, and came to New York in 1849. During the Civil War he worked as a correspondent for the New York Tribune and the New York Evening Post. He returned to England in 1863, and died in Birmingham in April 1903. The collection includes twenty-one volumes of his diaries, including newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, sketches, and various other items inserted by Gunn. Diary entries date from July 7, 1849, to April 7, 1863, and include his experiences with the New York publishing and literary world, his descriptions of boarding houses, his travels throughout the United States, and his experiences traveling with the Federal army as a Civil War correspondent. |
| Publisher: | Missouri History Museum |
| Rights: | Copyright 2011 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
