59
and Haney, in the latter s room. Gin & water and talk
till near 1 A. M. in honor of my birthday.
16. Tuesday. To Harpers. Got paid $ for drawings.
Ware up at night. I writing to Hannah.
17. Wednesday. Wrote to George Bolton. Out in the morning.
18. Thursday. To Mercantile Library, and to Bellew s. A
Scotchman there in his employ, named Gunn. Went to Major Piercy s
residence second floor, over a candy-shop, in Broadway, t other
side of Union Square. He s doing nothing. The man ought to be
in India. Writing, the rest of the day. Young Gladdy, Mrs
Gouverneur s boy came up in the evening, wanting to swindle me
into the belief that he d written half a story, for the purpose of
selling it to Frank Leslie. He read it out. It was evidently copied,
the sentences being four or six lines in length and better English
such as it was than any boy could compose. Nevertheless he
stuck to his lie for the whole time of his stay. I sent him into
Cahill, whom he half humbugged into forth in him. A promi-
sing youth of 12! I never met such a horribly mendacious
family as his in my life. The mother herself is such an in-
fernal liar that she absolutely can not speak the truth, pure
and simple. Rawson, dogged and shiftless as he is, in worth
the rest of the family put together.
19. Friday. A real, steady snowstorm. Writing to my
mother. Called for Haney at 4 P. M. and together to
Brooklyn, to Parton s. Haney s birth-day. A very jolly
time: music, singing, pickled oysters, beer and Ulric, the
music master of the girls. Kept it up to 12 or so, then to
bed, Haney & I tossing for choice of bed or sofa.
20. Saturday. Breakfasted and snowballing. Haney off by
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Nine: page seventy |
| Description: | Mentions attending Jesse Haney's birthday party at Jim Parton's house in Brooklyn. |
| Date: | 1858-02-15 |
| Subject: | Bellew, Frank; Bennett, Hannah; Birthdays; Bolton, George; Cahill, Frank; Children; Food; Gill, Rawson; Gouverneur, Adolphus (""Gladdy""); Gouverneur, Mrs. (Gill, Griffin); Gun, Robert; Gunn, Samuel, Mrs.; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Haney, Jesse; Parton, James; Piercy; Ulric; Ware, John; Writing |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New York, New York]; Brooklyn, [New York] |
| Coverage (Street): | Broadway; Mercantile Library; Union Square |
| 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. |
