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up for ten minutes or so, old Patten partially
remonstrating in his harsh, brattling voice, partly joining
in. You couldn t insult some people he said. Some
people wasn t worth insulting! Then his wife sailed
in to the fray, provoking the retort of Mrs Bradbury,
who seeing the odds awfully against her had till then
kept silence. Youre a lady! said Mrs B. with cut-
ting irony! Youre none! was the retort parcel of
pigs, that what you are! Here the shrill laughter of
the children indicated applause and gratification. Poor
old Bradbury made some unintelligible Yorkshire ex-
clamation and left the table, just before this. His
wife followed, having the parting salutation with Mrs
Patten as she rose. The girl Anna remained sat
it all out. I really admired the girl s pluck, not to
say brass. All the room was in chorus against her
and her mama. Miss Pierson I hadn t supposed
her the fool she is with Gladdy and the eldest of the
King children were talking at Anna Bradbury. Talk
about old maids! said Miss Pierson of course,
somebody would never be an old maid! fine match
she d make! the steward of a steam boat perhaps!
ha! ha! Such a general eruption of spites and
bl bad blood and malice I never saw before.
Mrs Potter sat at her side-table presiding over the break
fast things, saying never a word. And never a word
said I, nor should, had they got to throwing plates
or knives at each other. I was glad to observe that
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Ten: page two hundred and two |
| Description: | Regarding a row that broke out at his boarding house over the Bradbury family. |
| Date: | 1859-04-27 |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Bradbury (boarder); Bradbury, Anna; Bradbury, Mrs. (boarder); Children; Gouverneur, Adolphus (''Gladdy''); Gunn, Thomas Butler; Patten, Willis; Patten, Willis, Mrs.; Pierson, Miss; Potter, Mrs. |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New York, New York] |
| Scan Date: | 2011-01-31 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Ten |
| Description: | Includes descriptions of an explosion of a boat on the North River, New York literary Bohemians, boarding house living at 132 Bleecker Street, his freelance writing and drawing work, the death of writer Mort Thomson's young wife Anna, working on the publication ''Constellation,'' visits to the Edwards family, a falling out with Fanny Fern over an article he wrote criticizing ''The New York Ledger,'' a rumor that Fitz James O'Brien is the heir to an Irish baronetcy, and a change of landladies at his boarding house. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Publishers and publishing; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York |
| 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. |
