170
Morris s Old Woman.
Boweryem dispatched a letter to me dated
Feb. 19, which was duly returned by the Con-
sul. Here are items from it: The accou^|n|t Bil-
lington gives of Morris employer is very ludri-
cous. x x An ignorant, ugly, crazed and eccen-
tric old woman, who has lived on the expecta-
tions of her book for two years, contract-
ing debts to the amount of $1,000 on the strength
of its immense future success. Morris is the
second amanuensis who has tinkered the M.S.
the first was a woman. x x She goes from
one boarding-house to another, even getting
board for her assistants by means of the future
magnum opus. x x The friends in New
Hampshire do not press their little bill. x x
All the summer, fall and winter has Morris
been incubating on this golden egg. Of boarding
house gossip as follows: The Kinnes are repla-
ced by a Mr. Merritt and his wife, rough, hearty
honestx western folks, unrefined but jolly. The
purple-faced beast Levan is paying attentions to
the Irishry Mrs. Ham having ascertained that
she has saved a few hundred dollars, if they married I
x Man kept a favo-bank and decamped with
baggage at length owing Mrs Boley some money.
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Fifteen: page one hundred and eighty-one |
| Description: | Mentions a woman author who has yet to produce a book. |
| Date: | 1861-02-18 |
| Subject: | Billington; Boardinghouses; Boley, Susan; Boweryem, George; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Ham, Mrs.; Kinne; Kinne, Mrs.; Le Van; Merritt; Merritt, Mrs.; Morris, James (K. N. Pepper); Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New York, New York] |
| Scan Date: | 2010-05-20 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Fifteen |
| Description: | Describes Gunn's experience as a correspondent for ""The New York Evening Post"" in Charleston, South Carolina, in the aftermath of South Carolina's secession from the federal government, including a conflict between A.H. Colt and Mr. Woodward, a visit to Sullivan's Island, John Mitchel's tale of assisting with the lynching of an abolitionist, attending a celebration in honor of Benjamin Mordecai, Will Waud's arrival in Charleston, the scene in Charleston the day the ''Star of the West'' was fired upon by the Morris Island battery, pistol and rifle practice with various Charlestonians, a rumor in New York about his having been tarred and feathered in Charleston, a visit to the quarters of the ''Richland Rifles,'' witnessing a slave auction, and a visit to Colonel Bull's home. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Books and reading; Civil War; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Military; Publishers and publishing; Secession; Slavery; Slaves; Travel |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Charleston, South Carolina |
| 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 2010 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
