that he wanted me to give him a call, [words crossed out]. George,
respectable business looking, always high-flying & Icarus dropping into debt and diffi-
culty unbusiness, has-been-steadily sensual; widow with three or four children
marrying, lofty in idea. Albert, good looking till small pox marked, good natured
gentlemanly, vacant, no minded. Charley, gentlemanly; ^|(in world s sewe)|
dishonorable, social
approbative, mobile, insincere, false and small headed. / Tired of writing more
25. Monday. Made up parcel for home. Took it to Cliff Street. To Nassau
with sketch for Strong, which he manifested approval of, but doubted as to whether ad-
ditional news might not negative that about the fillibusteres. To French s, who
incontinently
sends it on to Boston. Write note to Alf, in Watt s Book-shop, & to Barth. To
Castle Garden, then back to dinner. Afternoon to Brooklyn & a Sergeant Buchman
(who victualleth with him now;) With Barth and part of the time Creecy, who
narrated stories of life during the Early Settlement of Texas. How he and another, being
on track of fraudulent employee making stampede with niggers, risked lynching. How
he had witnessed bowie-knife duelling; tar-and-feathering and the like. How a
Missisippi-
steam-boat captain, having a passenger robbed by gambling knaves domiciled at a
delectable
place yclept Natchez under the hill, had passed cable round their wooden dwelling and
straightway hauled them and their harbour into the river. These and more. Creecy
leaving Barth
and I talk ghostly. Lightning playing vividly outside, musquites within. He narrateth a
ghostly story which fell under his immediate knowledge. How a soldier (of some
minor rank)
being unable to hear the challenge of a Sentry was shot to the heart; how that same hour
and night, far away in Virginia, his wife and other women, there alone in the house
during a wild tempestuous night heard a voice cry aloud, again and again, calling on her
by name.
26. Tuesday. At 10 or so across the water, through driving wind and spray
with Barth, in sail boat. He returned almost immediately. Made some calls in
Nassau Street, then to boarding house. Stirred not till evening, then out to the
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Two: page one hundred and sixty-two |
| Description: | Mentions telling ghost stories with William Barth on a rainy night. |
| Date: | 1851-08-24 |
| Subject: | Barth, William; Brown, Albert; Brown, George; Beukman; Creecey; Damoreau, Charles (Brown); French; Ghost stories; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Military; Nagle, James P. (Watt); Strong, Thomas; Waud, Alfred |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New York, New York]; Boston, [Massachusetts]; Brooklyn, [New York]; Texas; Cuba |
| Coverage (Street): | Cliff Street; Nassau Street |
| Scan Date: | 2011-02-07 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Two |
| Description: | Includes descriptions of Gunn's attempts to find drawing work among New York publishers, brief employment in an architectural office, visits to his soldier friend William Barth on Governors Island, boarding house living, drawing at actor Edwin Forrest's home at Fonthill Castle, and sailing and walking trips taken with friends. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Books and reading; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Military; Publishers and publishing; Religion; Travel; 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. |
