29
with Haney and walked to Jay Street, where
we rejoined our party, on board the Metamora.
Morris was there, with a son of Knickerbocker
Clark; the latter not of us. Off up the Hudson.
There never was a more beautiful or a hotter
fourth of July, and I enjoyed the sail enough.
At first I sat at the stern, under the awning,
chatting with Matty, who in the accustomed straw
hat, curls and light dress, looked pretty and
was good humored; anon I strolled hither and
thither, sometimes conversing with Ann, at others
with Morris. or having a pipe, looking at the
glorious river from the fore part. Haney, Jack
and Selwyn got up some fun in the fire-
cracker and harmonious way; Ann was not too
much sought after, and Nast sat beside Sally,
who held down her head as though it ached very
badly. Morris had been commencing a small
poem and, borrowing my pencil, finished it
on board. At the fresh little village of Ny-
ack we found Nichols awaiting us, as usual;
and soon reached his pleasant house which I
can hardly suppose wears any other than its
fourth of July aspect. Idling, talking, smoking,
presently dinner. Afterwards out for a sail-
ing excursion on the Tappaan Zee, Haney,
Jack and Matty going in a row-boat, pulled
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Seventeen: page thirty-eight |
| Description: | Describes a Fourth of July sailing excursion with the Edwards family and friends. |
| Date: | 1861-07-04 |
| Subject: | Edwards, Ann; Edwards, John; Edwards, Martha; Edwards, Sally (Nast); Fourth of July; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Haney, Jesse; Morris, James (K. N. Pepper); Nast, Thomas; Nichols, Edward; Selwyn |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New York, New York] |
| Coverage (Street): | Jay Street |
| Scan Date: | 2010-06-09 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Seventeen |
| Description: | Includes Gunn's descriptions of the scene in New York at the commencement of the Civil War; his visits to military camps in and around New York City as a reporter for ""The New York Evening Post;"" boarding house living; a bridal reception at the Edwards family's residence in honor of the marriage of Sally Edwards and Thomas Nast; a visit to the Heylyn and Rogers families in Rochester; and his trip to Paris, Ontario, to visit George Bolton and the Conworths. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Civil War; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Marriage; Military; Publishers and publishing; Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Paris, Ontario, Canada ; Rochester, 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 2010 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
