Dearest Brother your letter came Wedns.. I keep thinking of you, and pray your eyes may get better, — Your goodness to me is beyond words & Walt dear. I will not say anything, only you have been, are so kind, that you are every thing in the world to me

I want so much to write (have so long wanted to) I have no doubt my dear I shall say lots of bothersome things am only a trouble to you. I wish I need not be, you can not know how much I wish I was not I sat here alone last night an hour or two thinking View PageFull size in new windowof you — you are my one great comfort. what I should do, — or should have done in my sick times — without you to think of & how it would have been without all the money comforts. youv'e been the means of my having I can not now even immagine, & I have money now & plenty if I am sick, I will write more about it dear Walt, next time I write — but never can say what I feel — If I dont get sick, will write again soon — you writte to me when you are sick I know dear brother get all your letters & money (last Wedn. & all) come safe I alway open my letters am always here not strong enough to go out much — I have often thought you could not know just how it was, but still was good enough to write — I have been sick a great deal & cant do as I would like. grateful that I can do a little, three weeks View PageFull size in new windowago my left hand was hurt [2]X
The exact nature of this injury to Hannah's left hand is not clear. The thumb on Hannah's left hand was amputated in December 1868. just now begin to use it a little & it has worn on me some. — but all my ailments dear dear brother seem so trivial to what you have to bear — I think of you so much, I am alone much, hardly any one comes here, its just as well, am not strong enough to talk much, or long, most days feel well & work, — Prize all the magazines & papers youve sent. often look at your picture in, May New England Mag'n, [3]X
Horace Traubel's article, "Walt Whitman at Date," was published in the May 1891 edition of the New England Magazine (vol. 4, no. 3), 275–92. glad you sent it. — like Warrens [4]X
Frederick Warren Fritzinger (1866–1899), known as Warry, served as Whitman's nurse beginning in October 1889. Mrs. Mary Davis, Whitman's housekeeper, had taken care of Warry's father, an aged seaman. When he died she inherited half of his property; the other half was left to Warry and his brother Harry, who had run off to sea at the ages of seventeen and fourteen. A picture of Warry is displayed in the May 1891 New England Magazine (278). "Of all the nurses Whitman had, 'Warry' was his favorite," Gay Wilson Allen notes (See The Solitary Singer [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985] 519, 535). too he looks good — Glad Dr Bucke [5]X
Richard Maurice Bucke (1837–1901), medical doctor and head of the Asylum for the Insane in Ontario Canada, a friend of Whitman's, had been visiting Whitman in Camden the first week of September. Bucke returned to Canada on September 10. See Walt's letter to Hannah Heyde, September 8 1891, in The Correspondence, ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1969), 5:240. got home

Lou [6]X
Louisa Orr Haslam Whitman (1842–1892), known as "Lou," married George Whitman on April 14, 1871. They moved to Camden in 1872, and Walt Whitman lived with them from 1873 to 1884. See Karen Wolfe, "Whitman, Louisa Orr Haslam (Mrs. George) (1842–1892)," in Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland, 1998), 781. wrote me a real good letter not long since) & sent $5, & has sentView PageFull size in new window good kind letters & money before several times, will you tell her, Walt dear, that I am gratefull to her & to George [7]X
George Washington Whitman (1829–1901) was the seventh child of Walter and Louisa Whitman. George learned to read and write as a pupil under his older brother Walt (who briefly served as a schoolteacher in Long Island) and worked as a carpenter prior to his military service during the Civil War. When the war ended, he became a pipe inspector for the City of Camden and the New York Metropolitan Water Board. See Martin G. Murray, "Whitman, George Washington," in Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland, 1998), 777–78. if I can only keep well a little longer will write to her — she is so good to write, when I have not been able to write her, wish you could read her last letter.

So hope you feel pretty well to day & eyes better. think so very much of the letters youve written me, meant to keep them long as I lived, Charly had taken them, & I have destroyed all that he had, & he will not get hold of any more, I made myself sick for a day or two, but all is right now, would not speak of it dear. If I thought C. [8]X
Hannah is referring to Charles Heyde. had not dont let anything I say View PageFull size in new windowbother you. I take so much more comfort when you are pretty well glad to know when you go out, think you are better, — I have never written to dear Jessie, [9]X
Jessie Louisa Whitman (1863–1957), also known as "California," and later as "Sis," the youngest daughter of Thomas Jefferson Whitman and Martha Emma Whitman. Jessie may not have been named the moment she was born; Whitman refers to her as the "little girl" and as "little black head" in his letters to Mother Whitman dated June 22, 1863 and July 15, 1863, respectively (Walt Whitman Archive). I was taken badly sick the day I heard of dear brother Jeffs death [10]X
Thomas Jefferson Whitman, (1833-1890), "Jeff," was the eighth child of Walter and Louisa Whitman. Walt's favorite brother, Jeff played the piano and had a lively sense of humor. He married Mattie Emma Mitchell on February 23, 1859. Jeff and Mattie moved in with Mother Whitman shortly after their marriage. In 1867, Jeff accepted a position as chief engineer and superintendent of waterworks in St. Louis, Missouri. Jeff died on November 25, 1890, from typhoid pneumonia. See Dear Brother Walt: The Letters of Thomas Jefferson Whitman, ed. Dennis Berthold and Kenneth Price (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1984), xxxiv. —

Wish I could think of something good to say, but I cant, — send lots & lots of good wishes my darling

Tuesday Afternoon

Dear Brother you know about the money youve sent you have sent me enough to last I feel afraid you send more than you can spare

C. is hearty well & strong quite able to work, (painting) but he does not — he of course benefits on the money you send. it does not seem right, he sold a picture recently & paid his taxes —

give my love to George & Lou, please & to Jessie if you write