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Abby Hopper Gibbons Papers
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Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Abigail Hopper Gibbons (1801-1893) was an important figure in many of the reform movements in the middle and late nineteenth century. Like her father, Isaac T. Hopper (1771-1852), "Abby" Gibbons was an ardent abolitionist and dedicated to prison reform. She served as a Civil War nurse and visited army camps in that period and also was a welfare worker. After the War, she established a "Labor and Aid Society" to provide work for returning veterans. Abby Hopper Gibbons was one of the founders of the Women's Prison Association and The Isaac T. Hopper Home in New York City, which was established to aid former prisoners' return to society. Many of the leading reformers of the day were entertained in her New York City home; the house was destroyed by a mob during the 1863 draft riots.
Abigail Hopper Gibbons was born in Philadelphia in 1801, the third of ten children. In 1833, she married fellow Quaker, James Sloan Gibbons, in New York City. Both before and after her marriage, she directed Quaker schools. Like her father and her husband, she was deeply committed to anti-slavery concerns. After they were disowned by the New York Monthly Meeting (Hicksite) in 1841 for their writing and testimonies against slavery, the following year she resigned her membership, along with her four minor children. Nonetheless, the family remained "Quakerly" in worship and life-style.
Abigail and James Gibbons had six children. Two boys died in infancy, and a third son died suddenly after an accident while a student at Harvard. Many of the letters in the collection reflect the concerns of family life. Abigail Hopper Gibbons remained active in reform concerns into old age, and in her later years dressed dolls in Quaker dress to present to quarantined and hospitalized children.
Some of the correspondence in this collection were published in abbreviated form in 1897 for a biography, The Life of Abby Hopper Gibbons, Told Chiefly through her Correspondence, edited by her daughter, Sarah Hopper Emerson. T The bulk of the correspondence concerns the Civil War years, and Abigail Hopper Gibbons's work to assist Union officers. The collection consists of about 1,680 letters and related material, primarily letters to and from Abigail Hopper Gibbons, but also including correspondence of her husband and other family members. From the Civil War years, there are many letters from Union soldiers. The collection offers a valuable resource to scholars of nineteenth century reform movements. Included are letters from prominent figures including Theodore Roosevelt, Lydia Maria Child, and Joseph H. Choate.
The collection contains about 1,680 ALsS and related materials. Of particular note is the correspondence sent and received by Abby Hopper Gibbons, including family letters and and related to her work to assist Union Soldiers during the Civil War. Also includes letters from Union soldiers, prominent Americans such as Theodore Roosevelt, Joseph Choate, and Lydia Maria Child, and correspondence reflecting Quaker family life and concerns.
The collection is divided by primary correspondent into eight series:
- Abigail Hopper Gibbons (1801-1893)
- James Sloan Gibbons (1810-1892)
- Sarah (Sally) Hopper Gibbons Emerson (1835-1918)
- Julia Gibbons (1837-1889)
- Lucy Gibbons Morse (1839-1936)
- William Gibbons (1834-1855)
- Isaac Tatem Hopper (1771-1852)
- Miscellaneous
RG 5/ 174
Accession information
Donor: James M. Dunning, Sarah Dunning Schear, and Frances Dunning Beebe, 1987, 1993; Accession number: 90-001.13 and 93.21
The collection was given by Mrs. Gibbons's great-grandchildren. It had descended through her daughter, Lucy Gibbons Morse, and grand-daughter, Rose Morse Dunning. One of the donors, Sarah Dunning Schear was a graduate of Swarthmore College, Class of 1934.
Collection of about 1,680 letters given to FHL, originally sorted into five boxes, divided roughly into categories of General Family letters, Civil War events, Civil War time span, and prominent correspondents. (Sarah Hopper Emerson's biography of her mother, Life of Abby Hopper Gibbons, told chiefly through her correspondence (1897), was based on a selection of these letters.) Also included in this gift was a wax-(over composition?) headed doll dressed in Quaker costume, dressed by AHG.
A preliminary inventory was prepared by Albert Fowler in 1988. Subsequently, the correspondence was sorted into about twenty series, generally by family members, and arranged alphabetically and chronologically within each series. In 1993 additional material on the liberty ship "Abigail Gibbons" was received from the family. In 1996, the collection was arranged in eight series determined by the primary correspondents.
Various photographs, originally part of this collection, were removed to PA 69.
People
Subject
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- FHL staff
- Finding Aid Date
- 1996
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research.
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Note that the bulk of the correspondence to and from Abby Hopper Gibbons has been digitized and is available in our Digital Library. Explore this collection online.
- Use Restrictions
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Some of the items in this collection may be protected by copyright. The user is solely responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns to reuse, publish, or reproduce relevant items beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to the law. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/.
Collection Inventory
2 ALsS
4 pages. Endorses Coraline Haller [sp] for a department position.
Subjects: Women employees; Bigelow, John, 1817-1911
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Approves of Tilden for president; writes, "We need a man of might and power and that man is Tilden."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Bigelow, John, 1817-1911; Tilden, Samuel J. (Samuel Jones), 1814-1886
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
ALS
1 page. Mentions the death of John, possibly John Hopper.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
8 ALsS
4 pages. Discusses reuniting and catching up with old friends and family.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
4 pages. Asks after her health and well-being during the winter season. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions a "father" who appears to be Sally's father, James Sloan Gibbons.
Subjects: Personal correspondence
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Is looking forward to her arriving. Reminisces about the selflessness of her grandfather, telling her to "profit by his beautiful example." Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. The "Gem of the Ocean" Captain Wilson has died.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mr. Benzon [sp] has recovered his lost property.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Asks her to pass a message to Mrs. Sedgwick; a former classmate is staying over.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Called upon acquaintances of her father who were in the area from Kentucky. Recently stayed with the Sedgwick family.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
3 pages. Wishes her happy 18th birthday. Is excited to have her stay this winter; misses her daughters while they're away at school.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
ALS
3 pages. Lucy writes discussing recent news concerning family/friends and the upcoming end of the school year. Abby writes discussing recent news concerning family/friends, describes a carriage ride, mentions that an Aunt Sarah is moving to a new house, and praises a woman in the Emerson family as "a very nice girl."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Lenox (Mass.)
4 ALsS
2 pages. Talks of recent family events that have made her look back on "the joys and sorrows through which we have lived," particularly the death of her son, William Gibbons, in 1855.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Expresses that she wishes Sally to return home soon. Describes a shawl and flowers she received as a gift from Anne W. Whitney. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Asks Sally to write of her travels.The parlors have been successfully rearranged. Expresses sorrow about the death of her son, William Gibbons.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cambridge (Mass.)
6 pages. Thanks Sally for her letter and Uncle Edward for his gift. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions her visits to committees and institutions of social service. Is happy to hear that Sally is doing well and has "no feeling to hurry [her] home." Asks Sally to let her know if she should send more clothes, and tells her not to "ride and walk in [her] black silk." Mentions that she received a visit from the lawyer and diplomat Joseph H. Choate.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Explains that she had not sent a package to Sally with clothing because she was waiting for Sally to tell her whether she needed it. Has been sick. Julia has successfully entertained her guest, Lorrie, who has also helped with the housework. Abby has been sick. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Sends her love to Aunt Sarah, Uncle Ed, and others.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
15 ALsS
2 pages. Fragment. Is going with a group to Arlington, to take part in an event related to the "Sanitary Campaign." Says she "will attend the convention (as they call it)."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Congresses and conventions
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); Arlington (Va.)
4 pages. Received a visit from Dr. Wagner, who came from Baltimore. Expresses love for Sally and for her other children. Says that Julia "is in good condition." Discusses Lucy's idea of coming to the city and states that "she ought to consider her own health." She will "attend to any campaign in the best way [she] can." Encloses other letters for Sally to read and asks her to be careful with them and send them back.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Baltimore (Md.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Considers visiting friends once the weather improves.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Berkshire County (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Discusses clothes making/stitching.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Informs her of the death of Harry Sanander [sp]. Hopes to have a new home established by October.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (State)
2 pages. Thanks her for the flowers on the anniversary of her son's death. Discusses the importance of "giving according to one's ability of the good things of this life in word and deed."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
4 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Has been ill recently. Quotes Thomas Moore, whom she enjoyed reading as a teenager. Looks forward to Dr. Charley [sp] coming.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Moore, Thomas, 1779-1852
Relevant locations: New York (State); Salem (Mass.)
3 pages. Describes her time at the Capitol in Washington, and mentions in particular seeing the orator Anna Dickinson speak. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Thanks Sally for the flowers on the anniversary of her son William's birthday.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Dickinson, Anna E. (Anna Elizabeth), 1842-1932
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. When speaking of the Dr. [Wagner?], says "everything I learn of him increases my admiration of his character." Misses Sally and her other children.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Discusses the death of Uncle John, who passed away in his sleep.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Milton (N.Y. : Town)
1 page. Is staying and working at an army hospital in Beverly, New Jersey (N.J. General Hospital). Asks Sally to write.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Social Service; Women nurses; Nursing; United States. General Hospital (Beverly, N.J.)
Relevant locations: Beverly (N.J.)
2 pages. Wants to know how Martha is. Discusses plans for the coming weeks.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Martha is still sick and will be visited by doctors. Says to Sally, "Do all thee can to advance the movement." Has received Sally's letter and will send a box.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Mentions recently handing out "packets." Discusses recent news concerning family/friends and the state of her house. Mentions a "Judge Edwards" who might be Edwards Pierrepont. Concerned that her daughter Lucy's friend Rose Wagner "sends [Lucy] too much of a certain style of reading."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
8 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Alludes to the Civil War (she tells a friend or family member to come directly home if he is wounded) and discusses the holiday season. Mentions a man named Hugh Sidwell and his wife, both Quakers, and describes their clothing as "the fashion of thy grandmother Hopper." Possibly mentions Charles Gibbons. Is concerned about a woman in prison who was "taken further South to Salisbury." Discusses work at the army hospital in Beverly, New Jersey. Mentions a doctor who was "thy grandfather Gibbons's friend."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women nurses; Nursing; United States. General Hospital (Beverly, N.J.); Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman), 1836-1912
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Salisbury (Md.); Beverly (N.J.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends and plans for the coming weeks.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Boston (Mass.)
15 ALsS
2 pages. Is slightly sick. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions "grandfather," possibly referring to Isaac Tatem Hopper.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. The house is being sold. Will call for Sally soon to come home because the matter "requires a united judgment in planning for the future." Praises Dr. Wagner and instructs Sally to consult him about the matter.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Wagner, Clinton, 1837-1914
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Beverly (N.J.)
2 pages. Talks about Julia's visit.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Discusses recent events regarding family and friends. Mentions a "father" (possibly Sally's father, James Sloan Gibbons). Robert Purvis and his wife have come to stay with her during the convention. "Mr. Purvis and wife are to spend convention week with us. They are the only sort of people I care to take in. A hotel would give him shelter, but his wife of darker hue [sp] would find no place."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Purvis, Robert, 1810-1898; Congresses and conventions; Interracial marriage; Race relations; African Americans--Segregation
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses the death of John Wilkes Booth. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including that she spent a day with "grandmother." Asks to be told when Sally is about to return to Boston. She thinks the Hospital may be closed. Mentions Robert Purvis and his wife living with her during the convention, which she considers begging off for the time being.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Booth, John Wilkes, 1838-1865; Purvis, Robert, 1810-1898; Congresses and conventions
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Boston (Mass.)
5 pages. Discusses the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the health of Frederick Seward, the Assistant Secretary who was wounded during the assassination plot. Mr. Baker wrote to her of Mr. Seward, "And believe me, all this terrible injury will not change his course of Christian kindness and justice to his and our enemies." Compares an exclamation of Mr. Seward's to something that Sally's father, James Sloan Gibbons, would say. At the end of the letter, mentions a Charles, possibly Charles Gibbons.
Subjects: Seward, Frederick William; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Had tea with Joseph Choate and is going to [Greenwood?] with him and others. Discusses the mortgage and the will.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Boston (Mass.); Richmond (Va.)
2 pages. Expresses surprise that Rachel Howland, not Rachel Moore, is giving the eulogy for Andrew, and hopes that Andrew will not be upset that a woman is eulogizing him. Praises an address given by John (Hopper?). Discusses the mortgage and the will.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Howland, Rachel Collins Smith (1816-1902); Equality--Social aspects
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Is overwhelmed with work. Discusses the departure of Mr. Hale. Asks Sally to contact Dr. Keans. Discusses upcoming plans and family news. Mentions a "Willie," possibly William Emerson, possibly a cousin on the Hopper side.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Boston (Mass.)
4 pages. Things are busy at the house, with many people paying visits. Everyone misses Uncle John. Julia, Sally and Abby will all be at home for the summer.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Boston (Mass.); Richmond (Va.)
4 pages. Discussion of sending medallions by mail, and of family news and upcoming plans. Sally is going to Northampton.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Georgetown (Washington, D.C.); Northampton (Mass.)
4 pages. Voices that she wants Sally to end her visit elsewhere soon so that she can come home but also encourages her to visit Northampton if she wishes. Mentions as a "dear friend" Sarah Thayer, who may be a prominent Quaker but may be a different person with the same name. Names several people who have paid visits, including Joseph Choate. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Describes an incident involving the accusatory use of the word "Yankee" and "damned Yankee."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Northampton (Mass.)
4 pages. Wants to know where Sally is and when she will return home. Mentions visits from people including Joseph Choate and Sarah and James Thayer. Discusses how those involved in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and attempted assassination of his colleagues are being sentenced, and states, "I never would give my voice in favor of any capital punishment but in this case would not dare to raise my voice against it." There seems to be a mention of the journalist Parke Godwin ("she goes to Parke Godwin by invitation").
See also Edward Hopper, Corr. sent, Sally G. Emerson.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865; Surratt, Mary, 1820-1865; Capital punishment--Moral and ethical aspects; Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Northampton (Mass.); Boston (Mass.)
4 pages. Sally has just left home. Tells Sally what she did after her departure and of various visits from people to the house. Mentions Charles Emerson, likely a relative of William Emerson.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Maria received word from Fanny [sp] that she is heartbroken over her mother's deteriorating health. Had Joseph Choate, Wilson Powell, Mr. Carter, and others over for tea yesterday. Suggests that Sally considers going to the School of Design.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
15 ALsS
3 pages. Misses Sally. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Has sent out circulars seeking funds for organizational work. Mentions Uncle Edward. Received a letter from James Thayer.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Discusses recent family news and upcoming plans. Some news of "grandmother" and her health. "The Hospital is abandoned" as it is no longer needed. The State hospital is taking over its duties.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.); Albany (N.Y.)
3 pages. Encloses $10 to buy gifts for Aunt Lizzy when she visits. Praises Isaac (Gibbons). Edwin and Mary are selling their home. Mentions a friend who "spoke beautifully of William the other evening," likely referring to William Emerson, Sally's husband. Discusses plans for the next few weeks.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Nyack (N.Y.); Glen Cove (N.Y.)
2 pages. Possibly discusses the cholera outbreak of 1866, saying "the Epidemic rages on the Island." Mentions A. E. Rogers. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including time spent with her sister Rachel and "grandmother."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
7 pages. Details the boat trip with Lucy through Maryland and Virginia and the warm reception given them by the crew, whose captain she had travelled with before. Meets with many black people and discusses the effects of emancipation. Discusses the continued poverty and suffering, including being paid less than a living wage. "The laws give no protection whatever to the colored man, and the suffering by hard treatment and starvation is horrible."
Subjects: Slavery; African Americans--Social conditions; Labor laws and legislation; Race relations; Wages; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Slaves--Emancipation
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.); Charles County (Md.); Westmoreland County (Va.)
2 pages. Informs her of the death of Eva, and says that the funeral will delay her trip to meet Sally in Boston.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); Boston (Mass.)
2 pages. Tells Sally not to correct or circulate the Treasury Report. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including Mr. Thayer and Dr. Walker.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902; Walker, James, 1794-1874
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses the high demand of women from The Home (later the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including Anne Sever [sp], Bessie [sp] Beach, Mr. Morse, and Rose Wagner. Mentions having a black eye.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women employees; Women--Services for; Women ex-convicts
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions "the Philosopher." Discusses the experience of nursing people who are ill or injured. James Sloan Gibbons is going to Delaware shortly.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan), 1810-1892; Women nurses; Nursing
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Delaware
3 pages. Sally is going to Northampton. James Sloan Gibbons has returned from Delaware where he was working on the "Delaware project." Friends are encouraging James to buy land in Delaware, and Horace Greeley says "anything" James "writes about" the project "will have a place in the Tribune."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Northampton (Mass.)
3 pages. Describes her stay in Beverly Farms and her travels to other parts of Massachusetts. Mentions James B. Thayer and a Mrs. Emerson. Is on her way to Cambridge the following day.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902
Relevant locations: Beverly Farms (Mass.); Cambridge (Mass.); Salem (Mass.)
3 pages. Includes a newspaper clipping of an article written by Julia - a review of a German primer. There is an upcoming election. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, especially the illness of a friend. Mentions "the Philosopher," Sally Thayer, and a General Van Allen.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Delaware; Boston (Mass.); Philadelphia (Pa.); Lancaster (Pa.); Staten Island (New York, N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent family news, finances, furniture, and logistics surrounding The Home (later the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts. "The Philosopher is to retire into private life...and his whereabouts is not to be known at all." Briefly discusses the upcoming election.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cambridge (Mass.)
3 pages. 'This is the Philosopher's last day in this region." Mentions a Mrs. Emerson. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions The Home (later the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts, in a conversation with a friend, possibly as a resource for a place he can get his clothes mended, or that can teach him how to mend clothes.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Boston (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends and the state of her home. "I will attend to Randalls Island at once."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Randalls Island (N.Y.)
26 ALsS
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Two friends have been appointed to positions on the Health Board.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Wants to know if Sally has safely reached her destination (Linnport?) by boat. Mentions Charles Emerson and her wife, who are with Sally. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including about recent appointments to positions in the Health Department and other appointments.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); York (Me.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Discusses her work at the "Asylum" and says, "We took in our first colored baby, although Mrs. Garrison expressed a hope that we would never get so low as that…no one had the courage to ask a white mother to take it…I do not care what the color is, if I can do it any good." Briefly discusses "work…with our Home sisters" from the Isaac T. Hopper Home and the fact that Julia is getting ready to go to Beverly.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Berkshire County (Mass.); Barnstable (Mass.); Boston (Mass.); Beverly (N.J.)
2 pages. Discusses several books (including "Middlemarch") and mentions, at the end, a financially-related "arrangement."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
6 pages. Discusses recent events concerning friends/family. Briefly talks about her diet kitchen and what she has been reading. Describes a domestic servant she employs.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; New York Diet Kitchen Association
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Beverly Farms (Mass.); Barnstable (Mass.)
4 pages. Discusses events from The Home (later the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including Alice Morse who had a tumor removed from her side.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women--Services for; Women ex-convicts
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Beverly Farms (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Wants Sally to read an article called "Reasons for not celebrating the Centennial in Philadelphia."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Barnstable (Mass.); York (Me.); Beverly Farms (Mass.)
4 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Talks about Sally being named after Abby's mother.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Isles of Shoals (Me. and N.H.); Beverly Farms (Mass.); York (Me.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Receives a letter from Mary Choate. Sally seems to be travelling abroad and is currently in Neuchatel, Switzerland.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Beverly Farms (Mass.)
5 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Sally seems to be travelling abroad and may stay in Paris for the winter. Praises the new Health Department's conduct in dealing with cholera in New York. Discusses Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi's marriage to Dr. Jacobi and atheistic views.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Jacobi, Mary Putnam, 1842-1906; Women physicians
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Berkshire County (Mass.)
5 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Also addresses money. Sally is abroad. Possibly "visited the Shakers."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Paris (France); Berkshire County (Mass.); Dutchess County (N.Y.)
3 pages. Sally will return from Paris after the winter. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends and upcoming visiting plans. Mentions a friend who donated funds to three of Abby Hopper Gibbons's organizations: the Infant Asylum, the Isaac T. Hopper Home, and the Diet Kitchen. Also mentions government funding. Also mentions that the "panic" of illness - likely cholera - has become less intense.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan); Social service; New York Diet Kitchen Association
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Maryland; Philadelphia (Pa.); Albany (N.Y.)
7 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, notably Joseph and Mrs. Choate and a Miss Putnam (likely Mary Putnam Jacobi). Mentions "The Home" (the Isaac T. Hopper Home). Mentions that James B. Thayer was appointed as a professor of law at Harvard. Discusses the mistreatment of working-class communities/children by the "Commissioners": "The Island condemns the Commissioners and I hold them convicted of gross neglect and inhumanity." Discusses the upkeep of and donations to her organizations.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan); Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902; Charities; Working class
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cambridge (Mass.); Boston (Mass.); Salem (Mass.); Philadelphia (Pa.); Randalls Island (N.Y.)
1 page. Note on the anniversary of William Gibbons's birthday.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Northampton (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions fundraising for the Infant Asylum. Has contacted the Commissioner/officials to discuss her problems with their policies.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan); Social service
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Boston (Mass.); Philadelphia (Pa.); Randalls Island (N.Y.)
3 pages. Friends and acquaintances are ill. The Isaac T. Hopper Home, the Diet Kitchen, and the Infant Asylum are generally doing well. Discusses matters surrounding possession of the house.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Social service; New York Diet Kitchen Association
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cambridge (Mass.); Washington (D.C.)
4 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including William Emerson, Sally's husband. Discusses raising money for the Diet Kitchen, the Infant Asylum, and The Home (later the Isaac T. Hopper Home).
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Social service; Women--Services for; New York Diet Kitchen Association
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Albany (N.Y.)
4 pages. Discusses socializing with politicians in Albany, lobbying for her charities. Mentions the help of Joseph Choate. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Praises her daughter Julia's interest in and activism for the Diet Kitchen.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917; Social service; New York Diet Kitchen Association
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Albany (N.Y.); Barnstable (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses her recent sickness, recovery, and restlessness. She believes working at the Infant Asylum would help her recovery.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Social service
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Discusses travelling to Albany to receive government funding for her charities, the Infant Asylum and The Home (later the Isaac T. Hopper Home). Mentions aid from Joseph Choate. Less money was awarded to The Home, as the House Speaker did not have faith in "so called" sinners. Of the women associated with The Home, she says she will "stand by them long as I live." Discusses her daughter Julia's active involvement in the Diet Kitchen. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. James B. Thayer wrote her to announce the birth of another daughter.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917; Social service; Women--Services for; Women ex-convicts; New York Diet Kitchen Association; Isaac T. Hopper Home
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Albany (N.Y.)
15 ALsS
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Chancellor McCourn [sp] has died.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Written on New York Diet Kitchen stationery. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Is about to return home after relaxing in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Uncle Louis has died.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Ocean Grove (N.J.)
4 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, particularly the health or illness of loved ones. Mentions the new "Elevated" train near to her home that creates a polluted and noisy environment for "the community" and for sick people in particular - she calls it the "Hellevated." Encloses a message from "the Tribune," possibly regarding concerns related to public health, and says, "it does not impress me as an article to secure help of the right kind."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); York Harbor (Me.); Boston (Mass.); Barnstable (Mass.)
4 pages. Sally will soon return home. Briefly discusses malaria, and believes that if people do not expose themselves to cool weather, they will protect themselves from it. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
6 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Complains about the new "Elevated" train near her home.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Mount Vernon (Westchester County, N.Y.); Boston (Mass.); Barnstable (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends and recent donations to her organizations. Also mentions the Thayers. Refers to "the dolls."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cambridge (Mass.); Randalls Island (N.Y.)
1 page. Wishes Sally a happy New Year.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Describes the Infant Asylum.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Social service; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Staten Island (New York, N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions Dr. Cary, a doctor who she describes as "a rare woman of remarkable executive ability, cheerful hopeful nature, and for the [?] for whom she labors, no better could be found in man or woman."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women in medicine
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Providence (R.I.)
2 pages. Written on New York Diet Kitchen stationery. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, particularly a man named Colbert, who was formerly enslaved by Jefferson Davis and whom she helped educate.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions Lansdale (Pa.?).
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Wishes Sally a happy birthday. Discusses upcoming visiting plans.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
17 ALsS
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Discusses voting in the upcoming 1880 presidential election between Garfield and Hancock.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881; Hancock, Winfield Scott, 1824-1886
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Salem (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, particularly people's health.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Providence (R.I.)
2 pages. Letter saying hello. Sent from Greenwood. Date looks like "1880," but appears to be addressed to Sally as a child, and Sally has marked it "1850" on the back of the letter.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Has been traveling; just left Wilmington and is on her way to Greenwood. Date looks like "1880," but appears to be addressed to Sally as a child, and Sally has marked it "1850" on the back of the letter. Envelope addressed to James Sloan Gibbons at Ocean Bank in New York. Says "Give my love to Grandfather"- possibly Isaac T. Hopper.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.); Wilmington (Del.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Written from Bonnie Haven, the home of Lucy Gibbons Morse and James Morse. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including Francis O'Kate [sp] at the Cotocheeset House and Anna Davis Hallowell.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hallowell, Anna, 1835-1905
Relevant locations: Cotuit (Mass.); Barnstable (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Planning to return to New York from Massachusetts.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Cotuit (Mass.); New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cotuit (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Has had a very busy week.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Monmouth Beach (N.J.)
2 pages. Wishes Sally a happy birthday. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including the funeral of Elizabeth Manny [sp].
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Boston (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions Anna Powell, possibly Anna Rice Powell, who is married to the Quaker social reformer Aaron M. Powell. Tells Sally that someone was seeking her as a teacher because she had heard that "Mrs. Emerson [is] the best teacher in New York."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Boston (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends and logistics regarding a barrel being sent through the mail/put in storage. Was unable to return home because she and other of her family members fell ill at Bonnie Haven (the home of Lucy Gibbons Morse and James Morse), potentially due to food poisoning.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Planning for an upcoming visit.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.); New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses mail.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discussion of an upcoming election, particularly regarding the politician Roscoe Conkling. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Conkling, Roscoe, 1829-1888
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Washington (D.C.); Albany (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Discussion of visiting and logistics, and then discussion of the election. Writes, "What a relief that the President improves from day to day," likely refering to James A. Garfield, the president at the time who was shot several days prior to the writing of this letter.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881; Lapham, Elbridge Gerry, 1814-1890; Miller, Warner, 1838-1918; Conkling, Roscoe, 1829-1888
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Barnstable (Mass.)
3 pages. The President's health is not improving, but the surgeon Frank Hastings Hamilton is set to operate on him, and Abby hopes Hamilton will be able to improve his condition. Discusses upcoming plans and recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions "Beverly Beach," possibly a location at Beverly Farms, Ma. Julia attended a Temperance meeting. Mentions a General Howland, possibly Joseph Howland.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan); Young Men's Christian associations; Hamilton, Frank Hastings, 1813-1886
Relevant locations: Ocean Grove (N.J.); Barnstable (Mass.); Washington (D.C.)
18 ALsS
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. "Mayor Grace has left the city." Mentions the White Mountains, possibly in New Hampshire: "Happy letters come from thee - and the White Mountains."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Grace, William Russell, 1832-1904; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Letter sent from Bonnie Haven, the home of Lucy Gibbons Morse and James Morse. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Cotuit (Mass.); Barnstable (Mass.)
2 pages. Letter sent from Bonny Haven, the home of Lucy Gibbons Morse and James Morse. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Cotuit (Mass.); New York (N.Y.)
1 page. Abby has returned home.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cotuit (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses visiting plans. Mentions Mary Dewey, potentially the biographer Mary E. Dewey. Mentions Rockaway as a location.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cotuit (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Says she has "written to Concord" regarding someone named Wilson.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.); Concord (Mass.)
4 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions that a friend or family member is going to Ruschberg, possibly meaning the municipality in Germany, but possibly referring to the name of a family called Rusch. Mentions the activist Dorothea Dix, wondering whether she is "in this life, or the other."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887; Women political activists
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cotuit (Mass.); Stratford (N.J.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. "New pupils are coming" - possibly students that Julia is educating at the house.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, the state of the house, and the new students coming in.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Connecticut
4 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends and the state of the house. Mentions Mrs. Dewey, potentially the biographer Mary E. Dewey.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.); Concord (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends and the state of the house.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James S. (James Sloan)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Concord (Mass.); Cambridge (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Discusses the Western Union strike and her opinions on it, saying "I hope the rich may be made to pay the poor higher wages while I think a man who is earning his daily bread had better stick and take what he can get."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Wages; Strikes and lockouts
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cotuit (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including her cook.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. She seems to be travelling.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Sally is on a "pilgrimage." Her husband, James Sloan Gibbons, suspected Sally had Malaria.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Pittsfield (Mass.); Cotuit (Mass.); Washington (D.C.); Gloucester (Mass.)
2 pages. Letter addressed from East Grancester [sp], Massachusetts. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Gloucester (Mass.)
1 page. Possibly a letter fragment. She owes Sally some money.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
15 AlsS
1 page. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Discusses politics; mentions the County Organization, Republican wing, and Senator Hoar (possibly Massachusetts senator George F. Hoar).
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including her daughter Julia and Sarah Powell.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Asks if Sally took Julia's stockings.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. She and her daughter Julia were delayed for two hours when their train went off the track.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including Louisa Black, Janine Morse, her daughter Lucy, and others. Julia is taking a Harvard course and has written a story.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including her daughter Julia, Susy and Ellen Emerson, and others. Sally is travelling to Canaan [sp], Lexor, and Pittsfield (possibly Massachusetts). Hopes that Sally can go to Bonnie Haven (the home of Lucy Gibbons Morse and James Morse) and Cotuit. Mentions Julia going to Rockaway.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Canaan (Conn.)
1 page. Short letter discussing recent news concerning family/friends. Probably written from New York.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
1 page. Possibly a letter fragment. Says, "The important point is, that we keep our balance and retain a sufficient amount of sense to steer our course."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Written from Morion [sp]. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Something negative occurred to a family she knows, possibly a death.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Greenwich (N.Y.); New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Written from Morion [sp]. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Something negative occurred to a family she knows, possibly a death. Mentions a Sarah, possibly her sister. It is unclear whether the Sarah in the letter is grieving a loved one or is ill herself.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
2 pages. Is "now in fine condition" but suggests that she was recently ill.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
1 page. Forwards two letters to Sally.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Making plans.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Making plans. Discusses home renovations. Then discusses political news regarding the campaigns and/or elections of Grover Cleveland and William E. Chandler.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908; Chandler, William E. (William Eaton), 1835-1917
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cotuit (Mass.)
19 ALsS
2 pages. Possibly a letter fragment. Describes Mount Washington, Berkshire County, Mass.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Berkshire County (Mass.)
2 pages. Describes Mount Washington, Berkshire County, Mass. Mentions a Mrs. R. W. Emerson and an Ellen, likely Lidian Jackson, who was married to Ralph Waldo Emerson, and their daughter, Ellen. Suggests that Sally is about to visit Mrs. Emerson and Ellen. Discusses the recent deaths of people in her life.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Lidian Jackson, 1802-1892
Relevant locations: Berkshire County (Mass.)
2 pages. Discussion of the "$500 bequest to the Endorsement fund to the D.K.A." Discusses recent news concerning family/friends in Mount Washington, Berkshire County, Mass.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Berkshire County (Mass.); New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends and home renovations.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Describes Mount Washington, Berkshire County, Mass. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Has received a letter regarding a governor's recent veto of a bill, and discusses the veto in relation to the topic of prisons.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Prisons
Relevant locations: Berkshire County (Mass.); New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, particularly the topic of health.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: Berkshire County (Mass.); Philadelphia (Pa.); Skaneateles (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news from Berkshire County. Mentions a Willie Seward, possibly a relative of former U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward. Is "impatient to hear that 'our girls' have their certificates," possibly referring to the students of one of her daughters. Sends her love to Lydian and Ellen, likely Lidian Jackson, who was married to Ralph Waldo Emerson, and their daughter, Ellen.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Lidian Jackson, 1802-1892
Relevant locations: Berkshire County (Mass.)
3 pages. Written from Spurs [sp.], a location she has mentioned before in letters from Mount Washington, Berkshire County, Mass. Discusses recent news from her time in the mountains. Praises a Reverend (Rev Hoote? [sp.]): "I...understand why they make him President."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news from her time in the mountains. Has been reading the Life and Letters of Agassiz, likely Louis Agassiz, and "Far Away and Long Ago" by Fanny Kemble. Possibly notable because of these figures' political views: Kemble was an abolitionist, and Agassiz, though he did not support slavery, endorsed scientific racism.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873; Kemble, Frances Anne, 1809-1893
Relevant locations: Berkshire County (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent family/household news. Mentions a Mrs. Jacobi, likely Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi - Julia is staying with Mrs. Jacobi, who says that Julia's health is improving.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Jacobi, Mary Putnam, 1842-1906; Women physicians
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Possibly a letter fragment. Has gone to the Office of Charities "to get permits for Christmas day." Also "received a subpoena...to appear before [Lamar] of the Supreme Court" - possibly Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II - and the case was related to Erastus Lyman. "The lawyer thanked me graciously for my assistance."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Lamar, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus, 1825-1893
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news from Canaan, Connecticut, and upcoming plans. It is possible that this letter is addressed to someone other than Sally.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Canaan (Conn.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, particularly the topic of health. Encloses a clipping from the Tribune. Mentions "Uncle Joe" - possibly Joseph Choate.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Washington (D.C.); New Haven (Conn.)
1 page. A note.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions the Thayers, and Lydian and Ellen (likely Lidian Jackson, who was married to Ralph Waldo Emerson, and their daughter, Ellen). Mentions "Beverly" - likely a person, and not the place that she has historically visited.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Lidian Jackson, 1802-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news regarding her life.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
2 pages. Letter fragment. A note.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
1 page. Letter fragment. A note. Sally is relocating. It is possible that this letter is wrongly dated and that it was written in 1893, at the end of Abby's life.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Grieving the death of her son William Gibbons, who died in 1855. Sends a package to William Emerson with some of her son's things and asks him to take charge of the package.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
8 letters addressed to "my dear children", 1 to "my precious children", 1 to "my daughters dear" 2 to "dear ones all", and 1 to "my dear daughter", 1 to "dear Julia & Lucy".
Physical Description14 ALsS
3 pages. Letter to her daughters Sally and Julia, who are away at school. Tells them to work hard and obey their teacher, Mrs. Sedgwick. Mrs. Elizabeth Buckminster Dwight Sedgwick (Mrs. Charles Sedgwick) was an author and headmistress of a nationally recognized girls' school. Instructs them to be "lady-like" and "womanly." Mentions visiting a Paper Factory. Mentions travelling to Boston and Bristol. Discusses visiting Aunt Maria and Uncle David.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Boston (Mass.); Lenox (Mass.)
3 pages. Letter to her daughters Sally and Julia, who are away at school. Discusses the subject of letter writing and councils them to write conservatively. She is preparing a package to send them. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends; her father, Isaac T. Hopper, has been sick with a concerning cold.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Lenox (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses christmas presents. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including her immediate family. Recounts donating dolls and candy to the sick children at Randalls Island, and suggests that her daughters help make clothes for the dolls to donate. She says, "I expect to keep these poor sick children supplied with dolls and toys while I live."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Orphanages; Children--Hospital care
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Randalls Island (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including her son Willie.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Berates her daughters for trying to skip school to spend time with Willie. Discusses raising money for Kossuts [sp]. Discusses the illness and aging of her father, Isaac T. Hopper.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Lenox (Mass.)
4 pages. She has been spending time by her father's (Isaac T. Hopper) bedside while he is very unwell. Makes arrangements for Sally and Julia during the holidays. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including her other children and Mrs. Elizabeth Buckminster Dwight Sedgwick (Mrs. Charles Sedgwick), an author and headmistress of a nationally recognized girls' school.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Lenox (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Much of her time has been spent taking care of her father, Isaac T. Hopper, who is very ill.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Lenox (Mass.)
3 pages. Excuses herself for not writing more frequently and says her eyes are weak; "I [intend] to make up all deficiencies when they improve." Anne Moore is getting married. Has "been to [Peysu's]" in search of what seems to be an object she ordered - a [Zephyr Spirit] - likely an article of clothing because she says, until it arrives; "You shall be obliged to wrap your scarfs in a towel and keep them carefully until a fresh importation of the article shall appear."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Lenox (Mass.)
2 pages. Abby must remain where she is for a few days before she can return to the children to whom she's writing. Mentions Uncle Si (Josiah Hopper), who is possibly ill or in trouble.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
3 pages. Is with a group of people in the Berkshires, paying tribute to and grieving William Gibbons, her son who died while he was a student at Harvard in 1855.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892; Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864
Relevant locations: Berkshire County (Mass.); Milton (Mass.)
3 pages. Describes a trip to Cambridge. Some news about the making and mending of clothes.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.); New York (N.Y.); Boston (Mass.)
3 pages. Describes a trip to Cambridge, especially meeting many people associated with Harvard University.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; Walker, James, 1794-1874
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.); Waltham (Mass.); New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Possibly a letter fragment. Making plans and asking the daughter who is receiving this letter to come home.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Describes a trip to Washington, D.C. Heard Channing preach a sermon, possibly the Unitarian clergyman William Henry Channing, a Christian socialist and supporter of equal rights for women. Describes a notable woman "whom they call Dr. Walker," but a different Dr. Walker than the one associated with Harvard.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); Baltimore (Md.)
1 letter addressed to "my dearest all", 3 to "my dear children", 1 to "all my dear ones", 4 to "dear ones all", 7 to "my dear daughter"
Physical Description16 ALsS
6 pages. Possibly a letter fragment. Recounts that, on May 24, she was with Sally (probably her daughter Sally) somewhere in the Maryland-Virginia region when suddenly they were told by members of the Michigan Regiment that the area was "completely surrounded" by troops. Escaped with Sally and others to Winchester, then Hagerstown, then Green Castle, "Greensburgh," from where she writes the letter.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Washington County (Md.); Richmond (Va.); Winchester (Va.); Martinsburg (W. Va.); Hagerstown (Md.); New York (N.Y.); Chicago (Ill.)
4 pages. Possibly a letter fragment. Abby appears to be staying in the South for some time. She writes about the Civil War, on both personal and political levels. She discusses and compares the generals Frémont, McClellan and Burnside. Expresses concern about Jimmy Lowell, likely the brother of the Civil War nurse Anna Lowell.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Frémont, John C. (John Charles), 1813-1890; Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865; McClellan, George B. (George Brinton), 1826-1885; Burnside, Ambrose Everett, 1824-1881; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); Baltimore (Md.); Harpers Ferry (W. Va.); Winchester (Va.); Richmond (Va.); Boston (Mass.)
12 pages. Says hello to her family. Jimmy Lowell, likely the brother of the Civil War nurse Anna Lowell, has died. Appears to be serving as an army nurse in Winchester. Will travel to Point Lookout, an army prison camp that holds Confederate soldiers and also serves as a place of dwelling for civilians and Union soldiers.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); Winchester (Va.); New York (N.Y.); Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Interacts with multiple Senators in Washington to attain resources. Among others, mentions a Senator Howard, possibly Jacob M. Howard; a senator Wickliffe, possibly Charles A. Wickliffe; and a Senator Grimes, possibly James Grimes. Visits a Committee "who are establishing a permanent home for such nurses, as have lost their health in Army service." Defends and praises William H. Seward, the Secretary of State, for his part in the Emancipation Proclamation, stating that he "made it all it is" and "is in fact all the backbone the Cabinet has." Civil War nurse Anna Lowell is sick.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Seward, William H. (William Henry), 1801-1872; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Describes her arrival to Point Lookout, particularly the varying ways in which she and her daughter Sally Hopper Gibbons Emerson were received. Encountered Dorothea Dix.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; Military hospitals; Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.); Washington (D.C.)
4 pages. Possibly a letter fragment. Describes events at Point Lookout, where she worked as a nurse during the Civil War.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War work; Military hospitals
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.); New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Describes problems at Point Lookout, including the fact that the people there cannot receive mail because their postal supplies were lost in a flood.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War work; Military hospitals; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.); Washington (D.C.); Leonardtown (Md.)
3 pages. Written from New York, on paper from Hammond General Hospital, Point Lookout. Has returned home safely. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Also discusses wills and finances: refers to "the Institution founded by Grandfather" and states that "the money comes to us, because it bears his name." Is possibly writing to Sally, because she is asking her daughter to return to New York "from that Point," possibly referring to Lookout Point.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.); Milton (N.Y. : Town)
1 page. Likely to her daughter Sally and her husband William Emerson, congratulating them on their wedding which took place the day before. "I rejoice for your sake and ours that you are about to begin life anew."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; Marriage
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Likely written to Sally. Mentions a William, likely Sally's husband, William Emerson. Mentions a Senator Wilson, possibly Henry Wilson. A friend leaves, "disgusted," when she speaks truthfully of her experiences at Point Lookout.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); Boston (Mass.); Point Lookout (Md.); Arlington (Va.)
2 pages. Is being held, likely in Washington, and likely due to the presence of Confederate soldiers. Will be able to leave in the evening. Instructs: "Do not eat trash - be sensible and ignore all rations."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
4 pages. Likely written to Sally. Discusses plans and "arrangements," and gives reports on people's health, possibly people whom she is nursing. Is spending the day at her organization, The Home (later the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts. Will go tomorrow to be photographed in Staten Island.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Social Service
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Washington (D.C.); California; Staten Island (New York, N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses upcoming plans and finances. Mentions the Civil War nurse Clara Thomas.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Beverly (N.J.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Discusses religion.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Likely writes to Sally. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Is busy with her organization, The Home (later the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts, as well as with the German Industrial School, of which she is president.
Subjects: Isaac T. Hopper Home; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892; Social Service
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Davids Island (N.Y.); California
2 pages. Letter likely sent to her family; written on official paper from the United States Sanitary Commission in Washington, D.C. Is nursing wounded soldiers.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Possibly a letter fragment; likely sent to her family. Is responsible for many tasks related to war work; she has "at least 50 callers on all sorts of business per the Colonel to the Contraband." ("Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines). Mentions a Mrs. Seward, likely a relative of Secretary of State William H. Seward.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Slavery; Contraband of war; War work; Fugitive slaves
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892; Purvis, Robert, 1810-1898
Relevant locations: Salem (Mass.)
4 pages. Possibly writes from Point Lookout or Washington, D.C., or while traveling by boat. "Tell thy father...not to write again to Washington while his wife is here." Says to soldiers, "May you be found true, loyal men - and never return a slave to his master."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Slavery; Fugitive slaves
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); New York (N.Y.); Point Lookout (Md.); Baltimore (Md.)
4 pages. Describes serving as a nurse for the "Contraband" ("Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines). Describes her discussions with senators about what she has been experiencing, and the general ignorance of these senators and other men in positions of power. Discusses at length the behavior of the Surgeon General, whom she finds to be ignorant and an abuser of his power - says that he "hates Protestant women."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Slavery; War work; Women nurses; Nursing; Military hospitals; Fugitive slaves; Contraband of war
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); New York (N.Y.); Point Lookout (Md.); Newburyport (Mass.)
5 letters addressed to "My dear daughter", 1 to "dear Sally & dear Julia", 3 to "dear ones at home", 1 to "my own dear child", 3 to "dear family", 1 to "family near & dear", 1 to "dear ones all", 1 fragment to a child
Physical Description16 ALsS
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Additionally, "we are prospering in our public affairs" - possibly referring to organizational fundraising.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Has to deliver an announcement regarding a recent accusation that she is "hitched in to the Democratic party." Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Concord (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends as well as upcoming travel plans.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Walker, James, 1794-1874; Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902
Relevant locations: Milton (N.Y. : Town); Boston (Mass.); Cambridge (Mass.); Salem (Mass.); Concord (Mass.)
3 pages. Heard a sermon by a Mr. Chaney, likely George Leonard Chaney, a Unitarian minister from Salem, Massachusetts. Describes going to the theater with a Mr. Hepworth and seeing people of all social classes - especially working-class people - present at the show. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Social classes; Walker, James, 1794-1874
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.); Fitchburg (Mass.); Concord (Mass.); New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, especially Mr. Chaney (likely George Leonard Chaney, a Unitarian minister from Salem, Massachusetts), whom she praises. Met with him and others at his Studio to discuss topics, including women becoming members of school committees.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women in education
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
2 pages. Probably addressed to her daughter, Julia. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including the deaths of multiple people. Her daughter Lucy and Mr. Morse (James Herbert Morse, Lucy's future husband) are "supremely happy" together.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Julia is abroad and they miss each other. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including Joseph Choate, William Choate (possibly William Gardner Choate), and her husband James.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Addressed to either Lucy Gibbons Morse or Sarah Hopper Gibbons Emerson. Discusses recent news concerning multiple family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Possibly a letter to Lucy Gibbons Morse. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including "the Philosopher," Sally Thayer, and her husband, among others.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her daughter Sally and is staying with Dr. Walker. He procured them tickets to Boston, and said he had "appreciation for women who had seen service."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Walker, James, 1794-1874
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
4 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including Mrs. Choate, Colonel Folsom, Charles William Eliot (President of Harvard), and others. Has been traveling throughout Massachusetts and calling upon friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.); Boston (Mass.); Salem (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Considers visiting James B. Thayer. Will be traveling to Boston.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
4 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including James B. Thayer, Dr. Briggs, Dr. Walker, and the family of Joseph Choate. Will be traveling to Salem.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Walker, James, 1794-1874; Briggs, George W. (George Ware), 1810-1895
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
4 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Cotuit (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including James Walker and a member of the Grimke family. Will be travelling to Salem and Dorchester.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Walker, James, 1794-1874
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.); Salem (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including the Wakelee family and others.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Pittsfield (Mass.)
4 pages. Document contains two letters, one by Abby Hopper Gibbons and one by her daughter Lucy Gibbons Morse. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including Dr. James Walker, James and Charles Lowell, William Choate and George Hepworth. Discusses the abuse of a woman called Katie Hoffine [sp] by her step mother, saying "I must attend to her case personally- and shall try all reasonable ways, and then if I must shall steal her." Talks at length about the women's personal independence.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: Dorchester (Boston, Mass.); Cambridge (Mass.)
2 addressed to "My dear children," 1 to "Dear ones at home."
Physical Description4 copied ALsS
5 pages. Describes the conditions of a military hospital during the Civil War where Gibbons worked as a nurse, and her experiences there. Briefly mentions the arrest of local men for insulting the Union soldiers. Says "the Sanitary Commission is an immense and powerful machinery after a battle." Was photographed with a group of disabled men.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States Sanitary Commission; Women and war; Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Fredericksburg (Va.)
10 pages. Briefly discusses the "Diet Kitchen" she set up in Washington, D.C. Discusses the gratitude of the soldiers whom the Sanitary Commission has aided and her work as a nurse. Describes her trip by boat to White House and Norfolk, including "contraband" and freed people of color ("Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines).
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States Sanitary Commission; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Women and war; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Slavery; Freedmen; New York Diet Kitchen Association
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); Page County (Va.); Norfolk (Va.); Fredericksburg (Va.)
4 pages. Written in Virginia during the Civil War. Discusses Colonel Russell and the capture of Petersburg. When discussing the wounded African American troops, states "I see no difference, save in complexion. It was a satisfaction to take care of them."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States Sanitary Commission; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Women and war; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; African American soldiers
Relevant locations: Bermuda Hundred (Va.); City Point (Hopewell, Va.); Petersburg (Va.)
2 pages. Describes her work caring for the wounded at City Point.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States Sanitary Commission; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Women and war; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses
Relevant locations: City Point (Hopewell, Va.)
9 ALsS.
1 page. Fragment. Briefly describes preparations for a "fair for the Freedmen" that Gibbons will attend with her daughters.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Freedmen
2 pages. Fragment. Mentions her daughters, and perhaps her son William.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Arlington (Va.)
2 pages. Fragment. Written to a former president of the Women's Prison Association shortly after their resignation. Thanks them for their service to the organization.
Subjects: Women's Prison Association of New York
Relevant locations: Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)
4 pages. Fragment. Describes the aftermath of having "home taken away, and everything that made it home," presumably in reference to the New York City draft riots of 1863 when Gibbons's house was looted and burned. Will travel to Point Lookout. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, including the activities of several doctors.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Draft Riot (New York, New York : 1863)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Fragment. Describes the discovery of a spy and talks about a freedwoman (named Mary?) and her family. Briefly discusses the attitudes of freedmen towards their former masters. "I did not think when I left you that I should pass a night with rebels, under their roof."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; War--Relief of sick and wounded; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Slavery; Freedmen
2 pages. Fragment. Describes work at hospitals during the Civil War. Discusses a Miss Bates at length; alludes to the wife of Caleb B. Smith and to Dorothea Dix.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; War--Relief of sick and wounded; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses
2 pages. Fragment. Describes her nursing work during the Civil War, including a young man who died of a head wound. Discusses the poor conditions of the freedmen in Virginia.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; War--Relief of sick and wounded; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Freedmen
Relevant locations: Virginia
2 pages. Fragment. Discusses how fortunate she is to have her friends. The back lists names of people Gibbons met while working as a nurse in the Civil War, including Mrs. Cramer (?), Captain Edwards, W.L. King, and Dr. Wagner.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
5 pages. Fragment. Describes the lives of the "Contraband," a term used during the Civil War to refer to enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines. One such man named John Perry had been recaptured by his master before escaping again; Gibbons helped him gain a new identity and work. Looks forward to receiving clothes for them. "If ever there were an abused, despised, neglected race of human beings, here they are."
Subjects: Slavery; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work
2 pages. Fragment. Recipient unclear. Written while she was involved in General Banks' retreat from Strasburg. She states that "it is said and believed that the rebels have retreated." She also mentions that Dr. Blake and the ambulance are not yet with them.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss, 1816-1894
Relevant locations: Middleburg (Va.); Williamsport (Md.); Hagerstown (Md.)
1 page. Writer notes that they were near the burning of the "old Hull Factory." The fire originated in the room of one of the tenants. It does not appear to be written by Abby Hopper Gibbons, and the paper is ripped off a larger sheet that has some visible writing cut off. "J. Gibbons" is written on the back of the paper.
Subjects: Fires
2 pages. Possibly a fragment. Writes that that they left Dr. Walker's yesterday after visiting for 10 days. She then visited her son Willie's room at Harvard and talked to his friends about him. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Walker, James, 1794-1874
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
3 pages. Fragment. Talks of visiting Boston and Harvard and speaking with friends of her son Willie, including Charles William Eliot (who later became president of Harvard), Alfred S. Hartwell (Willie's former roommate), and Jimmy Lowell. She also talks of visiting Dr. Walker and speaking with him at length of Willie. She expresses unfailing love for her kindred.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Walker, James, 1794-1874; Bereavement; Harvard University; Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman), 1836-1912
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
2 pages. Fragment. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Fragment. Written to Sarah and Julia while they were at the Sedgwick School in Massachusetts. Gives advice to the girls, including advising them to be patient and kind to each other and to be grateful to Mrs. Sedgwick. Mrs. Elizabeth Buckminster Dwight Sedgwick (Mrs. Charles Sedgwick) was an author and headmistress of a nationally recognized girls' school.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
2 pages. Fragment. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
1 letter addressed to "dear William", 1 to "dear Mary", 1 to "dear Mary and George", 1 to "dear Phoebe", 2 to "my dear friend" and 2 to "my dear friends".
Physical Description8 ALsS
2 pages. Thanks William for his kindness and for sending her testimonials about her son William after his passing. Possibly to William Chandler, whom she says Willie spoke of fondly.
Subjects: Chandler, William E. (William Eaton), 1835-1917
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Talks of family grieving over the death of her son William. Describes visiting her brother John Hopper and his wife Rosa when she gave birth to their son, Willie (William DeWolf Hopper).
Subjects: Hopper, John, 1815-1864; Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902; Childbirth; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917; Hopper, De Wolf, 1858-1935
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Fragment. Recipient unclear, though she writes, "you have sensible men in your ranks." She has read a letter from Ambrose Thompson to President Lincoln, and she thinks he has many good points but is wary of his ambitions. "Let our cause be honestly conducted and there will be no failure."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Slavery; Thompson, Ambrose W.
Relevant locations: Winchester (Va.)
3 pages. Writes about the death of her brother, John Hopper.
Subjects: Bereavement; Hopper, John, 1815-1864
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. She hopes to see whomever she is writing to again. She talks about her love for her children and her family. They spent Christmas at Randalls Island, where multiple social facilities were located.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Randalls Island (N.Y.)
2 pages. She invites Phoebe to come stay with her "for a time" in her home in New York.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Thanks friend for sending her the "List of Convicts." She says that "now it remains for the governor to sign our bill," and she presumes that he will. States her pleasure that the governor has "given a woman a place among men," and says that he has her vote now and always (she is talking about Samuel Tilden).
Subjects: Tilden, Samuel J. (Samuel Jones), 1814-1886
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Talks about her immense grief over the loss of her son, William Gibbons.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Bereavement
3 pages. Says that she has received the invitation to the "Annual Meeting" but states that she has been ill and there is a snow storm coming, so she asks Florence to take her chair.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Written from Greenwood. Discusses recent news concerning family.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Lucy and Abby describe a visit to Cambridge where they are staying with Dr. Walker. Lucy describes visiting the observatory where they looked at the stars and looking at the engravings of Murillo in Mr. Grey's collection. They have plans to see Alfred S. Hartwell, the Lowells, and "Charley" Emerson.
Subjects: Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936; Astronomy; Walker, James, 1794-1874
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
Written while AHG was a Civil War nurse.
Physical Description21 ALsS, mostly copies.
4 pages. Damaged letter. She tells him that "everything connected with the mail here is uncertain." She describes the aftermath of "the late horrible battle." She writes that after the battle, many of the wounded were left on the bare ground and people lit fires near them and draped them with blankets. She mentions that the colored people were especially devoted and kind to the wounded in the hospital. The men are being transferred from the Union Hospital, which will be closed, to the Seminary Hospital.
Subjects: Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Nurses, Black; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Winchester (Va.)
3 pages. They have arrived at the Academy Hospital. They visited Bob Robinson's family and talked with a "concourse of colored brothers and sisters" about their conditions and prospects. They will be leaving for Strasburg tomorrow, where Dr. King tells them there are a thousand sick and the suffering is terrible.
Subjects: Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss, 1816-1894; Janney, Samuel M. (Samuel Mcpherson), 1801-1880
Relevant locations: Winchester (Va.); Strasburg (Va.)
4 pages. Everyone at Point Lookout is excited to receive letters. Mentions keeping a diary of her experiences. Discusses Dorothea Dix and her opinions of the Surgeon General. Complains about the Catholic contingent of relief workers occupying too much space, stating "if there was ever an imposition practised upon our poor men, this is one of the greatest magnitude." Discusses the busy day resulting from the arrival of 280 wounded soldiers. Asks her husband to send supplies and not to publish any of the confidential information from her letters.
Subjects: Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work; Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887; Military hospitals; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
4 pages. Very happy to receive supplies for both the workers and the sick soldiers from the latest boat shipment. Dorothea Dix also provided ten boxes of food. Says, "the question has been, not how much can they eat, but how little they can exist upon." Discusses her work as a nurse, and how she has "the command of the hospital... I have hitherto held the rank of "General" but last evening was promoted- am now Major General." She is in contact with a few Washington officials, and is "able to put a stop to some outrages of which I am keeping record." Five new nurses have arrived from Boston.
Subjects: Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work; Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887; Military hospitals; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
8 pages. Is very thankful for her husband securing and sending supplies, especially butter and condensed milk. Dorothea Dix also supplied a large amount of currant jelly. Discusses caring for a man whose master, Thomas Laker, whipped him for allegedly attempting to escape. Discusses her duties and experiences as a war nurse. Complains about the Prussian Dr. Drumacher [sp]. They are expecting an arrival of 800 patients. Has 12 nurses under her direction and praises the work of Mary and Sally (probably her daughter). Misses her family.
Subjects: Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work; Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887; Slavery; Military hospitals; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
8 pages. Suspects her letters aren't reaching their recipients and distrusts the Post Master, who is a drunk and beats a formerly enslaved person (described as a "contraband slave" - a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines). While she respects Dr. Wagner, she is disappointed by his endorsement of the Post Master. Might be able to visit her family soon if she is summoned to testify in the case of their Steward, Mr. Geoffrey. Complains about the Prussian Dr. Drumacher [sp], saying "it is very unusual to find a man so cordially detested by any thing in human shape." Discusses her experiences as a war nurse. 312 patients arrived who were prisoners at Richmond, and there is a shortage of clothing for them. Cared for a black boy who was severely whipped, and she was outraged when he was returned to his master despite her argument to the commander against it.
Subjects: Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work; Slavery; Fugitive slaves; Military hospitals; Contraband of war; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
4 pages. Discusses the event of a freedom seeker who was severely whipped being returned to enslavers after they swore the oath of allegiance. Says that "returning fugitives is a common occurrence" and hopes the next company to take command will be different. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse. 312 patients arrived who were prisoners at Richmond. The Catholic aid contingent receives preferential treatment, but Gibbons does not believe that their patients receive quality care. The Catholic Priest converted an Episcopalian soldier when he was delirious and unable to give true consent.
Subjects: Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work; Fugitive slaves; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
4 pages. Her letters aren't reaching her husband. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse. Much of her time is spent advocating for the "contraband" and caring for the sick ("contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines). Over 500 patients arrived last Sunday and many are begging to be discharged. Convinced the Commander to keep a freedom seeker and give him work. Says recent circumstances "put me in a position to exercise some influence" and many are trying to gain her favor, including the Master Carpenter, Surgeon in charge, and Quarter Master. Tells her husband to be careful what he publishes.
Subjects: Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work; Slavery; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); Military hospitals
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
2 pages. Discusses the many boats passing by and the rumors that Washington is in danger. Discusses the logistics of moving the hospital, and says that the current location will be unsustainable during winter.
Subjects: Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); Military hospitals
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.); Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Comforted a Mr. Carpenter [sp] from Philadelphia, whose son was travelling to Baltimore and unable to visit with him. Received supplies by boat and is thankful for everyone who contributed. Her husband might accompany the next shipment.
Subjects: Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Is leaving Point Lookout next Tuesday and meeting her husband, possibly with her daughter Sally. Received a shipment of supplies.
Subjects: Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
4 pages. Gibbons was in Washington entreating government officials, including Edwin Stanton (Secretary of War), Peter H. Watson (Assistant Secretary of War), and others. Reports that Watson is supportive of her. Met with the wives of officials to form a National Coalition. Attended a women's society meeting and was glad to meet women with anti-slavery sentiments "who are so ready to help the poor contrabands" ("Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines). Mentions that there are many sick soldiers.
Subjects: Watson, Peter H., 1819-1885; Women--Societies and clubs; War work; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. She talks of their 30th wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day. Discusses the arrival of nurses and making accomodations for them.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892; Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends, possibly including Joseph Chaote. She enjoys getting letters from James but is disappointed that she hasn't gotten very many letters from their children. Discusses the death of Anna Brown's boy, who was "willing to let him go rather than to have his suffering prolonged." A woman named Ann A. Skeel wrote to her to donate money, which Abby tells her to put towards condensed milk.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; War work; War--Relief of sick and wounded; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
4 pages. A woman named Ann A. Skeel wrote to her to donate money, which Abby told her to put towards condensed milk. Wants Friends to donate more clothing, especially women's clothing. There has been an outbreak of measles in the camp. Had a long discussion with a General and Colonel concerning "contraband" ("Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines). Requests that her daughter Julia send her clothing and clothing materials.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; War work; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Slavery; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Discusses the terrible news about the death of another of Mrs. Dwight's sons. The brother of one of her nurses was listed as dead, but it was decided to let the nurse find out from an official letter in case the initial reports were inaccurate. The next set of patients will be exchanged prisoners. Anticipates the arriving shipment of many items, including a keg of butter, and clothing from her daughter. Inquires into a woman named Ann A. Skeel, who offered to donate money for condensed milk, which is "the saving of many wounded men." Wishes that people would overcome petty differences and focus on their work.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; War work; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Asks James to collect a shipment of items she and Sally (possibly her daughter) have accumulated while working as war nurses. Unsure whether they will be moving camp, which is dependent upon the movements of the Army of the Potomac.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; War work; Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.); Washington (D.C.)
4 pages. 320 sick and wounded soldiers arrived that morning with more on the way, and many are likely to die. Discusses sitting with and comforting them. She will be very busing with their care. They need more supplies, especially brandy.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; War work; Women nurses; War--Relief of sick and wounded; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
2 pages. Dislikes the overall conduct of "the Planet," which delivered their supplies with some items missing and implicates the captain. Ultimately overlooked it because he took on escaping freedom seekers "who would have been taken by their masters if they had not escaped that very day." One of their current patients is a Quaker from Pennsylvania.
Subjects: War work; Women nurses; Slavery; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Fugitive slaves
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Is homesick. Discusses the 150 patients that arrived from Baltimore and skirmishes with the "rebels." General Lockwood's family is with them (likely Henry Hayes Lockwood).
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; War work; Women nurses; War--Relief of sick and wounded; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.); Baltimore (Md.)
2 pages. Details traveling and some trouble getting through checkpoints.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; War work; Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
Written from Cambridge and Boston, MA.
Physical Description3 ALsS
3 pages. Discusses her visit to Cambridge. Encounters a Mrs. Pendergast whom she had known at Point Lookout. Mentions an article in the Tribune about the resignation of a doctor. Mentions a Mr. Ware, a religious leader associated with Harvard - possibly Henry Ware, who helped create Harvard Divinity School.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902; Walker, James, 1794-1874; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.); Boston (Mass.); Point Lookout (Md.); Milton (N.Y. : Town)
3 pages. Discusses her visit to Cambridge.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902; Walker, James, 1794-1874
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.); Milton (N.Y. : Town); San Francisco (Calif.); Washington (D.C.); Salem (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses her recent travels and upcoming plans. Discusses the recent sales of buildings, and asks James to inquire to the "New Office" about "what is going on there" and to forward the information to her.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.); New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
Written to JSG while he was abroad.
Physical Description23 ALsS.
4 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions Joseph Choate.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends and house repairs. Mentions an article in the Tribune.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent news concerning family/friends. Mentions seeing an Isaac T. Hopper who is planning to visit relatives in Duchess and Glen Cove.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Boston (Mass.); Glen Cove (N.Y.); Northampton (Mass.); Beverly (N.J.); Dutchess County (N.Y.)
2 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses the mail and recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the illness of Wilson Powell.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses the mail and recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Discusses a group of men associated with the Young Men's Christian Association exposed for swindling money.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Swindlers and swindling
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the illness of Edward Russell. Goes to The Home (later called the Isaac T. Hopper Home) on Tuesdays.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the illnesses of Edward Russell and her sister Elizabeth. Mentions an eclipse.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the illnesses of her sister Elizabeth and of Edward Russell.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); East Norwich (N.Y.)
2 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the illness of her sister Elizabeth.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the death and funeral of Mrs. Dr. Bellows.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Is sending him sweet potatoes.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Discusses a severe storm in Boston as well as the Avondale Mine disaster in Scranton, Pennsylvania, that killed over 100 workers. Attended the theater.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Avondale Mine Disaster, Avondale, Pa., 1869
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the illness of Edward Russell. Mentions a coal strike, as well as the Avondale Mine disaster in Scranton, Pennsylvania, that killed over 100 workers.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Avondale Mine Disaster, Avondale, Pa., 1869
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Received a bequest of five hundred dollars for The Home (later called the Isaac T. Hopper Home).
Subjects: Isaac T. Hopper Home; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Mentions Colbert, a man formerly enslaved by Jefferson Davis whom Abby helped get an education. She and her daughter Sarah Emerson are planning to go to West Point to visit the Bigelows. She is happy about the "Republican triumph in Philadelphia."
Subjects: Bigelow, John, 1817-1911; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including Sally Thayer and the health of her daughter Julia. Visited West Point for a few days with her daughter Sally.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); West Point (N.Y.)
3 pages. James is abroad in Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, particularly her daughter Julia, who may travel to Europe for her health.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, Julia, 1837-1889
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 ALsS
3 pages. Discusses the death of her sister Elizabeth Hopper.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Elizabeth, 1803-1872
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Describes her stay at the beach. Asks him to forward letters to her.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Ocean Grove (N.J.)
2 pages. Written from Bonnie Haven, the home of Lucy Gibbons Morse and James Morse, where she plans to stay through next week. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, and mentions The Home (later called the Isaac T. Hopper Home).
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Cotuit (Mass.)
2 pages. Donated dolls, Christmas cards, and other items to charity. Discusses Christmas with family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. In Ocean Grove with some family members and the Hepworths. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Ocean Grove (N.J.)
4 pages. Julia is away at school. Advises her about her school lessons and handwriting. Discusses Christmas presents. Discusses recent events concerning friends/family, including her teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Buckminster Dwight Sedgwick (Mrs. Charles Sedgwick), and Lydia Maria Child, who is writing a biography of Isaac T. Hopper.
Subjects: Child, Lydia Maria, 1802-1880; Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
10 ALsS
4 pages. Julia is away at school. Discusses a new house. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the recent death of Isaac T. Hopper. Has sent her strawberries.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Julia is away at school. Discusses a new house. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the recent death of Isaac T. Hopper. Is sending clothes.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Julia is away at school. Looks forward to her daughters coming home for vacation. Expects them to participate in household affairs. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the Palmer family.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
6 pages. Julia is away at school. Discusses the biography of her father, Isaac T. Hopper and his recent death. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including Julia's teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Buckminster Dwight Sedgwick (Mrs. Charles Sedgwick). Wants Julia to remain at school with Mrs. Sedgwick one more year, and for her daughter Lucy to go as well. Looks forward to teaching her daughters about household affairs.
Subjects: Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Looks forward to Julia coming home from school. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including Julia's teacher Mrs. Sedgwick.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Julia is away at school. Misses her daughters. Is upset that Julia has become a vegetarian. Discusses Christmas presents. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Vegetarianism
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Julia is away at school. Thanks her for the handkerchief. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, mentioning both Mr. Thayer (possibly James Bradley Thayer) and Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. Looks forward to the spring and to Julia coming home.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Julia is away at school. Wants Julia to write to her. Will let her daughters travel back home by themselves. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Written on Julia's 17th birthday. Discusses travelling by train. Is happy that Julia and Sally get along. Discusses recent events concerning family, including the schooling of her children and Julia's future.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses Julia's future, saying "I am led to believe it right to take hold of such work as will enable you to benefit somebody beside those of our own household. Let it not be spent in heaping comforts upon those who were never needy, but seek out, or rather lend a hand to such as happen in your way, and thereby lighten the labour of your mother, who must accomplish what you fail to undertake." Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, particularly the friends of her recently-deceased son William.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Social service
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
18 ALsS
6 pages. Postal conditions are unstable and she has not received any letters after leaving Washington. Describes her experiences as a war nurse. Her daughter Sally fainted after witnessing a man with severe injuries. Says it is "necessary to control one's feelings, as to make ourselves useful in such extremities. I did not dream how much I could endure." Discusses interacting with black people, including a woman named Mary Strange, and receiving an invitation to meet at their church.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Winchester (Va.)
3 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Describes her experiences as a war nurse. Says many men will die because of the "unskillful and positively ignorant butchering of men calling themselves surgeons."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Winchester (Va.)
3 pages. Describes her experiences as a war nurse. Conditions are improving for the nurses and the convalescing patients. Currently caring for many soldiers from New York and Massachusetts. Inspections by the surgeon in charge conclude that their conditions are much better than those maintained by the Catholic contingent. Thankful for the supplies delivered. Is homesick and misses her family. Mentions articles written by her husband James and Bedloe Island.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); Military hospitals
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Misses her family but doesn't know when she will return home. Discusses an article written by her husband James. Asks Julia for information about the men on Bedloe Island. Describes her experiences as a war nurse. Is thankful for the food supplies, including lemons donated by Mr. Choate (probably Joseph Choate).
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
6 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse. Was accused of coming to spread her religion. Mentions her feelings about music. Discusses finding clothes and spelling books for the "contraband" ("Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines). Briefly discusses Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse. Describes the birth of a child to a "contraband" woman ("Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines).
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse. Plans to return home in about a week. Talks at length about the "Contraband" (formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines), some of whom have asked her advice about getting married.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
2 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends and social events. Mentions her attitude towards Secretary of State William Seward and his wife. Describes her affection for Elizabeth Grimes, wife of Iowa Senator James W. Grimes.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Discusses her work with a group of about 30 other women in Washington (including Elizabeth Grimes, wife of Iowa Senator James W. Grimes) to get a bill passed by both houses of Congress (an Act to incorporate the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children). Has been put in charge of the hospital at Point Lookout, Maryland. The Surgeon General (William Hammond?) has offered her support. Visits Frances Seward, wife of Secretary of State William Seward.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women--Political activity; National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.); United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including Elizabeth Sedgwick, Sally and Julia's teacher. Hopes to have the military hospital at Point Lookout "thoroughly organized" soon. Discusses events at the hospital, including an inspection by a medical director.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); Military hospitals
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
5 pages. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including Julia's education. Discusses events at the military hospital at Point Lookout and the news of the army of the Potomac. Is visited by a formerly enslaved man who has previously escaped from and been reclaimed by his master.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Freedmen; Fugitive slaves; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Discusses logistics involving money donated for war relief. Sarah Blunt has smuggled a "Contraband" girl (a formerly enslaved person who had escaped to Union lines) north.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves
3 pages. Written on stationery from the Point Lookout military hospital. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse and her interactions with General Gilman Marston, including his good treatment of the "Contraband" (formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines) and agreement to send several freedom seekers escaping slavery to Washington. Is befriending the Woolsey sisters, who were influential figures in relief work and nursing.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves; Marston, Gilman, 1811-1890; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Written on stationery from the Point Lookout military hospital. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse, including interactions with Confederate prisoners. Her current area may soon be given over to Confederates, to her dismay. Mentions the "Home Legacy."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
5 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse with her daughters Sally and Lucy at the N.J. General Hospital.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; United States. General Hospital (Beverly, N.J.)
Relevant locations: Beverly (N.J.)
3 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse with her daughters Sally and Lucy at the N.J. General Hospital, including a man who wanted his leg further amputated to correct a faulty first job.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; United States. General Hospital (Beverly, N.J.)
Relevant locations: Beverly (N.J.)
3 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse at the N.J. General Hospital, with a focus on the death of Major Potter [sp].
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Death; United States. General Hospital (Beverly, N.J.)
Relevant locations: Beverly (N.J.)
2 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse at the N.J. General Hospital, especially a woman who came to retrieve her husband's body for burial.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War widows; United States. General Hospital (Beverly, N.J.)
Relevant locations: Beverly (N.J.)
27 ALsS
4 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Recently visited "Uncle Mott," possibly referring to James Mott, husband of Lucretia Mott.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses the death of a woman named Eva and her family's reaction.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Death
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Discusses friends encountered on a visit to Boston, including Dr. James Walker and "Mrs. Emerson."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Walker, James, 1794-1874; Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman)
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses a visit to Boston. Visited a "model hospital"; had dinner with the Barnard family, Dr. James Walker, Julia Ward Howe, and others. Briefly recounts Dr. Walker's opinion on women's suffrage.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Walker, James, 1794-1874; Women--Suffrage; Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
3 pages. Describes her visit to Dr. James Walker, the social calls they made together (mostly to Harvard professors and students, including Louis Agassiz) and a festival in support of freedmen. Mentions poet Elbridge J. Cutler and "Anna Lowell's colored home." Concludes with Governor Andrew's death.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Walker, James, 1794-1874
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
3 pages. Attended the funeral of Massachusetts governor John Albion Andrew. Clarifies Dr. James Walker's views on women's suffrage.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Walker, James, 1794-1874
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
2 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Salem (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, and her recent visit to Salem. Friends have recently had a baby. Reminisces about her deceased son William's tea pot.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
3 pages. Met Lord and Lady "Amberly," likely John and Katharine Russell, viscount and viscountess Amberley; believes that the Lady "is very much more of a woman, than her husband is a man." Briefly mentions Alfred S. Hartwell, a college friend of her deceased son. Plans to visit school ships and meet Charles Dickens.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Amberley, John Russell, viscount, 1842-1876; Amberley, Katharine Louisa Stanley Russell, viscountess, 1842-1874; Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman), 1836-1912
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
3 pages. Describes her social calls while visiting Boston.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Chapman, Maria Weston, 1806-1885
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
3 pages. Enumerates her social calls while visiting Boston, including an evening spent with a photograph of her deceased son William's grave. Mentions that her daughter Sally has been invited to hear Charles Dickens give a reading.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
2 pages. Tells her daughter she will be coming home from Boston in a few days. Mentions a few social calls she is about to make in Boston.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
2 pages. Complains about how old and infirm her daughter Julia has become. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Written to her daughter Julia, who is visiting Europe. Her husband James Gibbons has been away. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Written to her daughter Julia who is visiting Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the death of Dr. J. Stearns's daughter and the publication of "The fairy egg, and what it held" illustrated by her daughter Lucy Gibbons Morse. Mentions the Isaac T. Hopper Home.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936; Isaac T. Hopper Home
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Written to her daughter Julia, who is visiting Europe, and whom she misses. Had dinner with her daughter Lucy and her future husband James H. Morse. Mentions the Isaac T. Hopper Home.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Isaac T. Hopper Home
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Written to her daughter Julia, who is visiting Europe. Discusses friends/family, including her eventual son-in-law James H. Morse, whom she considers very manly. Mentions the Isaac T. Hopper Home.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936; Isaac T. Hopper Home
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Written to her daughter Julia, who is visiting Europe. Discusses friends/family and her search for a new house.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Written to her daughter Julia, who is soon to return from a trip to Europe. Discusses friends/family and her search for a new house. Has been very busy tending to her sick husband.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Written to her daughter Julia, who is on her way home from a trip to Europe. Is searching for a new house. Discusses friends/family, including her future son-in-law James H. Morse and his interest in her daughter Lucy; describes him as a "Know nothing" and believes he will be Lucy's "salvation." Received a letter asking for biographical details on "Kitty" Caroline Gibbons and her work at the Isaac T. Hopper Home.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends on a visit to Boston.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
3 pages. Describes a visit to Cambridge and Boston. Passed Thanksgiving with Dr. Walker and his nieces, one of whom was a clerk in a real estate office.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Walker, James, 1794-1874; Women employees
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends and her activities in Cotuit.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Cotuit (Mass.)
1 page. Brief note discussing family/friends and urging Julia to listen to Dr. Smith.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Discusses friends/family, including Julia's sister Lucy Gibbons. Likely written while Lucy and Julia were away at school in the 1850s.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Apparently written during Gibbons's time as a Union nurse during the Civil War. Discusses Dorothea Dix and the Sanitary Commission.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887; United States Sanitary Commission
Relevant locations: Alexandria (Va.)
3 pages. Likely written while her daughters Sally and Julia were away at school with Mrs. Elizabeth B.D. Sedgwick in the 1850s. Discusses her father Isaac T. Hopper and gives her daughters advice on dress and conduct.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
2 copied ALsS
5 pages. Asks if she can do anything to help Mrs. Elizabeth B.D. Sedgwick, Julia's teacher. Gives her opinion of General Butler. Describes attending a woman's convention held by the "'Insane"' where she saw Louisa Schuyler, Dorothea Dix, and others.
Subjects: Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893; Schuyler, Louisa Lee; Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women--Congresses
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
6 pages. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse, including treating the wounded on the poorly-ventilated ship "New World." Describes the general admiration for the "colored troops" in battle. Discusses a Colonel Russell and General Gilman Marston. Speaks at length of the suffering of the wounded.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Marston, Gilman, 1811-1890; Hospital ships; African American soldiers
Relevant locations: City Point (Hopewell, Va.)
16 ALsS
1 page. Fragment. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: City Point (Hopewell, Va.); Bermuda Hundred (Va.)
2 pages. Discusses friends/family and alludes to financial difficulties.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
3 pages. Discusses visits from her friends and from classmates of her deceased son William Gibbons.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses her relationship with her daughter Lucy, whom she advises on proper conduct and urges to make "adornment of the mind the first consideration."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936
Relevant locations: Lenox (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses friends/family and gives advice to her daughter Lucy.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
8 pages. Discusses her work as a war nurse, in particular her visits to the Columbian Hospital and various regimental hospitals. Praises Mrs. Jacob Bigelow and alludes to the poor conduct of some nurses. Quotes a soldier saying that "one of our mothers would do more to make us well than all the Doctors." Gives her daughter advice on what other women can do to help.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Columbian Hospital (Washington, D.C.); United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Describes her work as a war nurse and the poor conditions at a hospital in Falls Church, VA.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); Falls Church (Va.)
9 pages. Possibly a fragment. Describes her work as a war nurse, the conditions in the hospitals, her dislike of Dorothea Dix, a sermon preached by Robert Robinson at a "Colored Church," and an African-American woman named Mary Strange.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887; African American churches
Relevant locations: Winchester (Va.)
3 pages. Describes her work as a war nurse. Mentions the botched amputations done by a Dr. Baguley.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Winchester (Va.)
5 pages. Thanks her daughter Lucy for a box of supplies she received recently. Describes her work as a war nurse. Mentions that she gave one soldier anti-slavery literature and that many of the soldiers have heard of her father Isaac Tatem Hopper. Many local Quakers help the wounded; they are some of the only ones sympathetic to "the colored people."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Winchester (Va.)
1 page. Short letter asking her daughter Lucy to look after the sick son of a fellow nurse until his mother can arrive.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Describes her work as a war nurse. Discusses a very rule-bound man named Neibrick [sp].
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
6 pages. Describes her work as a war nurse. Says that the practice of returning freedom seekers to their enslavers has been stopped. Describes the "Contraband" (formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines) and asks her daughter to send clothes for them. Says of the contraband that "there is a growing faith in these people and I think time is even now when liberty should be proclaimed."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves; Death; Douglas, John Hancock, 1824-1892; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Is in Washington trying to get a bill through Congress (likely the one for the Association for the Relief of Colored Women). Frustrated by "the everlasting red tape."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women--Political activity; National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.)
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Seems to be a fragment. Describes a confrontation with an enslaver trying to reclaim one of the "Contraband" (formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines) and a discussion among Union soldiers about African-American rights.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves; Equality--Social aspects
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Describes her work as a war nurse, including a party she held for convalescent soldiers. Discusses one of the "Contraband" (formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines) asking her permission to marry another "Contraband."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
8 pages. Discusses recent events concerning friends/family. Mentions women's education. Describes her work as a war nurse. Discusses her son Willie and the effect his death had on her. Describes violence committed by Union soldiers against the Contraband (a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines) and General Lockwood's steps to protect the refugees. Discusses poor hospital conditions.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves; Race relations; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Describes her activities in Washington, including a trip to the Capitol and some words from Secretary of State William Seward.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Seward, William H. (William Henry), 1801-1872
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
4 ALsS
4 pages. Willie is visiting his uncle John Hopper and his family. Discusses recent events concerning friends/family, including a visit from a Mr. Salsado and Dolores, who are learning English. Gives advice on morality; "we do not live for ourselves alone."
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia
4 pages. Willie is visiting an aunt and uncle. Discusses recent events concerning friends/family. Gives advice on morality; "Be ready to make sacrifices for the comfort of others." Mentions having recently attended speeches advocating anti-slavery, anti-capital-punishment, etc.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Poughkeepsie (N.Y.)
4 pages. Gives her son advice, including an encouragement to abstain from alcoholic beverages. Discusses her opinions of games and recreation. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Temperance; Quakers--Conduct of life; Children--Recreation
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Possibly a fragment. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the illness of her husband James Gibbons. Gives her son advice.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
Written to Willie while he was at Harvard.
Physical Description22 ALsS
6 pages. Willie is away at school. Expresses deep affection towards him. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the illnesses of various people. Advises Willie to moderate his desires to things "necessary to thy comfort" and to "avoid all extravagances," citing her father Isaac T. Hopper as a role model. Willie might move to Divinity Hall.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Willie is away at school. Discusses family/friends, including her brother Josiah Hopper. Is concerned about Willie's manners and conduct, and advises him on multiple aspects; she says "do not disappoint me, for I have set my heart upon thy being a model, for the race of young men, who succeed thee." Is going to Philadelphia soon.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Willie is away at school. Has sent him food. Discusses hosting a party the day before and mentions multiple family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
3 pages. Willie is away at school. Is gathering his things to send him soon. Thanks him for the letter and mentions multiple family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
3 pages. Willie is away at school. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including James Mott and Miss Pomeroy, among others. Will be going to Wilmington for a week. Concerned about recent robberies at Divinity Hall where Willie lives.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Willie is away at school. Discusses guests and food at a dinner she held. Mentions dancing. Warns her son against self-importance and hopes that he will receive good moral influence at Harvard.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Quakers--Conduct of life
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cambridge (Mass.)
4 pages. Willie is away at school, and his mother is worried about his behavior. She discusses the "perplexities" and "drudgeries" to which women are subjected, and says that in her work with poor women she finds "great misery growing out of the low estimate in which women are held."
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Quakers--Conduct of life; Women--Social conditions; Equality--Social aspects; United States--History--1783-1865
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cambridge (Mass.)
2 pages. Willie is at school. Will travel to Cambridge soon and has been invited to stay with two different families while there.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cambridge (Mass.)
4 pages. Discusses the author's social activities, her worry that she would not survive the year, religion, travel, and the family's reading.
Subjects: Emerson, Susan Haven, -1868
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Willie is at school. Discusses recent events concerning friends/family, including a visit from Ada Drury and one from Mrs. Sedgwick (her daughters' teacher).
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Cambridge (Mass.)
3 pages. Willie is at school. Discusses recent events concerning friends/family. Reminisces on her brother Josiah Hopper ("Uncle Si"), who recently died.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Possibly a fragment. Discusses arrangement for the funeral of Abby's brother Josiah Hopper ("Uncle Si").
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Gives her son advice for the "anniversary week."
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Discusses a difficult event that occurred about a year earlier. Gives her son moral advice. Describes a photograph or portrait of Willie. Discusses recent events concerning friends/family.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Willie is at school. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, and briefly mentions visiting industrial schools. Her daughter Sally has been at Robert Haydock's in Flushing.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Willie is at school. Letter focuses on logistics of their sending clothes to each other.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Willie is at school. Discusses logistics of sending each other packages. Plans to visit the New York City Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell Island with a number of other people for dancing and music.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Willie is at school. His mother is sending him clothing. She discourages him from taking an editorial position at a paper.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Willie is at school. Discusses recent events concerning friends/family, including a visit from Charles Emerson and his brother, likely William Emerson.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Willie is at school. Dined with Frank Howland. Plans to spend Christmas at Randalls Island, since she "cannot disappoint over 300 sick children." An anti-slavery fair will be held at Robert Haydock's. Is considering visiting Boston.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
6 pages. Likely written in 1855. Discusses her daughters' schooling. Mentions her husband's travel for business. Cautions her son against playing cricket on the advice of Dr. Howe.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Likely written in 1855. Sending her son clothing.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
1 page. Abby and Sally are worried something has happened to Willie and are waiting to receive a telegram with news. Likely written in December 1855 immediately before Willie's death.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 ALsS
4 pages. Invites Hale to come for a visit.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
4 pages. Invites Hale to accompany her to Randalls Island.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Randalls Island (N.Y.)
4 ALsS
4 pages. One of Edward and Anna's children is quite sick; another is staying with Abby
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.); New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. She is very affected by the recent death of her son William. Her husband is travelling soon. Her daughter Sally is staying with Edward and Anna.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
4 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the marriage of Sarah Willard and Rev. Chandler Robbins.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Asks a series of questions about Isaac T. Hopper that were asked of her in a letter from "Maria," likely Lydia Maria Child, Isaac T. Hopper's biographer. Suggests that Uncle Levi and Aunt Rachel can help him answer the questions.
Subjects: Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852
4 pages. Addressed to "My dear brother and his daughter." Will be leaving Connecticut soon. Mentions a recent accident that she had but says no bones were broken. Says she is a "staunch Republican" and is fond of the Tribune, which she reads daily, and has objections about other journals, including the Post.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; New York tribune (New York, N.Y. : 1841)
Relevant locations: Canaan (Conn.)
2 ALsS
4 pages. Tells that the "Knickerbocker" is at the wharf, and she fears it is there to take the convalescents back to their regiments before they are ready. Discusses recent events the hospital where she is working as a nurse. Hopes that General Banks will recover from his wound.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss, 1816-1894; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
8 pages. Written on Hammond General Hospital stationery. Says she wrote to "Wm Nell" (likely William Cooper Nell) about two enslaved people having been sent outside the lines. Discusses a long discussion she had with General Lockwood and Col. Robert Smith Rogders and relays her opinions of the men. Discusses recent events at the hospital where she works as a war nurse. Discusses the illnesses afflicting the "Contrabands" (formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines), and their dependency upon the aid workers.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Lockwood, Henry, 1814-1899; Brown, John, 1800-1859; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
2 ALsS
4 pages. Gives him medical advice. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Mentions her son Willie's singular attachment to Josiah. She and her husband James went to horticultural exhibition at the Masonic Hall. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Horticulture
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
7 copied ALsS
3 pages. Regarding the New York Infant Asylum, of which she was the Chairman of the House Committee. Gives a positive report of the Asylum and its finances.
Subjects: Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917; Children--Services for
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
6 pages. Urges Arthur to resign if Garfield dies and allow the people to elect him to the office of the President in an honorable manner rather than taking the office under the cloud of Grant and Conkling, "whose policy has been condemned by the people."
Subjects: Arthur, Chester Alan, 1829-1886; Conkling, Roscoe, 1829-1888; Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885; Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Written in response to a letter from the attorney for the Eastern Dispensary. References an agreement made by the New York Diet Kitchen Association that in exchange for $100 annually, they would provide the Dispensary with "nourishing food for the sick poor." Contrary to what the Dispensary claimed, she explains that the $100 is a payment and not a donation, and the Association will not change their original agreement.
Subjects: New York Diet Kitchen Association; Dispensaries; Social service
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Encourages Mayor Grant to re-appoint Mary Nash Agnew and Grace Hoadley Dodge to the New York City Board of Education.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Dodge, Grace H. (Grace Hoadley), 1856-1914; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917; Women--Education; New York (N.Y.). Board of Education
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Expresses appreciation for Mayor Grant's visit to her home. Further implores the mayor to re-appoint Mary Nash Agnew and Grace Hoadley Dodge to the New York City Board of Education. Stresses the importance of giving women a voice and says a school board is incomplete without women.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women--Education; New York (N.Y.). Board of Education
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Possibly a fragment. Thanks Mayor Grant for re-appointing Mary Nash Agnew to the New York City Board of Education.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women--Education; New York (N.Y.). Board of Education
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
1 page. Fragment. Possibly written to Judge John Worth Edmonds, who served on the Supreme Court of New York.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Fragment. They are awaiting the arrival of someone, possibly one of her daughters, and are impatient.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
4 pages. Addressed "Dear Sister." Abby writes that their brother Edward has been sick but is doing better, and briefly mentions their other siblings. Isaac T. Hopper writes that the family is well.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
4 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Mentions several people who have been disowned by their Monthly Meeting. Recounts telling Thomas Legget that she feels "too independent to be under the direction of 12 men" at the school where she was working. Also states, "if I have a husband, I will not be ruled by him."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hicks, Elias, 1748-1830; Mott, Lucretia, 1793-1880; Quakers; Society of Friends; Leggett, Thomas Haight, 1787-1867
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
10 ALsS
4 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. She and her father, Isaac T. Hopper, will be spending the evening at Richard Field's to get their profiles cut. Isaac T. Hopper will be leaving to visit Elias Hicks tomorrow.
Subjects: Quakers; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Hicks, Elias, 1748-1830; Quakers
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Their father, Isaac T. Hopper, will be leaving for Great Britain soon.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
4 pages. Describes sending their father, Isaac T. Hopper, off on his trip to Great Britain. She expresses great sorrow at the idea of her father being away for several months.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including her father Isaac T. Hopper (who is traveling to Britain), Mary Lot's attempts at sobriety, and a party Gibbons attended. Plans to spend only a few years in New York City.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
4 pages. Mentions a bible her father Isaac T. Hopper was given while abroad. Very briefly mentions her work as a teacher. Discusses travelling in a steamboat that broke down and a "hot plaster" treatment she used to help heal her side.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Steamboats
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Describes her father Isaac T. Hopper's return from his long trip to the British Isles. Hopes her sister Sarah will come visit for Yearly Meeting.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
4 pages. Gibbons describes her sorrow over the death of her young brother Thomas, who passed away in her arms. Her brother John arranged for an Italian artist to come make a death mask of the child at midnight. She herself made a silhouette of Thomas's face. Her young sister Hannah also passed away. Speaks positively of a young man named James, possibly her future husband James Gibbons.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Quakers; Portraits; Silhouettes; Children--Death; Bereavement
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
4 pages. Explains that she has been very busy with teaching. Her father Isaac T. Hopper is suing the translator of a work of Quaker history as part of a committee from Meeting for Sufferings. Discusses recent events relating to family/friends and preparations for Yearly Meeting.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Quakers
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
4 pages. Discusses recent events relating to family/friends, including the sudden collapse of a house in the city. Briefly mentions her father Isaac T. Hopper's correspondence about children's books. Discusses the purchasing of beds and preparations for Yearly Meeting.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
4 pages. Letter discusses recent events concerning friends/family, including the health of Gibbons's sister Rachel Brown, who fell ill while visiting with her husband Samuel.
Subjects: Health; Diseases; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
Includes 1 6mo 1842 letter describing AHG's withdrawal from membership in New York Monthly Meeting. Also includes 1 5mo 1847 letter describing the death of her son.
Physical Description5 ALsS
4 pages. Letter discusses recent events concerning friends/family, including sewing parties thrown by Gibbons, visits from William Wharton Deborah Wharton, the fact that her children are learning antislavery songs, and a visit to see Dr. Valentine at the American Museum.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Antislavery movements
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Discusses German immigrants as domestic servants, the health of Gibbons's two-year-old daughter Lucy and her fresh air regimen, and Quaker politics involving John Comly.
Subjects: Foreign workers; Household employees; Sick children; Comly, John, 1773-1850
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
4 pages. Discusses Gibbons's resignation from the New York Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends, occasioned in large part by its lack of support for antislavery activism. It begins with a copy of the resignation speech she read aloud in meeting.
Subjects: New York Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Hicksite : 1828-1957 : New York, N.Y.); Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Society of Friends; Slavery and the church--Society of Friends; Antislavery movements
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
4 pages. Discusses the recent death of Gibbons's son Isaac Hopper Gibbons (1841-1847), as well as her brother John Hopper and his new wife Rosa De Wolf Hopper. Briefly mentions a visit from "Aunt" Lucretia Mott. Also discusses a Maria and David, possibly Lydia Maria Child and David Lee Child.
Subjects: Children--Death; Bereavement; Hopper, John, 1815-1864; Hopper, Rosa De Wolf (Rosalie), 1826-1910
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Letter discusses various events concerning friends/family.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Writes on behalf of the Women's Prison Association Committee of the Isaac T. Hopper Home, a shelter for women ex-convicts, to acknowledge Catharine Maria Sedgwick's resignation from the position of First Director. Her resignation letter was read at the special meeting and the members expressed their respect for her.
Subjects: Sedgwick, Catharine Maria, 1789-1867; Women--Services for; Charity organization; Housing rehabilitation--Social aspects; Women ex-convicts
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
1 addressed to "my dear brother", and 1 to "my dear sister".
Physical Description2 ALsS
2 pages. Discusses searching for and finding his lecture tickets. Also mentions the "receipt for the paper" and a possible "removal." Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Attended an interesting anti-slavery meeting where Robert Purvis spoke about abolitionist information he gathered while traveling in Europe.
Subjects: Purvis, Robert, 1810-1898; Antislavery movements; Abolitionists
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Possibly addressed to her sister Rachel Brown (1798-1887). Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including her father Isaac T. Hopper and the death of Andrew Cook [sp]. Discusses a newspaper article about a dog who saved his owner from a house fire. Discusses events involving the school where she works.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
1 addressed to "my dear brother", 2 to "my dear brother & sister", 1 to "brothers & sisters", 2 to "my dear sister", 1 to "dear ones".
Physical Description7 ALsS
4 pages. Probably addressed to one of her siblings. Discusses her new house. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including her children, her father Isaac T. Hopper, and the upcoming visit of her brother Josiah Hopper. Considering visiting a paper manufacturer who employs girls from the Home, a shelter for women ex-convicts.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Written to her brother Edward Hopper and sister-in-law Anna Mott Hopper. Discusses their son George, who Abby has been taking care of. Mentions a visit from "Aunt" Lucretia Mott.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Probably addressed to her brother Edward Hopper and sister-in-law Anna Mott Hopper. Asks them to visit. References the recent death of her son William Gibbons.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Death
4 pages. Provides a letter of introduction for William Emerson who will be attending the Convention in Philadelphia and is an abolitionist. Mentions "Aunt" Lucretia Mott. In a separate note just to Anna, she discusses at length the effect of the death of her son William Gibbons.
Subjects: Emerson, William 1835-1864; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Death
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
8 pages. Rosalie De Wolf Hopper was married to Abby's brother, John Hopper. Written from Beach Hill. Discusses at length her vacation at the beach and in Cambridge, primarily with the friends and classmates of her deceased son William Gibbons.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
4 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including Sarah's daughter Fanny and Fanny's husband Peter Troth Wright, and the health of her brother Edward Hopper. Discusses the effect of the death of her son William Gibbons on herself and her family.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Discusses helping Grace Ashburner (Sedgwick) Bristed teach 13 girls, which she is enjoying. Discusses the health of Grace Sedgwick and Mrs. Sedgwick. Abby's daughters are also working as teachers. Says "I am happy that ours is a working family." Mentions her future son-in-law William Emerson, who is supportive of her daughter Sally's work.
Subjects: Bristed, Grace Ashburner, 1833-1897; Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864; Women teachers; Women in education; Women--Education
Relevant locations: Lenox (Mass.)
6 ALsS3 addressed to "my dear brother", 1 to "my dearest brother", 1 to my dear brother, sister", 1 to "my own dear brother".
Physical Description6 ALsS
3 pages. Sympathizes over and discusses the recent death of Edward Hopper's daughter, Lucretia Mott Hopper. Abby's daughter Julia will receive Lucretia's cloak. Mentions plans to return to Washington.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Hopper, Lucretia Mott, 1839-1862; Death
Relevant locations: New York (State)
4 pages. General Shields and Dr. Gilbert are visiting the hospital. Dr. Gilbert will mail her letters in Washington. Mentions that four prisoners returned to them and spoke of the horrors they endured. Speaks about the poor conditions at the hospital and says she sees enslaved people and longs "to run them off." Warns that many of the letters sent to her have already been opened and read before she receives them.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work; Prisoners of war; Quakers; Slavery
Relevant locations: Winchester (Va.)
2 pages. Possibly to her brother John Hopper. Thanks him for the money which arrived safely. She is occupied with the sick of Blenker's Division. The surgeon in charge is a son of the artist Rubens Peale, and Abby is helping him arrange the hospital.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work; Nursing; Women nurses
Relevant locations: Winchester (Va.)
4 pages. Her time is devoted to the 280 sick that the Commodore just brought to the hospital and more wounded are expected soon. They are in dire need of supplies and more nurses. Asks for news since they have only seen one newspaper there. Writes of the soldiers complaining about the Catholic Sisters.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Nurses; Women nurses; War work; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); Fessenden, William Pitt, 1806-1869
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Is concerned after hearing about John's boil. Sends gratitude to the Office of Tribune for sending packages of New York papers. Praises Dr. Heger.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); Hopper, John, 1815-1864
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Everyone at the hospital is grateful for the lemons and oranges. Says that without the "blessed chloroform," the men would die. Sally has become particularly devoted to a young man, reading to him and writing for him. They are glad to have Dr. Stearns there, whom she considers a great manager.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Nursing; Women Nurses; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
5 ALsS
3 pages. Expresses sympathy over the death of James Mott, who was Anna Mott Hopper's father. Expects Anna will be going to Roadside to help her mother, Lucretia Mott. Asks if they will give her sympathies to "Aunt Lucretia."
Subjects: Mott, James, 1788-1868; Mott, Lucretia, 1793-1880; Death
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Possibly written to her brother Edward Hopper. Expresses her overwhelming grief over the death of her son, William Gibbons.
Subjects: Bereavement; Grief
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
6 pages. Describes the outfits Willie, Sally, and Lucy wore to a party. Julia did not want to go to the party and stayed home. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Mentions her son Isaac.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-;
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Written on a circular from the Hudson Industrial School. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, particularly talking about her brother Josiah Hopper. Talks in detail about her son Willie and says her daughters would be equal to him were they not women. Feels that her husband and son have a greater advantage in the intellectual world because of their gender.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, particularly her brother Josiah Hopper. Talks in detail about her son Willie and says her daughters would be equal to him were they not women. Feels that her husband and son have a greater advantage in the intellectual world because of their gender.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
to sister Mary, including 1 "Private" letter regarding Sally (her daughter) and William Emerson.
Physical Description2 ALsS
2 pages. Marked "private." Says they are waiting to announce Sally's engagement to William Emerson until he is admitted. Writes that Sally is transformed and is the happiest of mortals. Is still grieving over the loss of her son Willie.
Subjects: Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
3 pages. Frances Palmer Wright (1828-1891), was the daughter of Abby's sister, Sarah Hopper Palmer. Talks about staying with "Robert and Hattie," perhaps referring to Robert and Harriet Purvis. Plans to visit Dr. Walker and Cambridge friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Purvis, Robert, 1810-1898; Purvis, Harriet Forten, 1810-1875
Relevant locations: Beverly Farms (Mass.)
4 addressed to "my dear brother", and 1 to "my dear sister"
Physical Description6 ALsS
3 pages. Likely to her brother Edward Hopper. Discusses recent events concerning family and friends. Mentions the baby of Abby's daughter Lucy.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. She is feeling her age but still has much to accomplish because she is still living.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family and friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Likely to her brother Edward Hopper. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Mentions a new book by her daughter Lucy, calling it the "best she has ever produced."
Subjects: Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Appears to be missing some pages. Likely addressed to her brother Edward Hopper. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Likely addressed to her brother Edward Hopper. Tells of going to Albany to talk to Chairman Bush about the Ways and Means Committee about her bill to establish a reformatory for women prisoners within commuting distance of New York City. After explaining her case to Chairman Bush, he assured that the bill "will be reported favorably this afternoon." Writes that "it is said Governor Flower will approve."
Subjects: Women--Services for; Reformatories for women; Housing rehabilitation--Social aspects; Bills, Legislative; Women political activists; Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (N.Y.)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Likely written by Abby Hopper Gibbons to Edwin McMasters Stanton (1814-1869), who was Secretary of War during most of the Civil War. Complains about the chaplain John A. Spooner at the hospital in Point Lookout, Maryland, who has been neglecting his duties.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
from AHG, Sally and Julia. Also includes a newspaper obituary for A. W. Thayer
Physical Description4 ALsS
1 page. The Northampton Free Press clipping of Abijah Wyman Thayer's obituary. A. W. Thayer was the father of James B. Thayer and W. S. Thayer.
Subjects: Thayer, Abijah Wyman, 1796-1864; Obituaries
Relevant locations: Northampton (Mass.)
4 pages. Seems to be discussing preparations for Sue (possibly Sally's sister Susan B. Thayer Alexander) giving birth, with Abby as a nurse. Includes a note at the end possibly written by Sally Thayer. Says "I think dear Sarah thou and I were born for storms and tempests... Just now I feel like rising in all my strength and fighting the Devil."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Childbirth
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses her plants and flowers. Sends love to Sally's family. Briefly mentions an upcoming fair for the Diet Kitchen.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Wants her to visit. Sarah Emerson will begin working as a school teacher next Monday, taking over the work of Abby's recently deceased daughter Julia.
Subjects: Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; Women in education; Women educators; Women teachers
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Does not like the Christian Science (?) periodicals she is being sent.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Thanks him for offering to shelter her family after the destruction of her house in the draft riots in New York. Details the destruction and looting of her house. Mentions that her father Isaac T. Hopper's personal papers were burned. Her daughters with the help of John Choate were able to save some valuable items by carrying them over the rooftops to safety. They have since been staying in her brother's home, but hope to move into a new house by the autumn. Says "because this calamity has overtaken us is no reason why we should sit with folded hands." Will be returning with her daughter Sally and five new women to work as nurses at the army hospital in Point Lookout, Maryland. Says "I still hold the control of that Hospital and shall continue my interest supplying it with stores and with nurses. Being identified with its rise and progress, and having been steadily in it for six months past I cannot easily give it up without loss."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War work; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Draft Riot (New York, New York : 1863); Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 ALsS
4 pages. Talks about her school and and other schools nearby. Has been trying to have her classroom enlarged. Describes her schedule as a teacher. Discusses her younger siblings. Recently saw time-intensive textiles at a fair. The heading "New Amsterdam" is an old name for New York City.
Subjects: Women in Education; Women educators; Women teachers; Classroom environment; Schools; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
4 pages. The Wharton's previous letter was apparently delivered by James Gibbons, who Abby married in February 1833. The letter seems to discuss her feelings about her upcoming marriage. Talks about Lydia P. Mott and her remarks at Meeting on women's education. Briefly mentions an African-American Quaker who attended Yearly Meeting.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women--Education; Quaker women; Mott, Lydia P. (Lydia Philadelphia), 1775-1862; Quakers
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Philadelphia (Pa.)
4 pages. Describes difficulties setting up a diet kitchen; asks Smillie [sp] to reprimand a janitor who would not let them use a space.
Subjects: New York Diet Kitchen Association; Social service
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
Includes 8 handwritten sonnets.
Physical Description3 ALsS
15 pages. Enoch Adams was a soldier and poet who Gibbons met while working as an army nurse during the Civil War. The poems' subjects include war, freedmen, the Confederacy, and emancipation.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War poetry; War poetry, American; Slaves--Emancipation
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
6 pages. Enoch Adams was a soldier and poet who Gibbons met while working as an army nurse during the Civil War. Gives news from Point Lookout. Asks Gibbons to recommend him for a promotion. Does not think highly of Dr. Anthony Heger or General Marston, who he believes is morally unsound. Mentions a baptism in the Potomac.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Marston, Gilman, 1811-1890; Heger, Anthony (Doctor); Employment references
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
4 pages. Enoch Adams was a soldier and poet who Gibbons met while working as an army nurse during the Civil War. The letter asks Gibbons to recommend Adams for a promotion.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Employment references
Relevant locations: Durham (N.H.)
3 pages. Enoch Adams was a soldier and poet who Gibbons met while working as an army nurse during the Civil War. The letter discusses recent events concerning friends as well as Adams's court martial. Briefly mentions a garden that is now managed by a freedman.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Adams, Enoch George, 1829-1900
Relevant locations: Norfolk (Va.)
Addressed to "My dear Friend."
Physical Description3 ALsS
2 pages. Probably written by Charlotte Endicott Rogers Albright (1832-1916). Has been busy caring for her sick baby. Discusses Ann Eliza, who is in the care of nurses. She asks to hear news about Ann Eliza and provides her address.
Subjects: Care of the sick
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Probably written by Charlotte Endicott Rogers Albright (1832-1916). Is thankful for the news about Ann Eliza, and discusses her guilt over leaving Ann Eliza with strangers. Will be visiting the grave of her sister-in-law's child.
Subjects: Death
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Probably written by Charlotte Endicott Rogers Albright (1832-1916). Discusses the death of Ann Eliza. Discusses death and illness within her family.
Subjects: Death
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
7 ALsS
2 pages. George Ellis Baker was a writer, editor, and prison reformer, and worked in multiple governmental roles, such as private secretary for Senator William H. Seward. Discusses the draft riots in New York and offers sympathies over the destruction of her home. Discusses the plight of African Americans and contrabands (a term used for enslaved people who escaped to union lines during the Civil War), and mentions land allotted for an Asylum.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Draft Riot (New York, New York : 1863); Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
1 page. George Ellis Baker was a writer, editor, and prison reformer, and worked in multiple governmental roles, such as private secretary for Senator William H. Seward. Has forwarded her letter to his family in Lenox, and hopes to visit her soon. The establishment of the Asylum is slow due to difficulties. Praises Emily Howland among others at Camp (possibly Point Lookout, Maryland).
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
1 page. Asks for the address of a girl in Boston who may be interested in employment through the Association to teach freedmen.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women in education; Women educators; Women teachers; Freedmen
1 page. George Ellis Baker was a writer, editor, and prison reformer, and worked in multiple governmental roles, such as private secretary for Senator William H. Seward. Asks for Abby's address and provides the address of Salathiel Ellis. Mentions family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Ellis, Salathiel, 1803-1879
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. George Ellis Baker was a writer, editor, and prison reformer, and worked in multiple governmental roles, such as private secretary for Senator William H. Seward. Would like to hear from and be visited by Abby's family. Discusses the bigoted conduct of Mrs. Eaton towards the Unitarians of the Washington Ladies Prison Association. Discusses the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson.
Subjects: United States--History--1865-1921; Impeachments; Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875--Impeachment; Unitarianism; Women--Services for
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. George Ellis Baker was a writer, editor, and prison reformer, and worked in multiple governmental roles, such as private secretary for Senator William H. Seward. Discusses the appointment of Abby's husband James Sloan Gibbons as President of the Delaware Railroad. Discusses the ongoing reconstruction of Washington after the Civil War. Asks for the last report from the Home (later called the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts.
Subjects: United States--History--1865-1921; Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877); Gibbons, James Sloan, 1810-1892
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
4 pages. Eveline Stevens Baker was the wife of George Ellis Baker. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including Dr. John Stearns, Mrs. Bigelow, and Abby's daughter Julia Gibbons. Discusses her children. Alludes to the reconstruction of Washington after the Civil War, and mentions a "Home" for poor white girls. Would like to visit with Abby and her family.
Subjects: United States--History--1865-1921; Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877); Gibbons, Julia, 1837-1889
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
5 ALsS
1 page. James M. Barnard was an Executive Committee secretary of the Executive Committee of Boston Associates, a department of the United States Sanitary Commission. Written on Sanitary Commission stationery. Is sending a package of books to Mr. Allen in Baltimore, to be forwarded to her at Point Lookout, Maryland, where she worked as an army nurse. Sympathizes with her over the loss of Dr. Wagner and Dr. Stearns.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
4 pages. James M. Barnard was an Executive Committee secretary of the Executive Committee of Boston Associates, a department of the United States Sanitary Commission. Letter is addressed to the editors of the Hammond Gazette, a paper written from the army hospital in Point Lookout, Maryland, during the Civil War. Sympathizes over the loss of Dr. Wagner and Dr. Stearns, and discusses the high value of surgeons. Discusses the service of Stearns and Wagner as doctors throughout the war, including their work onboard the Hospital Boat Louisiana where they met.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Stearns, John, 1827-1898; Wagner, Clinton, 1837-1914; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
4 pages. James M. Barnard was an Executive Committee secretary of the Executive Committee of Boston Associates, a department of the United States Sanitary Commission. Praises Abby and her daughter Sally, who have been working as war nurses. Contemplates the friends he has made during the Civil War, saying "One of the great compensations of this war will be that the real lovers of humanity and progress will be drawn more closely together." Asks her how he may "in any way promote [her] future plans for our gallant soldiers." Will be sending more books to the hospital at Point Lookout, Maryland, as well as some wine. Hopes to visit her on his next trip to New York.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War work; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
2 pages. James M. Barnard was an Executive Committee secretary of the Executive Committee of Boston Associates, a department of the United States Sanitary Commission. Recommends a young lady who wants to volunteer with Abby at the army hospital in Point Lookout, Maryland. Discusses Dr. John Stearns, who expects to be transferred to a hospital. Hopes she has received the box of books, and is willing to send more. Mentions meeting the Woolsey sisters. Hopes to see her when he travels to New York.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War work; Stearns, John, 1827-1898
Relevant locations: Jefferson (N.H.)
3 pages. James M. Barnard was an Executive Committee secretary of the Executive Committee of Boston Associates, a department of the United States Sanitary Commission. Offers his sympathies over the death of Abby's brother, John Hopper. Discusses Dr. Stearns' hospital position and his newly acquired fortune of $100,000.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Stearns, John, 1827-1898
Relevant locations: Roxbury (Boston, Mass.)
2 ALsS
4 pages. Discusses his journey home and what he has been doing since returning there. Is thankful for visiting with her in New York.
Subjects: Bigelow, Frank H. (Frank Hagar), 1851-1924
Relevant locations: Concord (Mass.)
4 pages. Bigelow's letter tells Gibbons about his time at Harvard University and about several months he spent working on a fishing boat.
Subjects: Bigelow, Frank H. (Frank Hagar), 1851-1924
Relevant locations: Concord (Mass.)
4 ALsS
4 pages. Jenny P. Bigelow was the wife of John Bigelow, a prominent lawyer and statesman. Offers Gibbons condolences on the destruction of her house in the recent draft riot and discusses life in France and the family's health.
Subjects: Draft Riot (New York, New York : 1863)
Relevant locations: Normandy (France)
6 pages. Jenny P. Bigelow was the wife of John Bigelow, a prominent lawyer and statesman. Updates Abby about her family and new baby girl. Talks of spending time with "Thayer" who was having health issues.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Bigelow, Jane Tunis Poultney, 1829-1889
Relevant locations: Paris (France)
8 pages. Jenny P. Bigelow was the wife of John Bigelow, a prominent lawyer and statesman. Talks about her family and travels. Mentions meeting the Prince of Denmark.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Bigelow, Jane Tunis Poultney, 1829-1889
Relevant locations: Paris (France)
4 pages. Jenny P. Bigelow was the wife of John Bigelow, a prominent lawyer and statesman. Hoping to arrange a visit with Abby.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Flushing (New York, N.Y.)
2 pages. Jenny P. Bigelow was the wife of John Bigelow, a prominent lawyer and statesman. Is leaving for London soon and hopes Abby will write to her.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Bigelow, Jane Tunis Poultney, 1829-1889
3 pages. John Bigelow was a prominent lawyer and statesman. Assures Abby that the stories circulating about Governor Tilden's excessive drinking are false.
Subjects: Bigelow, John, 1817-1911; Tilden, Samuel J. (Samuel Jones), 1814-1886; Temperance
Relevant locations: Albany (N.Y.)
4 ALsS
4 pages. Writes on behalf of a Mrs. Hibbard, who is looking for employment, and recommends her for a posting at the Home (later called the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts. As a member of the Committee to appeal to public charities, she suggests that the women of the Home make things for the Metropolitan Fair in order to aid the Sanitary Commission. Hopes that Abby will come visit.
Subjects: Women--Employment; Charity organization; United States Sanitary Commission; Women--Services for; Women ex-convicts; Fund raising
4 pages. Encloses a monetary contribution towards the Randalls' Asylum Christmas gifts. Discusses the Home (later called the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts, and wants to become a subscriber. Discusses travelling to New York in the future and recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gifts; Charity organization; Women--Services for; Women ex-convicts
Relevant locations: Woodstock (Vt.)
4 pages. Disappointed that she did not have time to visit and discuss the Home (later called the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts. Discusses family/friends.
Subjects: BIllings, Julia Parmly, 1835-1914
Relevant locations: Woodstock (Vt.)
4 pages. Written from Shrewsbury. Discusses her husband and children, and mentions her upcoming confinement. Offers monetary contribution towards the Home (later called the Isaac T. Hopper Home), and wants to subscribe to the movement on behalf of soldiers' families.
Subjects: Gifts; Charity organization; Women--Services for; United States--History--1865-1921
Relevant locations: Shrewsbury (Mass.)
2 ALsS
2 pages. Alfred Janson Bloor was an architect, author, and assistant secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. Written on Sanitary Commission stationery. Discusses Dr. Douglas, and mentions people/events surrounding Gettysburg. Happy to hear of her success at the hospital in Point Lookout, Maryland.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War work
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); Point Lookout (Md.)
2 pages. Alfred Janson Bloor was an architect, author, and assistant secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. Requests her photograph to add to his Sanitarian Album documenting Sanitarian members. Is afraid of asking the unmarried women for their photographs, including the Woolsey sisters and Miss Schuyler.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; United States Sanitary Commission; Women nurses; War work
3 ALsS
3 pages. Invites Abby and her daughter Sally to stay over, and provides directions to her house. Mentions Mrs. Gardner and "Nannie."
Subjects: Briggs, Lucia Jane Russell, 1821-1881
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
1 page. Author is likely Anna W. Briggs (1841-1923). Thanks Gibbons for her kindness.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
1 page. Thanks Abby on his and his wife Lucia R. Briggs' behalf for giving Annie a place to stay while in New York.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Salem (Mass.)
2 ALsS and 3 copies of Ls.
2 pages. Discusses her son William Colbert Kossuth [sp] Burke, who Abby is taking care of. Asks Abby to send a photograph of him.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
3 pages. Written from Arlington Heights. Discusses William Colbert Kossuth [sp] Burke, who Abby is taking care of and teaching. Cassy Burke would like a copy of the book about Isaac T. Hopper. Ella Burke mentions being a teacher.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Education
2 pages. Written from Arlington Heights. Cassy Burke discusses William Colbert Kossuth [sp] Burke, who Abby is taking care of and teaching. Ella Burke writes on the same page to William.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. William C. K. Burke has arrived home safely. Ella Burke discusses the death of her mother and the death of Abby's brother John Hopper.
Subjects: Death
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. William is living with and being taught by Abby Hopper Gibbons. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Thanks to Abby for the present to her mother. Has sent a picture of herself.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Discusses her brother William C. K. Burke, who is living with and being taught by Abby. Has not received a letter from William recently and asks Abby to have him write her a weekly letter.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Letter writing
4 ALsS
3 pages. Discusses his political views and the presidential election of 1884.
Subjects: United States--History--1865-1921; Politics and government; Presidents--Election
4 pages. Offers sympathy over the recent death of her daughter Julia Gibbons.
Subjects: Gibbons, Julia, 1837-1889; Death
4 pages. Is too busy to visit with her before he goes on winter vacation. Encloses money for her to donate to charitable causes.
Subjects: Carter, James C. (James Coolidge), 1827-1905; Gifts
1 page. Encloses a check for her to use for the Diet Kitchen and other charities of her choice.
Subjects: Carter, James C. (James Coolidge), 1827-1905; Gifts
3 pages. David Lee Child was a journalist, editor of the Anti-Slavery Standard, and husband of Lydia Maria Child. Offers sympathy for the recent death of their son Isaac T. H. Gibbons.
Subjects: Gibbons, Isaac T. H., 1841-1847; Death
Relevant locations: Northampton (Mass.)
2 ALsS
2 pages. Lydia Maria Child was an abolitionist, rights activist, novelist, and journalist. Sends a pin she had made from hair that Abby gave her.
Subjects: Hairwork
2 pages. Lydia Maria Child was an abolitionist, rights activist, novelist, and journalist. Thanks Abby for her kindness and praises her character. Says that if she gave Abby a golden palace, "you would take down your walls, piece by piece, to feed the hungry, and clothe the naked; and leave yourself no roof." Advises Abby that patience will help her through her current problems.
Subjects: Child, Lydia Maria, 1802-1880; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
4 ALsS
1 page. Joseph Hodges Choate was a lawyer and diplomat. Encloses a letter from Smyth for Abby to use to influence senators.
Subjects: Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917; Politics and government
2 pages. Joseph Hodges Choate was a lawyer and diplomat. Thanks her for the gifts to his young son. Will tell his son when he's older about Abby's deceased son William Gibbons, who was one of Choate's peers.
Subjects: Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
2 pages. Joseph Hodges Choate was a lawyer and diplomat. Wishes Gibbons a happy New Year, and encloses a ten dollar subscription to the Isaac T. Hopper Home, a shelter for women ex-convicts. Is willing to speak at the Hampton meeting but suggests that she find some new speakers.
Subjects: Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917; Gifts
4 pages. Joseph Hodges Choate was a lawyer and diplomat. Sends her a bulletin of the progress of domestic affairs. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the health of Abby's husband James Sloan Gibbons. Asks her to remain with his sick mother for a while longer until he returns home. Discusses Angelina Grimke Weld and Sarah Moore Grimke, and his opinions on the Bloomer Convention.
Subjects: Grimké, Angelina Emily, 1805-1879; Grimké, Sarah Moore, 1792-1873; Congresses and conventions; Gibbons, J. S. (James Sloan), 1810-1892
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 ALsS
2 pages. Ellen Collins was a Quaker philanthropist, abolitionist, social reformer, and member of the executive committee of the Woman's Central Association of Relief. Written on U.S. Sanitary Commision stationery. Asks Abby to work as superintendent of the Island Hospital on Blackwell's Island, organizing the Volunteer Kitchen and the women Penitentiary workers. Asks Abby for a recommendation if she is unable to fill the position, mentioning Miss Woolsey as a possibility.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Roosevelt Island (New York, N.Y.); War work; Women and war; Women prisoners
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Ellen Collins was a Quaker philanthropist, abolitionist, social reformer, and member of the executive committee of the Woman's Central Association of Relief. Written on U.S. Sanitary Commision stationery. Suspects Abby did not receive her last letter asking Abby to accept the position of superintendent at the hospital on Blackwell's Island. Mentions that Abby might be interested in helping the poor women who work there. Abby is currently working as an army nurse at Beverly Hospital in New Jersey.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Roosevelt Island (New York, N.Y.); War work; Women and war; Women nurses; Women prisoners
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Written by multiple people; signed by "M," Henry P., and Ann Comely. Written from Byberry. Asks Abby to write. Discusses recent events and events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
3 ALsS
4 pages. Thanks her for taking care of Thayer (possibly James Thayer) while he was sick, and thanks her on behalf of all the young men she befriends and cares for. Alludes to her deceased son William GIbbons. Discusses the eloquent letter she sent him in Berlin and says he will write to her husband next week.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Paris (France)
4 pages. Discusses his experiences traveling through Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Mentions the portrait of a dead soldier.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Cutler, Elbridge Jefferson, 1831-1870
Relevant locations: Meriden (N.H.)
4 pages. Discusses the book about national debt by James Sloan Gibbons. Discusses men at the Phi Beta dinner.
Subjects: Gibbons, J. S. (James Sloan), 1810-1892; Debts, Public
Relevant locations: Niagara Falls (N.Y.)
29 ALsS
2 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and was a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Welcomes Abby and her family to visit. Mentions a nearby battle.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
1 page. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and was a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Received Abby's "leaflet" and wishes her a happy Christmas and New Year's. Looking forward to seeing her next week and discusses a meeting next Tuesday. Says "the enemy are no doubt lying in wait to out vote and overpower us, and we cannot get on without your calm force." Mentions Miss Mann, likely Maria R. Mann.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.)
6 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and was a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Discusses recent events involving Maria R. Mann and the conflicts surrounding her efforts to run a school for African Americans. Discusses giving aid and education to specific African American individuals. Mentions Dr. Stearns and Helen Lee.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women teachers; Women in education; Freedmen; Freedmen--Education; African Americans--Education; Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
1 page. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and was a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Mentions recent events concerning friends, including Maria R. Mann, Helen Lee, Dr. Stearns, and others. Discusses the fall of Richmond.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894
1 page. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and was a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Writes on behalf of Dr. Lee to ask whether he can visit Abby when he goes to New York. Is sending them a photograph of her husband and children via Dr. Lee.
Subjects: Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907
4 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and was a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Thanks Abby for the medallion. Has heard of the suffering of the freed people. Jane Woolsey is planning to help the freed people after her hospital is closed.
Subjects: Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907; Freedmen; Woolsey, Jane Stuart
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
8 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Much of the letter is concerned with arrangements for an African-American boy named William David Norris, in which Abby Hopper Gibbons, Thesta Dana, Leah Dorman, and a Mrs. Sinclair are involved. Dana says Emily Howland believes that African-Americans "cannot, for a generation at least, trust white people," and she thinks this is why an African-American man "associated with his natural enemies, the Irish papists." Also discusses looking for a friend's son who may have died of war wounds, her husband's career, and military promotions. It is possible that not all pages belong together.
Subjects: Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877); African Americans--Relations with Irish Americans; Freedmen; Freedmen--Education; Armed Forces--Promotions; African Americans
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
4 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Asks Gibbons for help getting an African-American girl named Mary Louisa Smith from Washington to Plymouth. Discusses her husband's work. Lists the clothing measurements of Mary Dana (likely a pseudonym for Smith), age 10.
Subjects: Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877); African Americans; Freedmen; African Americans--Travel
4 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Discusses plans for getting an African-American girl named Mary Louisa Smith from Washington to Plymouth. Also talks about shipping goods and "government purchases," and discusses Maria R. Mann and her school for African Americans at some length. Has received a letter from Dr. Stearns in Paris.
Subjects: Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877); African Americans--Travel; Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894
4 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. The letter is chiefly concerned with Lord and Lady Amberley, who were staying at the house of John V. L. Pruyn. It also reports on the state of Maria R. Mann's school for African-Americans and describes Sally Cadwallader's daily commute from Washington to Bladensburg, Maryland, to teach African Americans.
Subjects: Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877); Pruyn, John V. L. (John VanSchaick Lansing), 1811-1877; Amberley, John Russell, viscount, 1842-1876; Amberley, Katharine Louisa Stanley Russell, viscountess, 1842-1874; Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894; Women teachers; Women in education; African Americans--Education; Ely, Sarah Cadwallader, 1836-1918
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); Bladensburg (Md.)
4 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. She asks Gibbons's help in finding Adele F. Davis, an African-American woman living in New York who was the half-sister of William David Norris and the adopted daughter of Leah Dorman.
Subjects: Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877); African American women
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Discusses a visit from Ella Burke Henry, a resident of the Freedman's Village in Arlington who is concerned over the lack of letters from her brother William Colbert Kossuth [sp] Burke. Briefly mentions the impeachment of Andrew Johnson.
Subjects: Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877); Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907
Relevant locations: Arlington (Va.)
3 pages. Possibly a fragment. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Invites Gibbons to visit her in Washington to see military parades. Discusses schools (possibly including that run by Maria R. Mann) and the activities of friends/family.
Subjects: Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877); Schools; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)
4 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Is returning books to Sally Gibbons Emerson. Discusses dealing with a heat wave. Briefly speaks of friends/family and her new domestic servant. Letter delivered by William Davis Norris.
Subjects: Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907; Heat; Household employees
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); New York
3 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (AKA "the Home"). Describes a small battle and a few other events during the Civil War, including the burning of Montgomery Blair's house. Has thought of a woman to fill a position at the Home.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Blair, Montgomery, 1813-1883
2 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (AKA "the Home"). A new matron has been causing trouble at the Home, and Maria R. Mann, a teacher there, wants Gibbons to come and help sort it out.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894; National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.); Charity organization
3 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Asks Gibbons to place a notice in the New York newspaper that army surgeons can receive diplomas and badges. Col. James Dana has received an acknowledgement from the president and secretary of war for his service.
Subjects: Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877); Armed Forces--Surgeons; Armed Forces--Promotions
2 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Says her husband is on leave and may visit Gibbons.
Subjects: Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
4 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Is considering moving to Washington, D.C. Recently met General Oliver Howard. Date of letter inferred from the mention of riots in New Orleans, likely referring to the New Orleans Massacre of 1866.
Subjects: Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877); Howard, O. O. (Oliver Otis), 1830-1909
3 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Discusses visiting Gibbons in New York, Gibbons's daughter Sally's visit to her, and news of family/friends including Emily Howland and Maria R. Mann.
Subjects: Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
2 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Discusses Gibbons's daughter Sally, who is visiting her. Sends list of items she wants her husband to send her money for.
Subjects: Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
2 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Gibbons's daughter Sally is visiting with her.
Subjects: Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
4 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Gibbons's daughter Sally Emerson is going to visit Dana soon; Dana brings up William David Norris, an African-American boy living with Gibbons, in connection with the visit.
Subjects: Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: Arlington (Va.)
6 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Discusses Maria R. Mann's school for freedmen and the accusations that have been levelled at Mann. Asks Gibbons's help with a woman whose ownership of a house is contested. Inquires about William David Norris, an African-American boy staying with Gibbons. Talks about the drunkenness of senators; is trying to discourage vice. The last two pages may be from a different letter.
Subjects: Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894; Women teachers; Women in education; Women--Housing; Vice control
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Is preparing to move into a new house.
Subjects: Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907
2 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Discusses plans to travel to New York.
Subjects: Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907
2 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. This brief letter discusses Confederate prisoners of war. Mentions plans to visit New York. Discusses her husband and his role in the military.
Subjects: Dana, Thesta Dorcas, 1816-1907; Prisoners of war
4 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Talks about changes to the army following the end of the war and how they affect her and her husband.
Subjects: United States. Army; Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877)
Relevant locations: Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)
4 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Tells Abby about three African-American servants named Ellen Lee, Elizabeth Catharine Pope, and James Sauple (sp?) who want to work in New York. Explains the plans she has made for their transportation and details their qualifications. Also discusses her son's broken arm and other news concerning friends/family. Likely written in the 1860s.
Subjects: African American household employees; Fractures
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Thesta Dana was the wife of Brigadier General James Jackson Dana and a member of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. Discusses Sarah Ames, an abolitionist and artist who is selling a bust of Abraham Lincoln to Congress so she can fund a "house for the orphans of the war." Gives Abby the address in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to which she should accompany an African-American child named Mary Louisa Smith. Dana's husband has been dealing with pardoned confederates seeking property.
Subjects: Ames, Sarah Fisher, 1817-1901; Orphans--Services for; Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877)
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.); Plymouth (Mass.)
2 ALsS
3 pages. Asks Abby to attend the next Monthly Meeting, which will address the conflicts surrounding Maria R. Mann. Mann is being pressured to resign from the Home.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.); Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894; Women educators; Women teachers
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
4 pages. Possibly a fragment. Discusses the establishment of an organization for visiting jails, workhouses, and poor houses. Discusses recent events concerning friends, including a Mr. Blatchford and Maria R. Mann. General Howard has offered to find pupils for Mann's school and pay her fifty dollars a month.
Subjects: Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894; Women educators; Women teachers; Women--Societies and clubs; Prison reformers--Societies, etc.; Workhouses; Almshouses
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
4 ALsS
2 pages. Dr. John Hancock Douglas was the chief of inspection and associate secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Written on Sanitary Commission stationery. Mentions multiple people, including Miss Sewall, Dr. Wagner, Mr. Olmstead, Mr. Knapp, and Dr. Stearns. Asks for advice about two nurses who allege that they were dismissed from the hospital at Point Lookout, Maryland, without probable cause and want to remain in the service.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Dr. John Hancock Douglas was the chief of inspection and associate secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Discusses the removal of Dr. Wagner from the hospital at Point Lookout, Maryland, and makes plans to have him reinstated. Asks Abby to help restore Dr. Wagner, saying "Mrs. Gibbons, you can accomplish this, without stirring one step from the Point. It can be done through the ladies I have mentioned and speedily too," and "I know no one who can accomplish this if you cannot."
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Women and war; War work; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); Wagner, Clinton, 1837-1914
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Dr. John Hancock Douglas was the chief of inspection and associate secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Written on Sanitary Commission stationery. Addressed to "Doctor." Offers the position of Inspector in the Army of the Potomac, and makes arrangements for him to visit and make observations. Discusses the possible restoring of Dr. Wagner to his position with the help of Abby Hopper Gibbons, saying "I think she can bring such influences to bear as will get an order for Wagner's reinstatement." Gibbons is currently working as a army nurse at Point Lookout, Maryland.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Women and war; War work; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); Wagner, Clinton, 1837-1914
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Dr. John Hancock Douglas was the chief of inspection and associate secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Written on Sanitary Commission stationery. Discusses a donation of books from Medford, Massachusetts. Discusses Dr. Wagner's new position in Major General Syke's division, after being dismissed from his position in the hospital at Point Lookout, Maryland. Dr. Stearns is working in the same corps as Dr. Wagner.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Wagner, Clinton, 1837-1914; Stearns, John, 1827-1898
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 ALsS
4 pages. Sidney Howard Gay was an lawyer, journalist, and abolitionist who edited the National Anti-Slavery Standard and participated in the Underground Railroad. Written on Office of the Tribune stationery. Discusses the recent death of Abby's brother, John Hopper.
Subjects: Hopper, John, 1815-1864; Death
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Sidney Howard Gay was an lawyer, journalist, and abolitionist who edited the National Anti-Slavery Standard and participated in the Underground Railroad. Says that Sarah and her mother (possibly Abby and her daughter Sally) must come visit and discusses possible lodging locations.
Subjects: Gay, Sydney Howard, 1814-1888
4 ALsS
4 pages. Corp. Everett participated in the running of the Hammond "Gazette" at the army hospital in Point Lookout, Maryland. Discusses Abby leaving her work as an army nurse when her house was destroyed in the draft riots of New York. Discusses recent events at Point Lookout, including a visit from Dorothea Dix, the behavior of the nurses in Abby's absence, the establishment of an adjoining prisoner of war camp, and the arrival of several doctors. Bought an office from someone named Hobbs.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Draft Riot (New York, New York : 1863); Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); Women nurses; Nursing; Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887; Prisoner-of-war camps
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
2 pages. Corp. Everett participated in the running of the Hammond "Gazette" at the army hospital in Point Lookout, Maryland. Asks Abby to use her influence to help him remain at Point Lookout in the Printing Headquarters rather than be sent to his regiment for active duty. Fears that the Gazette might not remain in circulation if they leave. Says "you have helped us out of many difficulties before, where, were it not for you, everything would have went against us; and I feel confident that now you will kindly lend us your assistance and influence. You have great influence with General Marston, and I am satisfied that a letter from you, asking it from him, and recommending us to him, would just be the lever that would remove the obstacles in the way."
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); War work; Women in war; Periodicals
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
4 pages. Corp. Everett participated in the running of the Hammond "Gazette" at the army hospital in Point Lookout, Maryland. Discusses the removal of Reverend John A. Spooner and possible enstatement of Mr. Leonard. Discusses the death of Abby's son-in-law William Emerson and the health of Dr. Clinton Wagner. Discusses accompanying a widow to Ohio with the body of her deceased husband. Discusses the establishment of an adjoining prisoner of war camp.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Wagner, Clinton, 1837-1914; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); Spooner, John Alden, 1807-1890; Prisoner-of-war camps
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Corp. Everett participated in the running of the Hammond "Gazette" at the army hospital in Point Lookout, Maryland. Discusses recent events at the hospital, including an argument concerning Dr. Anthony Heger's actions, and the removal of Chaplain Leonard. Encloses a note to Dr. Clinton Wagner about establishing a printing office at Beverly Hospital in New Jersey.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); United States. General Hospital (Beverly, N.J.); Wagner, Clinton, 1837-1914
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
1 page. Frank B. Fay was a Massachusetts politician who worked as chief of the Auxiliary Relief Corps during the Civil War. Written on U.S. Sanitary Commission stationery. Asks her to confirm whether she hired an African American man to work in the kitchen and discusses his wages. A note from Abby at the bottom says "Nelson began to work for us June 20th."
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves; Freedmen
4 pages. Elizabeth Gay was a Quaker abolitionist and women's rights activist; her husband was Sydney Howard Gay. Discusses and sympathizes over the recent death of Abby's brother John Hopper.
Subjects: Hopper, John, 1815-1864; Death
Relevant locations: Randolph (Vt.)
17 ALS
1 page. Possibly a fragment. Poem involving Greek mythological elements.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
5 ALsS
6 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including Hattie Lee, who is sending boxes of supplies to the Sanitary Commission and for the Contrabands (a term used for enslaved people who escaped to Union lines). Mentions Abby's daughter Sally caring for "four hundred hunted and hidden slaves." Is sending supplies and wishes she could be working with Abby as an army nurse. Mentions the controversy involving Dr. Wagner. Describes the recruitment and training of nurses for army hospitals, including the work of Mrs. Lander (probably Jean M. Lander) and "the surgeons who tried to resist the new regulation introducing women nurses." Wants Abby's daughter Sally to find a man from the 39th Massachusetts Regiment to help Colonel Charles Pierson.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Women and war; Nursing; Women nurses; Nurses--Training of; Lander, J. M. (Jean Margaret), 1829-1903; Wagner, Clinton, 1837-1914; Gibbons, Julia, 1837-1889; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves
4 pages. Shares a grass cloth with Abby and her daughters. Encloses a contribution for Abby to use towards the aid of African Americans. References the destruction of Abby's house in the New York draft riots.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Gifts; African Americans
4 pages. Gives her a set of needles. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including Abby's daughter Julia.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Gibbons, Julia, 1837-1889
4 pages. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends and references the recent death of Abby's son-in-law William Emerson. Defends Dr. Prince and discusses the controversy surrounding his motives for sending patients out to his farm. Dr. Prince was superintendent of The Northampton Lunatic Hospital in Massachusetts.
Subjects: Prince, William Henry, 1817-1883 (Doctor)
Relevant locations: Northampton (Mass.)
3 pages. Discusses plans to visit with Abby. Wants to introduce her to Mr. Rayner.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
One letter addressed to nieces and AHG.
Physical Description2 ALsS
3 pages. Elizabeth Gibbons is Abby Hopper Gibbons's sister-in-law. Wants to know if Abby is coming to visit this summer. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Eliza (Elizabeth); Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: West Chester (Pa.)
4 pages. Elizabeth Gibbons is Abby Hopper Gibbons's sister-in-law. Complains about not hearing from Abby. Offers a place for Abby's daughters to stay.
Subjects: Gibbons, Eliza (Elizabeth); Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Typed poem sent from Henry Gibbons to Abby Hopper Gibbons. Possibly written by Henry Gibbons; references both "Henry Gibbons" and "Abby."
Subjects: Gibbons, Henry, 1808-1884; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Rebecca Donaldson Gibbons was Abby Hopper Gibbons's mother-in-law. Complains about not hearing from Abby and her family. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Rebecca Donaldson, 1786-1869; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 ALsS
1 page. Written from the Steamer Daniel Webster to Abby Hopper Gibbons and possibly her daughter Sally Hopper Gibbons Emerson. Possibly written during the Civil War, when Abby and Sally worked as war nurses. Dr. Goodwin wants them to come with him to Washington via the ship.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Written from Cavalry Corps Hospital. Says she has been missed since she left City Point and updates her on recent events concerning friends/acquaintances. Considers transferring to Beverly.
Subjects: Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; War work; Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: City Point (Hopewell, Va.)
Includes an abolitionist pamphlet
Physical Description4 ALsS
1 page. Elizabeth Grimes was the wife of Iowa Senator James W. Grimes. Invites Abby to a ladies committee meeting at the house of J.S. Bowen [sp] and mentions applying for help from Congress.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women--Societies and clubs
3 pages. Possibly forwarded to/from Elizabeth Grimes, the wife of Iowa Senator James W. Grimes. Written by Robert S. Rantoul and Henry K. Oliver, two Massachusetts politicians, as well as Rev. Dr. George W. Briggs. Printed invitation to celebrate the birthday of George Washington, with an emphasis on abolitionist discussion.
Subjects: Washington, George, 1732-1799; Rantoul, Robert S. (Robert Samuel), 1832-1922; Oliver, Henry K. (Henry Kemble), 1800-1885; Briggs, George W. (George Ware), 1810-1895; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Slavery; Equality
Relevant locations: Salem (Mass.)
2 pages. Elizabeth Grimes was the wife of Iowa Senator James W. Grimes. Regrets having missed seeing Abby and wishes her the best.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
5 pages. Elizabeth Grimes was the wife of Iowa Senator James W. Grimes. Thanks Abby for her interest in the memoirs of her good friend, Ada. R. Parker, which she is trying to get published. Read and appreciated the memoir of Abby's deceased son, William Gibbons. Mentions a Mrs. Trumbull, wife of Judge Trumbull.
Subjects: Parker, Ada R. (Adaline Rice), 1819-1860; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Elizabeth Grimes was the wife of Iowa Senator James W. Grimes. Wants to know if Abby received a package of reports of their Association. Discusses a Mrs. Hooper, who has been elected President, as well as a Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Eliot.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women--Societies and clubs
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
9 ALsS
3 pages. Alfred Stedman Hartwell was a lawyer and American Civil War soldier who later became a government official in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Written during his time as a student at Harvard. Discusses his studies at school and Abby's deceased son William Gibbons, who was his friend and roommate. Discusses recent events concerning mutual friends/family, including Mrs. Elizabeth Sedgwick. Wants Abby to visit Massachusetts.
Subjects: Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman), 1836-1912; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.)
3 pages. Alfred Stedman Hartwell was a lawyer and American Civil War soldier who later became a government official in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Discusses his experiences and surroundings as a soldier in Florida where his regiment is stationed. Congratulates Abby's daughter Sarah (Sally) on her recent marriage.
Subjects: Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman), 1836-1912; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Palatka (Fla.)
2 pages. Alfred Stedman Hartwell was a lawyer and American Civil War soldier who later became a government official in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Arrived from Palatka, Florida, last week, where his regiment was previously stationed. Looks forward to Abby arriving; her services as a nurse are "most needed and appreciated here" and mentions "how much [she] could do in the hospital of colored men." Sends his condolences over the death Abby's son-in-law and is thankful for the photo of Abby's nephew.
Subjects: Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman), 1836-1912; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; War work; Women nurses; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Folly Island (S.C. : Island); Palatka (Fla.)
2 pages. Alfred Stedman Hartwell was a lawyer and American Civil War soldier who later became a government official in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Was unable to visit Abby in Cambridge, Massachusetts, due to being busy with work. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, and includes a class list.
Subjects: Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman), 1836-1912
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.); Cambridge (Mass.)
2 pages. Alfred Stedman Hartwell was a lawyer and American Civil War soldier who later became a government official in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Hopes to be able to see Abby before he goes sailing. Will be visiting family.
Subjects: Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman), 1836-1912
Relevant locations: Natick (Mass.)
2 pages. Alfred Stedman Hartwell was a lawyer and American Civil War soldier who later became a government official in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Written from the "Ocean Queen" Steamer. Goodbye note to Abby.
Subjects: Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman), 1836-1912
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Rebecca Dana Perry Hartwell was the mother of family friend Col. A. S. Hartwell. Alfred Stedman Hartwell was a lawyer and American Civil War soldier who later became a government official in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Discusses Col. A. S. Hartwell on his journey to Hawaii.
Subjects: Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman), 1836-1912
Relevant locations: Natick (Mass.)
5 pages. Alfred Stedman Hartwell was a lawyer and American Civil War soldier who later became a government official in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Unhappy that he did not see Abby or her family before he left for Hawaii. Discusses his new home and position at the courthouse.
Subjects: Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman), 1836-1912
Relevant locations: Honolulu (Hawaii)
3 pages. Alfred Stedman Hartwell was a lawyer and American Civil War soldier who later became a government official in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Discusses his life in Hawaii and his work as a judicial employee.
Subjects: Hartwell, Alfred S. (Alfred Stedman), 1836-1912
Relevant locations: Honolulu (Hawaii)
2 ALsS
2 pages. Expresses gratitude for allowing him to read the memoirs of her deceased son, William Gibbons, which he received from Christopher Langdell (a friend of Willie's from Harvard). Regrets that he could not visit her while he was in New York and plans to meet with her next time.
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.); New York (N.Y.)
5 pages. Discusses the voyage home to England and his reunion with his family. Discusses recent events concerning friends/family, as well as a book recommended to him by Abby's daughter, Sally Hopper Gibbons Emerson. Mr. Garrison (probably William Lloyd Garrison) is writing "a comprehensive history of the abolition of Slavery."
Subjects: Haynes, Robert W.
Relevant locations: London (England)
5 ALsS
4 pages. Apologizes for the delay and encloses a circular, which she had trouble obtaining. Mentions family/friends, including Abby's daughter Lucy Gibbons Morse.
Subjects: Hepworth, Adaline A. Drury
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
4 pages. Faded ink. Traveled to Washington. Discusses family/friends. Discusses the President and the Southerners.
Subjects: Hepworth, Adaline A. Drury
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Looks forward to spending a few days with Abby. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Hepworth, Adaline A. Drury
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
4 pages. Describes the trip back home to Boston. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Hepworth, Adaline A. Drury
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
10 pages. Written in Heidelberg, Germany. Describes travelling through Europe for the past three months. Discusses friends/family.
Subjects: Hepworth, Adaline A. Drury
Relevant locations: Heidelberg (Germany); London (England); Paris (France); Cologne (Germany)
3 ALsS
3 pages. Jane C. Hoge was a Civil War nurse for the Union soldiers and social activist. Wishes to discuss the treatment of criminals and corporal punishment with Abby. Reminisces about spending time caring for the "wretched and outcast" with her in New York. Asks Abby to use her influence with the press to help bring publicity to her book.
Subjects: Hoge, Mrs. (Jane Currie Blaikie), 1811-1890; Women social reformers; Social service; Corporal punishment; Prison reformers; Women authors
Relevant locations: Chicago (Ill.)
4 pages. Jane C. Hoge was a Civil War nurse for the Union soldiers and social activist. Enjoyed reading the memoirs of Abby Hopper Gibbons's deceased son, William Gibbons. Often references Gibbons's social work when addressing women groups in Chicago as a source of inspiration. Discusses her book, "Boys in Blue," and has sent her a copy.
Subjects: Hoge, Mrs. (Jane Currie Blaikie), 1811-1890; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Women social reformers; Women authors
Relevant locations: Chicago (Ill.)
2 pages. Jane C. Hoge was a Civil War nurse for the Union soldiers and social activist. Requests information about the Isaac T. Hopper Home (a shelter for women ex-convicts), including its origin, organization, and operation. Believes that Chicago needs a similar institution.
Subjects: Hoge, Mrs. (Jane Currie Blaikie), 1811-1890; Women--Services for; Women ex-convicts
Relevant locations: Chicago (Ill.)
3 ALs
3 pages. Seeks advice about what to do with an unmarried pregnant woman named Mary Jane Feeney [sp].
Subjects: Illegitimate children
Relevant locations: Scarsdale (N.Y.)
2 pages. Received no reply from her letter last week after sending it to the wrong address. Would like to meet with Abby. Seeks advice about what to do with an unmarried pregnant girl named Mary Jane Feeney [sp].
Subjects: Holbrooke, M. M.
Relevant locations: Scarsdale (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses the circumstances of and arrangements being made for an unmarried pregnant girl named Mary Jane Feeney [sp]. Asks about a "midnight mission," and discusses social work.
Subjects: Holbrooke, M. M.; Social service
Relevant locations: Scarsdale (N.Y.)
4 ALsS
3 pages. Anna Mott Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Discusses the recent deaths of her son George and Abby's son William. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Concerned about the prevalence of Scarlet fever in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.
Subjects: Hopper, Anna Mott, 1812-1874; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.); New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Anna Mott Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Discusses Abby's daughter Sally and her recent visit. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including the terminal illness of her sister Elizabeth Cavender.
Subjects: Hopper, Anna Mott, 1812-1874; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Anna Mott Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Wants Abby's daughter Lucy to come visit. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including Robert Purvis, her sister Elizabeth Cavender, and Dr. Wagner.
Subjects: Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936; Purvis, Robert, 1810-1898
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Anna Mott Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including her mother Lucretia Mott.
Subjects: Hopper, Anna Mott, 1812-1874
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Anna Mott Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including her mother Lucretia Mott and Abby's daughters.
Subjects: Hopper, Anna Mott, 1812-1874
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Anna Mott Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Has been ill. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Hopper, Anna Mott, 1812-1874
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Anna Mott Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Discusses the death and funeral of "Charley" Townsend, who died by suicide. Discusses the health of her husband, Edward.
Subjects: Hopper, Anna Mott, 1812-1874
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
9 ALsS
2 pages. Elizabeth Hopper was Abby's sister. She describes all of the Christmas gifts she received from her family members and requests that Sarah send her photographs of herself and her husband William. Expresses that the war must be ending soon.
Subjects: Hopper, John, 1815-1864; Christmas; Photographs; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Harleysville (Pa.)
1 page. Elizabeth Hopper was Abby's sister. Tells Abby that Mrs. Moyer requests that she send more "nice girls" to see her.
Subjects: Hopper, Elizabeth, 1803-1872; Patchwork
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Elizabeth Hopper was Abby's sister. Requests that Abby send her a "box about Christmas" and photographs of Abby, James, and their children.
Subjects: Hopper, Elizabeth, 1803-1872; Photographs
Relevant locations: Harleysville (Pa.)
1 page. Elizabeth Hopper was Abby's sister. Thanks Abby for the letter and "box."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Harleysville (Pa.)
2 pages. Elizabeth Hopper was Abby's sister. Discusses her health issues and making dolls.
Subjects: Hopper, Elizabeth, 1803-1872; Dollmaking
Relevant locations: Pennsylvania
2 pages. Elizabeth Hopper was Abby's sister. Reminds Abby of several items she had said she would send to her, including a copy of the book Women of the War, which mentions Abby and Sarah Hopper Emerson.
Subjects: Hopper, Elizabeth, 1803-1872; Knitting
Relevant locations: Harleysville (Pa.)
2 pages. Elizabeth Hopper was Abby's sister. Requests that Abby send her various items that she needs.
Subjects: Hopper, Elizabeth, 1803-1872; Knitting
Relevant locations: Pennsylvania
2 pages. Elizabeth Hopper was Abby's sister. Discusses her recent health issues and Julia's visit.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Pennsylvania
2 pages. Elizabeth Hopper was Abby's sister. Thanks Abby for the package she sent her. Asks Abby to get her a home near her because "Lydia" wants her out of her home by the end of May.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Harleysville (Pa.)
Addressed to "My dear Aunt."
Physical Description5 ALsS
2 pages. Maria Hopper was Abby's niece. Tells or her plans to come to New York soon and asks if Abby can arrange to have Colbert, who was formerly enslaved by Jefferson Davis, meet her when she arrives.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Cambridge (Mass.); New York (State)
2 pages. Maria Hopper was Abby's niece. Tells Abby that she is planning a trip to Europe. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Maria Hopper was Abby's niece. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Says she imagines Mr. and Mrs. Rantoul are visiting with Abby and sends her love to them.
Subjects: Rantoul, Robert S. (Robert Samuel)
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Maria Hopper was Abby's niece. Thanks Abby for the yarn and talks extensively about her father.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
3 pages. Maria Hopper was Abby's niece. Talks about how wonderful it was to have Abby and Sarah Hopper Emerson visit with them recently.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Maria Hopper was Abby's niece. Talks about the passing of James Gibbons (Abby's husband) and mentions that Lucy made all the arrangements for the service.
Subjects: Gibbons, J. S. (James Sloan), 1810-1892; Death
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Maria Hopper was Abby's niece. Details her travels throughout Europe and looks forward to James arriving in Paris soon.
Subjects: Gibbons, J. S. (James Sloan), 1810-1892; Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824; Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452-1519
Relevant locations: Paris (France)
3 ALsS
3 pages. Mary Hopper Hopkins was Abby's half-sister. Encloses a copy of the "Senate Conscription Act" for Abby and asks her to pay attention to the 4th and 5th sections. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Draft; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: New York (State)
3 pages. Mary Hopper Hopkins was Abby's half-sister. Updates Abby on her family and their farm. Expresses love for Abby and her daughters.
Subjects: Hopkins, Mary Hopper, 1826-1910; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Glen Cove (N.Y.)
3 pages. Mary Hopper Hopkins was Abby's half-sister. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Hopkins, Mary Hopper, 1826-1910; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Glen Cove (N.Y.)
10 ALsS
6 pages. 'Rosa" De Wolf Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Expresses concern that Abby and Sally are not receiving her letters. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Tells the story of the engagement of Josephine Shaw and Col. Charles Lowell.
Subjects: Lowell, Josephine Shaw, 1843-1905; Lowell, Charles Russell, 1835-1864; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Hopper, De Wolf, 1858-1935; Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. 'Rosa" De Wolf Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Hopper, De Wolf, 1858-1935; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
6 pages. 'Rosa" De Wolf Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Discusses the events of Willie's (De Wolf Hopper) birthday. Tells of all the visitors who came for the event, including James and Sarah Thayer and Joseph Choate, and all of the gifts Willie was given.
Subjects: Hopper, De Wolf, 1858-1935
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. 'Rosa" De Wolf Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Talks about her desire to accept Abby's offer to visit her at Point Lookout but has concerns. Discusses her husband John Hopper's health problems at length.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Hopper, De Wolf, 1858-1935; Hopper, John, 1815-1864; Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
6 pages. 'Rosa" De Wolf Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Wonders if Abby is listening to Anna Dickinson. Anna Dickinson was an orator and activist for abolitionism and women's rights.
Subjects: Sedgwick, Charles, Mrs., 1801-1864; Hopper, De Wolf, 1858-1935; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Dickinson, Anna E. (Anna Elizabeth), 1842-1932
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. 'Rosa" De Wolf Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Writes that Mr. Henry has returned home after leaving the Chippewa (probably the USS Chippewa) and awaits orders. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends. Expresses admiration for the work that Abby is doing as a war nurse. Encloses letters from James Thayer and E. Hunt.
Subjects: Hopper, De Wolf, 1858-1935; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. 'Rosa" De Wolf Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Writes that Mr. Henry expects to receive orders any day. Encloses a donation of $3.70 raised by the Francis children and some of their friends for "the benefit of the soldiers." Requests that Abby send a letter of acknowledgement to Mrs. Francis.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. 'Rosa" De Wolf Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Writes that she has heard the news about Colbert, who was formerly enslaved by Jefferson Davis, and hopes that Abby has decided what to do with him. Discusses Willie's brief illness and treatment by a doctor who was proud to "have the grandson of Isaac T. Hopper as a patient."
Subjects: Hopper, Rosa De Wolf (Rosalie), 1826-1910; Hopper, De Wolf, 1858-1935
Relevant locations: New York (State)
3 pages. Written from West Randolph. "Rosa" De Wolf Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including Colbert, who was formerly enslaved by Jefferson Davis.
Subjects: Hopper, Rosa De Wolf (Rosalie), 1826-1910; Hopper, De Wolf, 1858-1935
Relevant locations: New York (State)
3 pages. Written from West Randolph. "Rosa" De Wolf Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. She is getting ready to go back to Milton in a few days. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Hopper, Rosa De Wolf (Rosalie), 1826-1910; Hopper, De Wolf, 1858-1935
Relevant locations: New York (State); Milton (N.Y. : Town)
2 pages. 'Rosa" De Wolf Hopper was Abby's sister-in-law. She and Lucy went to the opera the night before and had a "jolly time." Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including that Mr. Emerson dropped in to see Sally.
Subjects: Operas; Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: New York (State)
2 ALsS
3 pages. Catherine A. Howard was the wife of Senator Jacob M. Howard of Michigan. Is grateful for the copy of Abby's father's biography that Abby's brother sent her and praises Isaac T. Hopper extensively. Hopes the war will end soon.
Subjects: Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Howard, Jacob Merritt, 1805-1871; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Detroit (Mich.)
2 pages. Catherine A. Howard was the wife of Senator Jacob M. Howard of Michigan. Written to one of Abby's daughters, but it is unclear which one. Praises Isaac T. Hopper and requests a likeness of Abby Hopper Gibbons.
Subjects: Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852
Relevant locations: Detroit (Mich.)
8 ALsS
3 pages. Written from the Washington Contraband Camp. "Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines. Encloses a letter from General Martindale regarding a situation with Dr. Breed being insubordinate. Discusses the impact of the letter upon Dr. and Mrs. Breed, with whom she had been staying.
Subjects: Howland, Emily, 1827-1929; Martindale, J. H. (John Henry), 1815-1881; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Written from the Washington Contraband Camp. "Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines. Provides more information about the "Breed affair."
Subjects: Howland, Emily, 1827-1929; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Written from the Washington Contraband Camp. "Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines. Further updates on the situation with Dr. Breed. Encloses a letter from a contraband woman for her husband in the hope that Abby will have success getting it to him.
Subjects: Howland, Emily, 1827-1929; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Written from the Washington Contraband Camp. "Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines. Thanks Abby for her letter and the wise counsel it contained. She attended a meeting for the "Association," which is probably the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children, and discusses money-raising efforts for the Association. The new hospital is finished, and they will be moving into it soon.
Subjects: Howland, Emily, 1827-1929; New York National Freedman's Relief Association; National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.); United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. She has just received a letter returned that she had mailed to Abby some time ago and encloses it with an additional letter. Is disappointed she missed Abby's visit to the contraband camp ("Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines). Is currently at home with family but will be travelling back to the camp soon. Sends congratulations to to Abby's daughter Sally on her marriage.
Subjects: Howland, Emily, 1827-1929; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Sherwood (N.Y.)
5 pages. Written from Camp Todd in Arlington, a contraband camp. "Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines. Writes extensively about the "Home" (National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children). Mrs. Seward, wife of Secretary of State William Seward, is currently at the camp and is trying to influence Col. Greene to furnish Howland with a horse.
Subjects: Howland, Emily, 1827-1929; Greene, Elias M.; National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.); New York National Freedman's Relief Association; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Arlington (Va.)
8 pages. Written from Camp Todd in Arlington, a contraband camp. "Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines. Talks extensively about the "Home' (National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children). Howland thinks they should ask the government for a supply of rations because the children were orphaned by "military necessity" and not by ordinary circumstances. Mrs. Seward helped her acquire a horse.
Subjects: Howland, Emily, 1827-1929; National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.); United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Arlington (Va.)
2 pages. Written from Camp Casey in Arlington, a contraband camp. "Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines. Apologizes for having missed seeing Abby when she was in Washington. Talks about Miss Maria R. Mann and her struggle to gain permission to go to Savannah and organize schools and relief for freedmen. Asks if Abby can use her influence to help Miss Mann.
Subjects: Howland, Emily, 1827-1929; National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.); United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894
Relevant locations: Arlington (Va.)
8 ALsS
3 pages. Asks if Theodore (who is probably her son) can stay with Abby in New York for a short time while he is visiting the city. Hopes Abby will come stay with her at least one night during the summer.
Subjects: Travel; Snow
Relevant locations: Concord (Mass.)
3 pages. Talks about her son Theodore and his education and health issues. Mentions that Abby's son Willie gave Theodore a copy of Charles Sumner's speeches, noting that Willie referred to it "the most interesting book he ever had in his life."
Subjects: Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855
Relevant locations: Concord (Mass.)
3 pages. Is very grateful to Abby for letting her son Theodore stay with her in New York.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Concord (Mass.)
2 pages. Has arrived home safely after a very nice visit with Abby.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Concord (Mass.)
2 pages. Is filled with anguish to send her only son, Theodore, off to college but knows it is for his own good. Still has her daughter Sally's French books which she has not yet had time to read.
Subjects: Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: Concord (Mass.)
2 pages. Thanks Abby for the note regarding her son Theodore. Is glad to hear she would like her to send the coat for Colbert, a man formerly enslaved by Jefferson Davis who Abby brought North.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Concord (Mass.)
2 pages. Will send her the items she promised her very soon and apologizes for the delay. Asks if she can come for a longer visit with Abby next summer.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Concord (Mass.)
2 pages. A tract of land of about 20 acres directly across from her house is going up for auction. Hunt requests that Abby ask Hunt's father to provide money to buy the land.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Concord (Mass.)
3 ALsS
4 pages. Tells of the death of Mrs. Kimber and then recalls the passing of Abby's father, Isaac T. Hopper. Wants to know when they can see each other.
Subjects: Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Death
Relevant locations: Flushing (New York, N.Y.)
3 pages. There is a woman named Clara Rossiter, a widow of a Sergeant in the war, whose term teaching at the "Orphan House" is soon to expire, and Huntsman wants to know if she can be sent to work with Abby and help the "wounded men."
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Flushing (New York, N.Y.)
4 pages. Accepts Abby's offer to come visit the following week with her daughter Julia. Hopes her daughter Lucy can come too. Wants them to come the day of the fair for the "Freedmen."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Flushing (New York, N.Y.)
2 ALsS
3 pages. Encloses a copy of a letter from Dr. Julius Nichols about the government supplying clothing for the "lunatics" and the matrons.
Subjects: Jenkins, J. Foster (John Foster), 1826-1882; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Norfolk (Va.)
1 page. Water damaged. Encloses a letter of introduction to Mr. Lewis of the Philadelphia Agency whom he advises Abby to go see.
Subjects: Jenkins, J. Foster (John Foster), 1826-1882
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 ALsS
3 pages. Expresses condolences over the passing of William Emerson, the husband of Abby's son-in-law. Mary J. Eliot has been elected president of the "Association" (National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children), and Miss Eliot encloses a note to Abby expressing condolences and sharing a story about her brother, William Greenleaf Eliot, losing his young daughter in a skating accident.
Subjects: Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; Eliot, William Greenleaf, 1811-1887; National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.)
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Knows Abby is busy with "Hospital duties" but reminds her that she is still a manager of the "Home" (National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children). Talks about the goals and needs of the "Home," including the need for a clean water supply which will cost $800.
Subjects: National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.); Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Is seeking Abby's assistance for acquiring needs of the "Home" (National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children). Discusses some controversy involving the new matron of the "Home," Miss Coleman.
Subjects: National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.)
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
4 pages. Has been looking for a home to place the 9-year-old black girl whom Julia brought back after visiting Grandmother Gibbons. Has two potential families. Provides an update on her family members and gives condolences about Abby's son, Willie.
Subjects: Quakers; Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Keese, Catherine Robinson, 1806-1860
Relevant locations: Peru (N.Y.)
2 ALsS
2 pages. Encloses annual subscription fee of $5 for the "Home." Provides updates on her family and hopes Abby is well.
Subjects: Kirkland, E. S. (Elizabeth Stansbury), 1828-1896; Kirkland, Joseph, 1830-1894
Relevant locations: Vermilion County (Ill.)
2 pages. Encloses annual subscription fee of $5 for the "Home." Provides updates on her family, including her brother William's attack of insanity.
Subjects: Kirkland, E. S. (Elizabeth Stansbury), 1828-1896; Mental illness
Relevant locations: Chicago (Ill.)
9 ALsS
1 page. Abby's request to acquire a pass for ner niece has been granted.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Expresses gratitude for Abby's kind note. His wife, Helen, should soon be fully recovered.
Subjects: Lee, Charles Carroll, 1839-1893
Relevant locations: Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)
2 pages. Written on Surgeon General's Office stationery. Is unable to accept the hospitality Abby so generously offered but will see her Thursday morning before he leaves the city.
Subjects: Lee, Charles Carroll, 1839-1893
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Written on Surgeon General's Office stationery. Thanks Abby the information in her note. Discusses at length the issue of the selection of their rooms.
Subjects: Lee, Charles Carroll, 1839-1893
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
4 pages. Received Abby's note regarding the selection of the rooms from Dr. Charles Carroll Lee, her husband. Discusses the situation at length and thanks Abby for taking an interest in their affairs.
Subjects: Wet nurses
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Written on Surgeon General's Office stationery. Further discusses the issue of the selection of rooms.
Subjects: Lee, Charles Carroll, 1839-1893
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Tells about her living situation and her work as a teacher. She has not been able to sell her farm.
Subjects: Lea, Elizabeth Robeson, 1815-1882; Weather; Schools; Women educators
Relevant locations: Milford (Del.)
3 pages. Talks about her farm and her efforts to sell it. Wonders if any of Abby's Long Island friends would be interested in it. Mentions that Lucretia Mott appeared very "delicate" after the loss of her husband, James Mott.
Subjects: Mott, Lucretia, 1793-1880; Mott, James, 1788-1868
Relevant locations: Milford (Del.)
5 pages. Thanks her for her letter. Congratulates her for "being engaged in so blessed a work."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (State)
6 ALsS
2 pages. Hopes that Abby will be at Monthly Meeting.
Subjects: Quakers; Schools
Relevant locations: New York (State)
4 pages. Discusses some matters related to the school and hopes that Abby will have some time to give assistance to the school during the winter.
Subjects: Schools
Relevant locations: New York (State)
2 pages. Is going to Europe for a few months to visit her parents and wants to know if Abby will periodically check on the school for her and have Mr. Gibbons arrange the summer excursion.
Subjects: Schools
Relevant locations: New York (State)
3 pages. Hopes to arrange a time to meet with Abby. Has some papers for her from Mr. Luis about the school and also needs her advice. Was glad to hear she and Mr. Gibbons succeeded in selling their house and have settled into their new, smaller home.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (State)
2 pages. Asks Abby to send her the lease for the school if she has it. Hopes Abby will have time to visit the school soon. Asks how her daughter Lucy is recovering from her sickness.
Subjects: Schools; Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936
Relevant locations: New York (State)
2 pages. Encloses two photographs of Raphael's works that she acquired in Italy. She and Mr. Luis sold their house and will be staying in a hotel.
Subjects: Raphael, 1483-1520
Relevant locations: New York (State)
3 ALsS
4 pages. Written from the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (the "Home"), where she was a teacher. She is in distress over the affairs and interests of the Home, particularly the fact that several women are trying to have her ejected. Implores Abby to come to the Home as soon as possible to make her own assessment of the issues and provide counsel.
Subjects: National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.); Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894; Women educators; Women teachers
Relevant locations: Arlington (Va.)
12 pages. Discusses in detail the issues with the establishment and successful operation of her school for African Americans, including the effects of the formation of a competing public school system. Also comments on the status of relief organizations such as the Freedmen's Bureau and the United States Sanitary Commission as sources of educational funding.
Subjects: Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894; Women educators; Women teachers; African American schools; African Americans--Education; African Americans--Services for; School buildings; Public schools; Private schools; School attendance; Education--Finance; Textbooks
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
6 pages. Primarily complains about the changes being enacted by African Americans at her school, citing the exclusion of white teachers and limitation of white influence in administrative decisions. Mentions the work of educational reformer Elizabeth Palmer Peabody.
Subjects: Peabody, Elizabeth Palmer, 1804-1894; African American schools; African Americans--Education; African Americans--Services for; School management and organization; Race relations
Relevant locations: Burlington County (N.J.)
2 ALsS
3 pages. J.F.B. Marshall thanks Abby for her letter and is pleased to report that his wife, Martha, is doing much better. He regrets having to leave City Point, where Abby is. Expresses sympathy over the sudden death of Abby's brother, John Hopper. Martha Marshall thanks Abby for her letter and expresses sympathy over the death of John Hopper.
Subjects: Marshall, J. F. B. (James Fowle Baldwin), 1818-1891; Marshall, Martha Twycross, 1824-1891; Hopper, John, 1815-1864
Relevant locations: Weston (Mass. : Town)
3 pages. J.F.B. Marshall thanks Abby for sending a copy of her father's biography and praises Isaac T. Hopper. Pattie Marshall praises Abby and her daughters for the work they are doing for the soldiers.
Subjects: Hopper, Isaac T. (Isaac Tatem), 1771-1852; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; War work
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
Friends, acquaintances and former patients. Arranged alphabetically by author.
58 ALsS
1 page. Written by Dr. L. L. Allen [sp]. Learned that his box has arrived and asks if Abby will give it to Dr. Digley [sp]. Wishes her success in her "noble cause."
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
4 pages. 'Order of Exercises on the Repetition of the Celebration of Washington's Birth-Day." Probably a repetition of the event on February 23rd (A00181307), celebrating the birthday of George Washington, with an emphasis on abolitionist discussion. There are handwritten notes on the program, including "sixteen hundred persons present."
Subjects: Washington, George, 1732-1799; Briggs, George W. (George Ware), 1810-1895; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Slavery; Equality
Relevant locations: Salem (Mass.)
2 pages. The girls of Miss Stone's school (possibly Caroline C. Stone) are donating 350 dollars to Abby for the relief of sick and wounded soldiers. The money came from the proceeds of a school fair.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: New York (State)
2 pages. Discusses the transportation of the body of Hiram [sp].
Subjects: Travel
Relevant locations: Oberlin (Ohio)
1 page. Catherine Beecher was an American educator and writer. Wants advice on an enclosed typed rough draft. Hopes to meet with Abby soon.
Subjects: Beecher, Catharine Esther, 1800-1878
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Praises Abby for her work as a war nurse and discusses collecting contributions for the relief of sick soldiers. Discusses their mutual friend C. Huntsman, who is "devoting her time for the benefit of the soldiers." Discusses Henrietta T. Norris, who is working in hospitals in Baltimore and mentions other people. Expresses interest in reading the memoir of Abby's deceased son, William; her own daughter died under similar circumstances. Attended the Pennsylvania Soldiers Relief Association meeting in New York, which will be sending supplies to Point Lookout. Says "the times are hopeful and the dark cloud that has hung over our beloved country will vanish away... we shall behold a 'free country' and I trust a better people."
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Charity organization; War work
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Written on Department of Public Charities and Correction stationery. Discusses the case of a woman named Annie Fields [sp] who decided to make an honest living after listening to a sermon at church.
Subjects: Charity organization
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
5 pages. Discusses the time he spent serving as a doctor in the army with Abby before he became ill and mentions the events of May 24th, 1862. Mentions the recent death of Theodore Tebbets. Says that both the North and South are guilty of "the awful judgment... being visited upon our land." Worried about his brother Elijah who is a private in the army and was present at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Wishes Abby and her family well.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work
Relevant locations: Chicago (Ill.)
2 pages. In French. Written from "front de Petesbourgere," probably Petersburg, Virginia. Addressed to "my dear Miss and friend." Author seems to be a soldier. Mostly sends wishes to family; mentions an attack by rebels, a hospital, and "Madame Gibbons."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Petersburg (Va.)
3 pages. Grace Ashburner (Sedgwick) Bristed was the daughter of Elizabeth Buckminster Dwight Sedgwick (Mrs. Charles Sedgwick). Complains that it seems like Abby and her daughter Julia have forgotten about her, and she wants to hear from Abby. Describes the hostile post-war atmosphere of Charleston, South Carolina, and looks forward to returning home up north. Discusses multiple people, including the health of Mr. Bristed.
Subjects: Reconstruction (United States : 1865-1877)
Relevant locations: Charleston (S.C.)
3 pages. James C. Carter was a college friend of Abby's deceased son William Gibbons. Regrets having missed meeting with Abby. Discusses the future and the possible sale of a house.
Subjects: Carter, James C. (James Coolidge), 1827-1905; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
1 page. Written on U.S. Sanitary Commission stationery. Asks what he should do with the box of confectionery that has arrived for her.
Subjects: Culyer, John Y. (John Yapp), 1839-1924; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Wants to go home to New York, but her mother told her to wait because the city is "unhealthy." Looks forward to visiting Abby.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Lafayette (Va.); New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Invites Abby and her daughters to her house by the shore.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Rockaway (New York, N.Y.)
2 pages. Thanks Abby for the poem. Wants to visit her but has been caring for her sick father. Charlie almost sent the proceeds from his "Fair" to Abby for the Washington "Home," and Cheever promises to contribute money when she sees Abby. She refers to the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children.
Subjects: National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.)
3 pages. Hannah B. Chickering was a Massachusetts prison reformer who founded the Temporary Asylum for discharged female prisoners (later called the Dedham Temporary Home for Women and Children). Reports that their "hearing" with the Legislative Committee for the establishment of a Home was successful. A bill will be presented to have the institution be funded by both state aid and private donations. Wishes to consult Gibbons on aspects going forward.
Subjects: Chickering, Hannah B., 1817-1879; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women social reformers; Women--Services for; Women ex-convicts; Housing rehabilitation--Social aspects; Temporary Asylum for Discharged Female Prisoners
Relevant locations: Dedham (Mass.)
2 pages. Margaret Manning Choate was the mother of Joseph Choate. Expresses sympathy over the death of Abby's brother, John Hopper. Rev. Dr. Briggs mentioned him in his sermon. Invites Abby and her daughters to visit this summer.
Subjects: Choate, Margaret Manning; Hopper, John, 1815-1864; Briggs, George W. (George Ware), 1810-1895
Relevant locations: Salem (Mass.)
3 pages. Details their travels to Philadelphia, Atlantic City, and New York. Discusses current events surrounding the war, including a recent raid and is hopeful for good news about Atlanta. Discusses a boy with severe burns on his legs after a spark from a candle lit the bed on fire.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Written on National Freedman's Relief Association stationery. Discusses the donation of money to the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children by the National Freedman's Relief Association.
Subjects: National Freedmen's Relief Association; National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children (Washington, D.C.); African Americans--Services for
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
1 page. Written by Stacy B. Collins [sp]. Is enclosing letters from the battlefield.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Written from Dolores. Marie Louise Craven was the wife of Commander Tunis Craven. Expresses sympathy for the destruction of Abby's home in the New York City draft riots of 1863 and asks if she can be of service. Discusses her recent illness and the recent death of her son, Lieutenant Augustus Craven. Plans to go to New York in the autumn so her children can attend school there.
Subjects: Draft Riot (New York, New York : 1863); United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: New Jersey
1 page. Written by Robert Crick [sp]. Is glad to hear from her and has been making enquiries about her. Is sorry he did not take her advice. Says "I hope I live to see you in New York."
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Winchester (Va.)
2 pages. Written on Constitutional Convention stationery. George William Curtis was a writer and orator. Received her report and discusses the high regard that the Chairman of the Prison Committee holds for her "society," possibly referencing The Home (later the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women--Societies and clubs; Women--Services for; Women ex-convicts
Relevant locations: Albany (N.Y.)
2 pages. Thanks Abby for her sympathy over the recent death of his wife, Margaret Donaldson (Gibbons) Daggett.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New Haven (Conn.)
4 pages. Written from Sheffield. The author wants to hire a servant and wonders if Gibbons can recommend anyone. Most of the letter discusses the traits the author is looking for.
Subjects: Women household employees
1 page. Written from Worcester by Martha A.L. Doane [sp]. The author asks after the health of her husband, who Abby is caring for.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Written by Lassie Dormus [sp] from St. Luke's Hospital. Describes the death of a woman named Eliza.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
3 pages. The author asks Gibbons (who is serving as a nurse in the Union Army) what supplies it would be most useful to send.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
4 pages. Discusses the negative circumstances of a women called Annie Shemas [sp] and is hoping Abby will be able to help her.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Edmonds responds to Gibbons's question about whether he knows certain people.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Thanks Abby for her note and praises her for her sense of charity. Has returned to her faith. Wanted to assist Abby with the Home (later the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts, but is impeded by her health.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women social reformers; Social service; Women--Services for
2 pages. Edwin A. Hopkins was Abby's brother-in-law. Discusses the birth of his daughter Julia and invites Abby and her daughters over to meet the baby.
Subjects: Hopkins, Edwin Augustus, 1809-1891
Relevant locations: Glen Cove (N.Y.)
1 page. Written on stationery of the Washington, D.C. Senate chamber. Acknowledges receipt of a letter and reports that Evarts (Senator from New York) has presented Gibbons's petition to the Senate.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States. Congress. Senate; Women--Political activity
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Anna J. H. Fitch was the Treasurer of the Women's Prison Association of New York/the Home (later the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts. Discusses the empty treasury and funding for the Home.
Subjects: Women--Services for; Women ex-convicts; Housing rehabilitation--Social aspects
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Caroline von Gersdorff was Joseph Choate's sister. Thanks her for the photo of Abby's daughter Lucy and encloses a photo of her own daughter. Congratulates Abby's daughter Sally on her recent marriage. Discusses the health of family, and wants Abby to visit them.
Subjects: von Gersdorff, Caroline, 1834-1889; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Salem (Mass.)
2 pages . Is sending Abby supplies for her patients and includes a list of the supplies sent. Has heard about Abby's work as a war nurse from Abby's daughter Lucy.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; War--Relief of sick and wounded; War work
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Asks Abby to help her locate a soldier in the Hospital Ward who may have information on another soldier named Henry S. May. Mrs. Gilbert met Abby and her daughter Sally while her son was in the Hospital, and wishes to see them again. Wishes to assist in the Hospital as well but is prevented by her poor health.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Berkshire County (Mass.)
1 page. Apologizes for the delayed package; has sent wine and a book for Abby's daughter Lucy.
Subjects: Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Wants to know if Abby would be able to assist a girl either by finding her a job or by placing her at The Home (later called the Isaac T. Hopper Home), a shelter for women ex-convicts.
Subjects: Women--Services for; Housing rehabilitation--Social aspects
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Ida Greeley was a corresponding secretary for the National Woman's Suffrage Association. Accepts Abby's offer to take her sister Gabrielle while their mother is sick. Will come to New York and drop Gabrielle off.
Subjects: Greeley, Ida, 1848-1882
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Written on United States Sanitary Commission stationery. Mrs. Maria C. Grier was President of the Women's Pennsylvania Branch of the Sanitary Commission. Is waiting to hear back from Gibbons about sending a nurse to the Beverly army hospital.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War work
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
2 pages. Missed the monthly "Labor and aid" meeting because her sister has been ill. Mentions current events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Garrison (N.Y.)
2 pages. Discusses a shipment of vinegar that Gibbons ordered.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Yorktown (N.Y.)
2 pages. Mary M. Hamilton was the granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton. Thanks Gibbons for using her name as a reference and will "ask that both the ladies be received in the Industrial Department of the School." Looks forward to getting to know Gibbons and her daughter and praises her work as a war nurse.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Schuyler, Mary Morris Hamilton, 1818-1877
Relevant locations: Dobbs Ferry (N.Y.)
2 pages. William Alexander Hammond was a doctor, the eleventh Surgeon General of the United States Army during the Civil War, and the founder of the Army Medical Museum (now the National Museum of Health and Medicine). Written on Surgeon General's Office stationery. Authorizes Gibbons and nurses of her selection for service at Point Lookout Hospital, Maryland.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War work
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Cornelius W. Harris was a free African American born in New Jersey and served in the 20th U.S. Colored Infantry during the Civil War. Written to Miss Vaile [sp] from Camp Parapet, Louisiana. Says that his Company is the best drilled in the Regiment. Describes the court martial and execution of an African American private from Philadelphia who shot and killed one of the sergeants. Sends his respects to the Vaile [sp] family and says "tell the Boys [they need] not wish to be a Soldier, but stay where they have plenty to Eate, good Beds to Sleep when it comes night."
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; United States. Army. Colored Infantry Regiment, 20th (1864-1865); Courts-martial and courts of inquiry; Soldiers' writings; African American soldiers
Relevant locations: Camp Parapet (New Orleans, La.); Carrollton (La.)
3 pages. Written on Hammond General Hospital stationery. Dr. Anthony Heger was the successor of Dr. Wagner as Medical Director of Point Lookout. Is happy that Gibbons's family and valuables were recovered safely from the New York City draft riot that destroyed her home. Hopes she will be able to return to the hospital soon, saying "you have become almost identified with its rise and progress." Discusses recent events that have transpired while she's been away; there have been multiple "visitors of high official character" who have approved of the hospital conditions, including Dorothea Dix. A prison camp for Confederate soldiers is going to be established at Point Lookout.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; Draft Riot (New York, New York : 1863); Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
1 page. Adams Sherman Hill was a newspaper journalist and orator. Makes plans to meet "at the Department" tomorrow. Probably at Point Lookout, Maryland.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
3 pages. Written by Anna S. Hooper [sp]. Is grateful for the nomination for President but has declined because she does not feel she has sufficient experience to qualify for the position. Mentions a Boys Home and the "National Home."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Social service
2 pages. Charles E. Hoover was a cousin of Mrs. William Dooley and it writing on Mrs. Dooley's behalf. Informs Abby of the capture, imprisonment, and death of Mr. Dooley by Confederate soldiers. Discusses Mrs. Dooley's current circumstances.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Baltimore (Md.)
2 pages. Mary Hopper Hopkins was Abby's half-sister. Misses Abby and her family and wants to see them once the "danger is over." Discusses recent events concerning family/friends, including problems with a serving woman named Ann.
Subjects: Hopkins, Mary Hopper, 1826-1910; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
1 page. Addressed to "Mrs. Jas. R. Gibbons." Written on New England Soldier's Relief Association stationery. Has wanted to see her but has been busy with the sick and wounded soldiers. Recommends a substitute for her named Miss E. Irving.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Women nurses; Nursing; War work
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Mrs. Eliza Newton Woolsey Howland was the wife of Union Army officer Joseph Howland, an author, and was on the executive board of the Woman's Central Association of Relief. Has sent a barrel of clothes and other supplies to Abby at Point Lookout, Maryland, and is willing to send more in the future. Requests that the 16th New York men receive a pair of socks each. Congratulates her on her "success" in Washington.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: New York (State)
3 pages. Lieutenant Edward H. Ketcham was a Quaker soldier in the 120th New York Infantry. Written at a camp near Falmouth, Virginia. Discusses other Quakers/abolitionist soldiers, including Sergeant Levi Rosa. Asks Abby to locate Rosa's wounded brother at Point Lookout Hospital and convince him to get an honorary discharge.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Quakers; Quaker abolitionists; Ketcham, Edward Hallock, 1835-1863
Relevant locations: Falmouth (Va.)
4 pages. Lieutenant John T. Ketcham was a Quaker soldier in the 4th New York Cavalry. Discusses multiple subjects, including the death of his brother Lt. Edward H. Ketcham at Gettysburg and John Brown. Expresses passionate patriotic and abolitionist sentiments.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Quakers; Quaker abolitionists; Ketcham, Edward Hallock, 1835-1863; Ketcham, John Townsend, 1838-1863
Relevant locations: Harpers Ferry (W. Va.); Manassas (Va.)
2 pages. Was happy to see her at the gathering the night before. Discusses the opening of a hospital and Chinese patients.
Subjects: Hospitals
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Discusses her receiving a fifty dollar contribution from Naylor [sp]. Discusses traveling in Europe with his family and the health of his daughter. Will visit her next time they are in New York.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Morristown (N.J.)
3 pages. Addressed to "Mrs. Sarah H. Gibbons"; probably to Abby Hopper Gibbons. Is unsure when Abby will return to Point Lookout. Discusses the recent events at Point Lookout while Abby's been away, including the operation of "The Hammond [sp] Gazette" and the house arrest of one of the doctors. Expresses abolitionist sentiments and pessimism about the war, stating "many of our own generals are no more than traitors, the soldiers are becoming discouraged and we will be compelled after a while to yield, or to compromise in some dishonorable way so I fear."
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Slavery; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
3 pages. Frederick Newman Knapp was a clergyman, teacher, and prominent figure of the United States Sanitary Commission during the Civil War, acting as superintendent of the Special Relief Department. Wants to include a written account of Gibbons's experiences as a Civil War nurse in the book he is writing about the relief of sick and wounded soldiers.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; War work; Nursing; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Walpole (N.H.)
39 ALsS
8 pages. Jean M. Lander was an actress and the wife of General Frederick W. Lander. Was disappointed that she missed Gibbons on Saturday. Has sent supplies to hospitals for wounded soldiers and visited the hospitals and camps on Folly and Morris Islands in South Carolina. Many supplies are needed, including woolen clothing, bandages, eggs, and sugar. Discusses the conditions of the hospitals, the prevalence of disease, and the benefits of sending men home to convalesce. Discusses the interaction of white and colored regiments and contrasts northern free black men from those recently freed from slavery. Discusses soldier's pay.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Slavery; Women and war; Race relations; African American soldiers
Relevant locations: Lynn (Mass.); Folly Island (S.C. : Island); Morris Island (S.C.)
2 pages. Written by Lydia Leake [sp]. Expresses sympathy for the recent death of Abby's son-in-law, William Emerson. Abby is currently working as a Civil War nurse. Asks whether Abby's brother succeeded in getting his protege into "The Asylum." Discusses raising funds for "the Infirmary," possibly the New York Infirmary for Women and Children and thanks Abby for her help with it.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Medicine
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Asking for information about her son, John A. Lennon of the 32nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, who was at Beverly Hospital.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
4 pages. Possibly written by Elizabeth D. Leonard (1807-1879). Thanks her for the book, which she praises and has lent out to others. Glad that Gibbons and her daughter Sally have returned to work as Civil War nurses for wounded soldiers. Recommends a young lady who wishes to volunteer as an educator for "contrabands" ("Contraband" was a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines).
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Books and reading; War work; Women and war; Slaves--Education; Women educators; Women teachers
Relevant locations: Exeter (N.H.)
2 pages. Major Jonathan Letterman was a surgeon and Medical Director for the Union Army during the Civil War; he is credited for developing the modern methods of triage and medical management in war settings. Encloses a report of Assistant Surgeon Alden concerning the interference of the Mayor and the ladies of the town in Hospital conduct.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Nursing
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 pages. Wishes her a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Describes their new home in Germany and says that the Gibbons family is welcome to visit. Discusses a school and individuals involved with it, including Abby's daughter Julia Gibbons. Discusses a woman named Mary Thomas.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Lindau (Bavaria, Germany)
2 pages. Declines the "appointment" and participation with the Army Nurse Association because of the her husband's illness, but she is willing to donate money.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Nursing; Women nurses
4 pages. Defends her friend "Miss N." from defamatory allegations concerning her professional behavior as a nurse.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Libel and slander; War work; Nursing; Women nurses; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Samuel Joseph May was a reformer who advocated for multiple reform movements including education, women's rights, and abolitionism. Writes about his participation in the establishment of an "Asylum for seduced and forsaken women" in Syracuse, New York, and asks Gibbons to recommend a qualified woman to head the institution.
Subjects: Housing rehabilitation--Social aspects; Women--Services for; Social service
Relevant locations: Syracuse (N.Y.)
3 pages. Possibly written from Massachusetts. Wishes they could meet more often. Discusses recent events concerning family/friends.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
2 pages. Katharine Maria Sedgwick Minot was the daughter of Elizabeth Buckminster Dwight Sedgwick. Written from Woodbourne. Informs Abby that Julia has arrived safely.
Subjects: Minot, Katharine Sedgwick, 1820-1880; Gibbons, Julia, 1837-1889
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
1 page. Written by P. Odlin [sp]. Thanks her for writing to him about his daughter's health and will come to New York as soon as possible.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Dayton (Ohio)
1 page. Would like to volunteer as a war nurse and was advised by Mrs. Tebbets (probably Mrs. Ellen Tebbets) to contact Abby for a position.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Nursing; Women nurses
Relevant locations: Medford (Mass.)
1 page. Recommends Miss Ann Olcott to the position of hospital nurse during the Civil War.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Nursing; Women nurses; Employment references
Relevant locations: Medford (Mass.)
2 pages. Recommends Miss Ann Olcott to the position of hospital nurse during the Civil War.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Nursing; Women nurses; Employment references
Relevant locations: Medford (Mass.)
2 pages. Addressed to "Mrs. Gibson" (probably Abby Hopper Gibbons). Discusses her family and the possibility of Mary coming to visit.
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
Relevant locations: Brownsville (Fayette County, Pa.)
2 pages. Contains an introduction of the messenger delivering the letter, whose brother is a patient at Beverly Hospital in New Jersey. Sent her a Boston paper containing the obituary of Heny [sp] and will send her an account of the funeral. Will not forget her kindness during "those sad days" spent with her; Patten is possibly a soldier she treated.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Nursing; Women nurses
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.)
8 pages. Elizabeth Palmer Peabody was a prominent American educator. Discusses Maria R. Mann and her struggles against racist attitudes to establish a school for black people.
Subjects: Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894; African Americans--Education; Women educators; Women teachers; Race relations; Racism
Relevant locations: Concord (Mass.); Harpers Ferry (W. Va.)
6 pages. Elizabeth Palmer Peabody was a prominent American educator. Theresa Dana was the wife of Colonel James Dana. Discusses the pardoning of individuals and confiscation of property. Discusses Maria R. Mann and her struggles to establish a school for black people.
Subjects: Mann, Maria R., 1817-1894; African Americans--Education; Women educators; Women teachers; Race relations; Racism
Relevant locations: Concord (Mass.)
3 pages. Adeliza Perry was an Army nurse during the Civil War who worked under Dorothea Dix. Written from Balfour Hospital, Virginia. Discusses her experiences as a war nurse, including the deficiency of books supplied, the health of her patients, and her nurse coworkers. Discusses the lack of education of the local community, saying, "They nearly all claim to be secessionists. Ignorant and deluded, not one in fifty know the meaning of the word." Discusses the execution of Dr. David M. Wright, who shot and killed the Lieutenant of a colored regiment. Says "If ever you should be matron in a hospital I should like dearly to serve under you."
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Nursing; Women nurses; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Wright, David Minton, 1809-1863
Relevant locations: Norfolk (Va.)
3 pages. Thanks Abby for the kind note and memoir of Abby's deceased son, William Gibbons. Regrets not being able to participate in the "Labour and Aid" because of her brother-in-law's illness. Discusses the establishment of an "enterprise."
Subjects: Gibbons, William, 1834-1855; Women social reformers
2 pages. Regrets not seeing her last week and plans to visit Beverly Hospital soon, where Abby was working as a war nurse. Arrived in Philadelphia safely. Sends love to Abby's daughter (possibly Sally) and her respects to Dr. Wagner and Dr. Vandyke.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Nursing; Women nurses
Relevant locations: Philadelphia (Pa.)
1 page. Fragment. Whitelaw Reid was a politician, newspaper editor, and author. Says "prospects are extremely good-much better than they were at this time four years ago."
Subjects: Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893
1 page. Henry B. Rogers was involved with the United States Sanitary Commission. Written on The United States Sanitary Commission stationery. Approves of the suggestion from the enclosed papers, saying "if carried out, would prove of immense benefit to the soldier and the country generally."
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
3 pages. Discusses the illness of Abby's daughter Lucy. Mentions a Mr. Bigelow; a Mr. Cobb; and Colbert, a man formerly enslaved by Jefferson Davis whom Abby helped get an education.
Subjects: Morse, Lucy Gibbons, 1839-1936
Relevant locations: Newport (R.I.)
2 pages. Louisa Lee Schuyler was an early leader in charitable work and founded the first nursing school in the United States. During the Civil War, she worked as the corresponding secretary of the Woman's Central Association of Relief in New York City. Written on U.S. Sanitary Commission: Woman's Central Association of Relief stationery. Heard that Abby is working at Beverly Hospital in New Jersey as a war nurse. Asks her to read the enclosed letter concerning women in need of work placement. Mentions a Miss Georgy Woolsey (probably Georgeanna "Georgy" Muirson Woolsey Bacon), Miss Carrie Woolsey, and Miss Thumway.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Nursing; Women nurses; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Is appreciative of the painting/photograph she received as a gift. Discusses moving from Kingston. Discusses visiting with Abby's daughter Sally.
Subjects: Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-
Relevant locations: Boston (Mass.); Kingston (Mass.)
2 pages. Thanks her for her sympathy over the death of his wife. Donates his annual contribution of one hundred dollars to the "Prison Home," probably the Isaac T. Hopper Home, a shelter for women's ex-convicts. Mentions a "Soldier's Home."
Subjects: Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Women--Services for; Women ex-convicts
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Written on Fortieth Congress, U.S. House of Representatives stationery. Discusses selling their house and wishes she and Abby could be neighbors; says "although we women are acknowledged to be supreme in the house-hold I greatly fear that our power is weak in holding a house either by legal means or moral persuasion." Discusses the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson.
Subjects: United States--History--1865-1921; Impeachments; Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875--Impeachment
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
2 pages. Written from Mrs. E. M. Sines, whom Sally stayed with while working as a war nurse in Virginia. Sarah "Sally" Hopper Gibbons Emerson was Abby Hopper Gibbons's daughter. Saw Sally's name in the paper in relation to her work for women's rights. Asks for Sally's help in finding employment after becoming a widow and losing her home.
Subjects: United States--History--1865-1921; Emerson, Sarah Hopper, 1835-; Women's rights; Women--Economic conditions; Women employees
Relevant locations: Washington (D.C.)
1 page. Sends a donation of twenty-two dollars to Abby towards the relief of sick and wounded soldiers.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Wishes for Abby to accept a donation of $350 raised by her students for the relief of sick and wounded soldiers. They are also donating some hospital supplies.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
3 pages. Asks for the address of the "servants Home" in New York for women in need of shelter. Discusses the work she has done for African Americans.
Subjects: Women--Services for; African Americans--Housing
Relevant locations: Long Island (N.Y.)
3 pages. Probably written by George Cabot Ward, 1828-1887. Would be happy to help Abby's "young friend" and discusses opportunities for men who have been in the army. Possibly providing a reference to be used to gain employment.
Subjects: United States--History--1865-1921; Veterans; Veterans--Employment
3 pages. Caroline Weston was a teacher and abolitionist and was a founder of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. Disappointed they were unable to meet. Mentions "the Railroad." Appreciates the book from Mr. Gibbons and would like Abby's family to visit.
Subjects: Weston, Caroline, 1808-
Relevant locations: Weymouth (Mass.)
2 pages. Written by Miss Williams from Fort Schuyler Hospital on Office of the Lady Superintendent: U.S. Army General Hospital stationery. Hasn't heard from Abby and has decided to accept Miss Kate Quick [sp] on a trial basis. Offers to leave her current hospital post and work either as an Army nurse or act as Abby's assistant.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Nursing; Women nurses; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Written from U.S.A. General Hospital, Point Lookout, Maryland. Would like to be transferred to Beverly Hospital in New Jersey. Possibly works as a quatermaster or steward.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.); United States. General Hospital (Beverly, N.J.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.); Beverly (N.J.)
2 pages. Written from Head Quarters De Russy's Division. Offers advice to a boy named Willie. Tells him to take advantage of the opportunities presented to him by the "friends" taking care of him and to lead a moral and Christian life.
Subjects: Christian life
Relevant locations: Arlington (Va.)
1 page. Written from Hammond General Hospital. Army nurse Miss Ella Wolcott writes to ask the Surgeon in Charge, Dr. Anthony Heger, if Matrons have the power to dismiss nurses without providing a reason. Forwarded by Dr. Heger to Abby Hopper Gibbons.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War work; Nursing; Women nurses; Gibbons, Abby Hopper, 1801-1893; Hammond General Hospital (Point Lookout, Md.)
Relevant locations: Point Lookout (Md.)
re: supply shipments to the hospital
Physical Description13 ALsS and 2 copied Ls
3 pages. Maria M. Morgan discusses publishing Gibbons's letters in order "to awaken the sympathies of the people… on behalf of the Sanitary Commission." She will be sending Gibbons supplies through Robert Haydock. Discusses the death of her daughter.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Skaneateles (N.Y.)
1 page. Maria M. Morgan has sent supplies to Gibbons's army hospital via Robert Haydock and is about to send more.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded
Relevant locations: Skaneateles (N.Y.)
3 pages. Gibbons's letters describing conditions at her army hospital influenced Dickinson's organization to send her supplies via Robert Haydock. Dickinson asks her to send any information that would help motivate Quakers to contribute to war relief and details the amount of contributions his organization has received.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; War--Relief of sick and wounded; Quakers--Charities
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.)
2 pages. Statement of contents of two barrels and one box of clothing for Contrabands (a term used during the Civil War to refer to formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines). Haydock was a New York merchant who shipped supplies to Abby Hopper Gibbons while she worked at an army hospital in Point Lookout.
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Haydock, Robert, 1807-1894; Contraband of war; Fugitive slaves
Relevant locations: New York (N.Y.); Point Lookout (Md.)
2 pages. Morgan asks Haydock about supplies for Abby Hopper Gibbons, because Morgan is starting a society that could help supply her. Haydock was a New York merchant who shipped supplies to Gibbons while she worked at an army hospital in Point Lookout. Includes note from Robert Haydock.
Subjects: United St