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WINTER 2014-15 A Stepping Stone to Whitman’s Past By Matthew L. Ifill It was just last year that a major refurbishment of the walkways just outside the Whitman House took place and we were challenged by an opportunity to address the issue of the original carriage stone’s condition. Time and the elements were taking their toll on the old stone. To ensure its preservation, we safely removed the relic for display in our future visitor center, and had an exact replica made and placed in the original’s location as it was when the poet first set eyes upon it. This stone connects visitors today with those of the past. In fact, when we see the new stone today, it’s as if we’re journeying back in time to see when the original carriage stone was placed. Let us now take a journey through the story of the stone’s history.

Whitman seated in his gifted phaeton with driver Bill Duckett, A GIFT OF A HORSE 1866, Camden, NJ. Library of Congress. Walt Whitman always had a group of friends who stood up to help the poet in times of (perceived) need. In y errand to Camden was to visit the house on Mickle September of 1885, the need was for a horse and buggy street.... I don’t suppose any literary shrine on earth M in which the semi-paralyzed Whitman could gadabout. is of more humble and disregarded aspect.... On the Tom Donaldson organized a drive, enlisting thirty-two pavement in front stands a white marble stepping block subscribers to send $10 each to buy a horse and carriage with the carved initials W.W. – given to the poet I dare and pay for operations thereof. Samuel Clemens responded say, by the same friends who bought him a horse and with: “I have great veneration for the old man, and would carriage....Though neither Philadelphia nor Camden has gladly pay his turnouts board, year after year, and buy recognized [this] as one of the authentic shrines of our another when it fails.”2 John Greenleaf Whittier responded history.... You will make a great mistake if you don’t ramble kindly, and with a contribution to “the man who tenderly over to Camden some day and fleet the golden hours in an nursed the Union soldiers and as tenderly sung the dirge observant stroll.”1 of their great captain.” However, he could not help but to So recalled the writer Christopher Morley in 1918, add a personal chide: “I need not say perhaps that I have when he ventured to Camden on a quest to find the former been pained by some portions of W.W.’s writings, which abode of Walt Whitman. These were the waning days before for his own sake, and for that of his readers, I wish could its acquisition in 1921 and subsequent preservation as the be omitted.”3 Others like Oliver Wendell Holmes , Horace Walt Whitman literary shrine and memorial home. His Howard Furness, Samuel Elkins and George Boker4 joined impressions of the house still ring true today, yet also offer in this worthy effort. Some wanted to give more, but an example of how far we have come regarding the site over Donaldson refused: he wanted only ten dollars a man. the past century. It was visits by Morley and others around the centenary of Whitman’s birth that led to a rekindled effort Donaldson fondly recollected the day of the arrival of to preserve and memorialize the poet’s house. Whitman’s the carriage: marble carriage stone at the curb served as a way finding I dropped in at Mr. Whitman’s house in Camden marker to those visitors before there was any designation as in a usual manner at about four o’clock on Tuesday an historic site. The story of that carriage stone takes us on September 15, 1885. Mr. Whitman was reclining on an a fascinating journey: a journey that is a microcosm to the old lounge in the parlor. I sat by him on a chair and we story of the Whitman House itself.

(Continued on next page) chatted about his health and the weather. Presently I scene, marking the modest home of the venerable poet heard the gift buggy come up to the door. It was driven and easing his difficult climb into the carriage. Whitman by Master Blaine Donaldson, a lad of nine, and a man commented several years later in his Daybook: with him. Mr. Whitman went to the window and, seeing Oct. 26 [1889] the boy and buggy, said, as I recall it, “Bless me! What Had the old tree cut down – it was dead & no sap, a nice turnout! And there’s Blaine. Well, well, how the no leaves – “Why cumbereth it the ground?” (how lad does seem to fit it! How comfortable it does look!” long before I go too?) – it stood in the front of my old I replied: “Yes; that does seem comfortable. It belongs ranch in Mickle st: must have been 40 or 50 yr’s old to you.” “Eh?” “It belongs to you;” and then I handed – Jo Jackson (color’d man, Centreville) cut it down this him a letter containing the names of the contributors and forenoon smooth’d the ground & paved the walk over an envelope with $135.40 in it, the unexpected balance. with bricks & placed the white stone carriage step (with He looked at the paper, read it, looked at me, then out WW on, a present f’m R Pearsall Smith) in better middle of the window, and finally the tears began to trickle down position - $2.50- gave Jo a good glass of sherry wine10 his cheeks. I left shortly after. I was told that for an hour before sunset that day a buggy was seen speeding at a Thus we know that the carriage stone arrived as a gift fearful rate about the edges of Camden, and driven by a from Whitman’s friend Robert Pearsall Smith. Whitman venerable man, who did not seem disposed to cease riding.5 referred to Smith as “a good fellow: hospitable, loving, level- headed too- truly my well-wisher, I do believe.”11 Smith The New York Times reported on Whitman’s gift the had accompanied Whitman to the New York, Carnegie Hall, following day. In addition to a similar account of the Lincoln Lecture that netted Whitman $600 in 1887; even afternoon’s events, the article stated: throwing the reception for the poet afterwards. …When the reporter called at 9 o’clock; the old Whitman’s connection with the family started when gentleman was… sitting in his great armchair beside daughter Mary read in college. All three the window, with the lights turned down. The floor of Smith’s children became friends and, especially the and table was still littered with books and papers, the two daughters Mary and Alys, frequent correspondents evening mail still unopened. “You don’t know how and visitors. Years later, Alys brought her husband, the many good friends I have… I have before now been philosopher Bertrand Russell, to visit Whitman’s house. made to feel in many touching ways how kind and He wrote it was the first place they visited in the area.12 thoughtful my loving friends are, but this present is so The Smiths moved to London in 1886 (although they handsome and valuable, came so opportunely, and was would frequently be back and forth to the area) leaving a 6 so thorough a surprise, that I can hardly realize it. reasonable assumption that the stone was probably placed The horse, named Frank, was stabled at 4th and Mickle. soon after the gift of the phaeton. It is also interesting to Donaldson, who worked for note that Whitman had the sidewalk redone and the stone the Pennsylvania Railroad, repositioned in the wake of the removal of a tree- sounds arranged for a ferry pass and exactly like our situation now. Bill Duckett drove Whitman Whitman eventually “sold Nettie & the Phaeton to “in the wagon every Mr. (Rev. J. Leonard) Corning for $130”, on September afternoon.”7 Whitman wrote 7, 1888.13 Horace Traubel and he discussed the sale that Donaldson October 13, evening. “W. had previously tendered them to Bucke for 1885: “Thank the Columbus what Bucke calls “an imaginary debt”, Bucke declining… Buggy Co., and their Said to me concerning it: ‘It marks a new epoch in my life: workmen, for the beautiful another stage on the downhill road.’ ‘I wouldn’t think with looking and practically your idea of death that you would think of it as a down perfect buggy furnished me. road.’ ‘Sure enough- the word was false: up road: up- up: I get out in it every day- my another stage on the uphill road: that certainly seems more only exercise – and I find it like me and I want to be like myself.’”14 Thomas C. Donaldson, 1843-1898. the easiest riding vehicle I Walt Whitman House Collection 8 ever sat in.” SAVING THE HOUSE BY MEANS OF THE STONE Frank, alas, did not stay long in good health. By mid- March of 1886, he seemed “played out.” On the 28th, In May of 1919, interest in Walt Whitman rose to new Whitman paid Edwin Stafford $152.50 for a mare named heights. The centenary of the great poet approached. “Nettie,” On April 28th, Whitman recorded that “my old These were the days when newspapers were still quite horse ‘Frank’ dead and buried.”9 The carriage served literate and covered events like this rather well. There Whitman well in his local travels. At some point in this was an interest from some pressmen in delving into time, the carriage stone became a part of the Mickle Street Whitman- not only the writer, but the man. May 30, - 2 - birthday, an interest qualified by disappointment in finding his house so neglected. I would gladly subscribe to any project to restore the Whitman home to some of the dignity that we in England have been able to give the homes of Wordsworth and Cowper.” His travelling companion Massingham added that “Lincoln was the greatest of modern statesmen. Poe was the greatest prose writer {N.B. the three had visited Poe’s Philadelphia house the same day- ‘also not awarded the honor it deserves’}, and Whitman the greatest modern poet.”17 It was not only the Philadelphia papers that started to started to stress the preservation and veneration of Whitman’s house, but east of the Delaware River, the Camden Courier, with its new owner and editor, J. David Stern- and his wife Julia Dedication Day of the Walt Whitman House, November 17, 1923. Lit Stern who was book editor- also carried the Walt Whitman House Collection mantle. The Sterns had brought one of their first Camden guests- novelist Sidney Nyburg (The Chosen People, The 1919, Christopher Morley, writing for the Philadelphia Conquest), who:insisted on visiting the house of Walt Ledger, accompanied two London newspaper editors, H.W. Whitman in Camden. I {STERN} was not sure in which of Massingham of the London Nation and Clement Shorter the dilapidated houses on Mickle street the Good Gray Poet of the London Sphere to visit Whitman’s Camden. Morley had lived. “is this Walt Whitman’s home?” I asked an old had written on March 28 that the upcoming bridge across woman seated on the steps of one of them. She shook her the Delaware (today’s Ben Franklin Bridge) ought to be head. To be helpful, she shouted to her neighbors, “Anyone the “Whitman Bridge”. He wrote that many poets are th know a Mr. Whitman?” All within earshot shook their largely forgotten by their 200 year- “we doubt whether heads. Just then I noticed the old marble carriage block in there will be any hullabaloo for James Russell Lowell which are chisled the initials W.W. I had picked the right in 2019, whereas we are confident that the Whitmaniacs house. of that year will have a great deal to say. And it will be 15 How Sidney enjoyed this incident. During the rest of worth saying.” His Memorial Day visit included a stop his visit he kept rubbing it in: “What an enlightened city at Whitman’s former home, then occupied by the Skymer the editor has chosen to serve. Whitman is the American family- renting the building from Whitman’s nieces. poet who commands the most world-wide recognition. There is wonderful drama in Camden for the seeing His work has been translated into more languages than eye. The first scene is Mickle street, that dingy, smoke- any other American author. To that little house on swept lane of mean houses. The visitors from overseas Mickle street came literary pilgrims from all parts of almost stood aghast when they saw the pathetic vista. the globe. But Camden is too busy preserving soup to For years they had dwelt on Whitman’s magnificent preserve this historic shrine.”18 message of pride and confidence: Stern and his wife put literary and civic pressure to bear See, projected through time. on the city, in some part thanks to that small marble step, For me an audience interminable. who’s W.W. showed them Whitman’s house. Perhaps they had conjured to mind a clean little By May 29, 1920, the Courier headlines proclaimed: cottage such as an English suburb might offer… And yet CITY BUYS WHITMAN’S HOME ON EVE OF one wonders, is not that faded box, with its flag hanging POET’S 101st BIRTHDAY19 from the second story and little Louis Skymer’s boyish sign in the window – Rabbits for sale cheap – and the Early plans by the mayor to move the house were backyard littered with hutches and the old nose-broken opposed by many of the folks who fought to see the site bust of Walt chucked away in the corner- is it not in a protected. After all, how could Whitman’s Mickle Street way strangely appropriate?16 home be moved from Mickle Street (not to mention the One of the English men travelling to Camden that same all-important carriage stone)? Work began to create a day, Clement Shorter, the literary editor of the London Whitman shrine- including much effort by Julia Stern to Sphere, wrote, “Imagine my interest to find myself at his improve the home’s interior. By June of 1922, it could be home and grave in Camden the day before his hundredth written that: “Whitman’s carriage stone- a block of white

- 3 - marble, with the initials W.W. cut in its surface, once more bears witness to the one-time dignity of Mickle street.”20 By November 17, 1923: Fittingly, though tardily, Camden dedicates Walt Whitman’s home today, as a shrine to the memory of its most distinguished citizen… This little old home on Mickle street may be, in the eyes of Father Time, Camden’s greatest and most enduring possession. Long after the centuries have crumpled our great factories, Walt Whitman’s original carriage stone. shipyards, and public buildings, the fact that here were Photo by Matthew Ifill the last home and grave of Walt Whitman will endure.21

How very prescient those words have turned out to 15 Morley, Christopher. “Travels in Philadelphia,” Philadelphia Ledger. March be. A new stone may welcome you today- serving Walt 28, 1919. Whitman just as its predecessor- but our old, original, the 16 Morley, Christopher. “Travels in Philadelphia,” Philadelphia Ledger. May 31, one touched by Whitman himself, lives on. Now it is safe 1919. for those coming centuries. 17 “British Editors Here Laud Walt Whitman,” Philadelphia Ledger. May 31, Endnotes 1919.

18 1 Morley, Christopher. “Travels in Philadelphia,”Philadelphia Ledger. September Stern, J. David. Memoirs of a Maverick Publisher. New York: Simon and 26, 1918. Schuster, 1962, p.138.

19 2 Donaldson, Thomas. Walt Whitman The Man. New York: Francis P. Harper, Headline, page 1, Camden Courier. May 29, 1920. 1896, p. 174. 20 Grafly, Dorothy. Christian Science Monitor. June 7, 1922.

3 Ibid, p.175. 21 Stern, J. David. Editorial, Camden Courier. November 17, 1923.

44 The full list as follows: Tom Donaldson, John G. Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Samuel L. Clemens, Charles Dudley Warner, John Boyle O’Reilly, William J. Florence, Edwin Booth, Lawrence Barrett, Mrs. S. A. Bigelow, Horace Howard Furness, L.N. Fairchild, E.A. Buck, R. W. Gilder, Edward T. Steel, A.K. McClure, Samuel B. Elkins, Charles Emory Smith, Talcott Williams, William D. O’Connor, J.H. Bartlett, George H. Boker, Edwin S. Stuart, William W. Justice, William Singerley, Wayne MacVeagh, George Childs, Anthony J. Drexel, Frank Thomson, John Harker, R.M. Bucke, and Dr. Beemer.

5 Donaldson, p. 182-3.

6 “Walt Whitman Surprised”, New York Times, September 16, 1885.

7 Whitman, Walt. Daybooks and Notebooks, 1876-1891. Edited by William White. New York: NYU Press, 1978, p. 372.

8 Whitman, Walt. The Correspondence 1876-1885. New York: NYU Press, 1964, p.406.

9 Whitman, Walt. Daybooks and Notebooks, pp. 382-3.

10 Whitman, Walt. Daybooks and Notebooks, p. 538.

11 Traubel, Horace. With Walt Whitman In Camden, vol. 2. New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1915, p 552.

12 Kreig, Joanne. “’Don’t Let Us Talk of That Anymore:’ Whitman’s Estrangement from the Costelloe-Smith Family.” In Walt Whitman Quarterly Review, Vol 17, No. 3, Winter 2000. Ed. By Ed Folsom. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 2000, P. 107

13 Whitman, Walt. Daybooks and Notebooks, p. 470. Traubel, Horace. With Walt Whitman In Camden, vol. 2. New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1915

14 Traubel, p. 273. The new carriage stone now “stands in” as a replica so that the original can be preserved indoors. Photo by L. Blake High School Poetry Contest Bernadette M. Stridick Poetry Award She Exists Unmasking oppression on television screens. by Kathleen Hohweiler An elementary school: Haddonfield Memorial High School Blockaded by a livid crowd People biting angry words Equality? I have never seen her. Out of rabid mouths foaming with hate She was a long battle fought years ago. For a little girl, who walks like a soldier, She has been lost through the pages Standing stiffly against the hurricane of fury. While I still cross the street to avoid a darkly skinned man On my way through the bad neighborhood, A bus, a street, a school: Or when I look up to see my dreams of political jobs These are the places Amongst the men of the White House Where a divided nation began to stitch itself whole, And I am left banging my fists on the glass ceiling, The scars crossing our shared skin Or when my best friend Serving as a constant reminder of our past Cannot marry her dream girl And a roadmap for the future. Because a man decided it was unlawful Based on a book paraphrased Third Place From three thousand years ago. Equality? I have heard of her greatness. Equality is like Santa Claus She inspires me like a rabbit does a dog. by Mike Sobieski, Eastern High School I will chase her when I cross the street to smile at the dark-skinned man Equality is like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny; Because he pays his taxes, they are things you believe in while young, Has a little boy in kindergarten, they are things that give you hope, And just wants to make it home they are things tantamount to your most important birthday wish, After a long day at work; they are pipedreams, unattainable and mendacious. And when I throw stones at that glass ceiling, And for those willing to fight me on this, For I will not stand to watch laws pass, I don’t want to be your parent, Unconstitutional and unjust. telling you in the backseat of a car ride home the truths of these Glass will rain down around me things. When my best friend can hold her girl’s hand in town I want you to go to the plaintive parks and schools, Because their love is greater than any love where boys and girls languish with injustice because of location, I have ever seen between a man and a woman. carry the weight of crime and narcotics on wilted shoulders and Equality? She exists. scarred flesh, When the human race puts aside all to be insulted by those whose hands don’t offer a way out of Stereotypes, that nadir miles deep. Inequalities, There is no way to repair the irreparable, to pull a knife, so far Gender roles, twisted in their back We can finally begin to see that only the handle shows, Equality. so you just walk by. You just walk by twenty years later on the street corner of 8th and Second Place Market Ignoring cries for help you disguise as importunity to justify a Roadmap laconic “no.” by Sophie Hamilton, Haddonfield Memorial High School Like a wolf you are, a wolf gregarious with members of its pack, espousing new strays A dusty Montgomery bus: with same-colored fur, Huffing its drowsy complaints yet vicious to ones whose color doesn’t sit well. As it carries its unwieldy bulk Please enjoy the rest of this car ride on your heated leather seats, On reluctantly dragging heels, filled with cup holders designed to fit $5 Starbucks coffees, Filled with rows of cracked leather seats, crooked like loose with an interior fitted for god himself. teeth, As I sit here discomfited by what to say next, Where a woman, tired of giving in, sits. I am sorry. A bustling street: It’s hard to write about equality when it doesn’t exist. Overflowing with the sounds of hope. Suddenly disturbed by the dissonant notes Of snarling dogs and beating sticks Bloody teeth and bruised bodies High School Poetry Contest

Honorable Mentions

Think by L. Mayes, Camden County Jeuvenile Detention Facility and not the way your laugh rings softly like wind chimes When I be in my little room here I think, or the imprint your red red lipstick leaves on your coffee cup When I be in school here I think, every morning When I be in the gym here I think, or how hard you can work When I be in my head I think. or how much you can love It don’t matter where I’m at, because we live in a world where I think. the worst thing a man can be I think about my mom, is a woman. And the rest of my family. I think about the judge, How much time he’s gonnahitman give me, I think how hard that prosecutor be on me Civil Rights and People at I think how my futureW is gonna turn out toW be ar by Jane Grabowski, Haddonfield Memorial High School I think about if I am going home soon When you tell me to write Sitting in my dark room, This poem, “Civil Rights,” Hoping I go home before June. I do not think of skin color I think I think I think I think I think I do not think of gender I do not think of sexual orientation I think of people. we live in a world where Let me tell you this: As I walk down the street I often find myself looking, by Shannon Lally, Haddonfield Memorial High School Looking to see how they all compare to me we live in a world where Looking to see if they are taller or lighter or prettier women are a This perpetual song in my head, looking: minority Blond hair brown hair, red, pink, gray, even though they make up 51% of the population Oh my, what are you wearing today? and we live in a world where And then I stop. I stop myself because I know the life of an unborn child is more valuable than the life of a These people are busy feet and hands that have not been held woman for long enough, we live in a world where and messy hair. parents scoff at their ambitious daughters They are more than blacks, more than whites when they wish to fulfill men’s opportunities They are more than gays, more than straights we live in a world where They are more than women, more than men high schools have dress codes that only affect girls I am more than “me,” you are more than “you.” and rape claims are not believed See, in this country, there are few discriminatory things. and we live in a world where So maybe we are a sunset to one person and a sunrise to the laws must be made to protect women next. but none are needed to protect men Maybe we are the juice of a strawberry that gets on your chin we live in a world where when you bite it. women are told to stay calm and keep quiet because it will all Maybe we are a drive to the beach with the windows down. change soon In my world, equality means hearing: but we live in a world where “A father carried his daughter to her room since she had drifted women have tried that and nothing has even changed off to sleep, In the inuit culture, women are crucial to survival her bony arms wrapped around his neck” and they are Because no sane person envisions black and white when he venerated hears this, but we live in a world where being a woman is the way your Not any of these things, hips sway when you walk Not gay or straight, and how many children you have to feed Not anything. and the catcalls you receive from strangers on the street We all envision love. (Endnotes) 1 th Morley, Christopher. “Travels in Philadelphia”, Whitman’s 195 Birthday CelebrationPhiladelphia wasLedger . a September Close-Knit 26, 1918. Affair

(Endnotes) emember in the wacky fifties and sixties when we 1 O’Connor,Despite theWilliam logistical D. “The inconveniences, Good Gray Poet. the 2014 Rused to try to find out how many people we could fit A Vindicationbirthday proved.” In Jerome an outstanding Loving, Waltsuccess. Whitman’s in a Volkswagen or a phone booth (and for our younger Champion:Looking William forward Douglas to seeing O’Connor. you in College 2015! Station, readers, do you remember a phone booth at all)? For TX; Texas A & M Press, 1978, p. 167. Walt Whitman’s 195th birthday, we discovered just how 2 Loving, p. 105. many people we can fit into the small visitor center next 3 Freedman, Florence Bernstein, William Douglas door to the Walt Whitman House. The weather was not O’Connor: Walt Whitman’s Chosen Knight. Athens, Ohio; co-operative this year. It poured rain all morning and Ohio University Press, 1985, p. 289. well into the afternoon. The good news? It did not rain 4 Loving, pp. 217-232. but a few drops during the actual party. The bad news? 5Whitman, Walt. “Preface to Three Tales”. In The backyard was so wet and waterlogged that we all Freedman, pp. 352-353. would have sunk into the earth; so for that reason the 6 Martha Davis Notebook, Oct 17, 1940, Walt Whitman party had to move inside. A special thank you goes out House Archives. to all who attended for their patience and forbearance. Guests at the annual birthday party enjoyed a cozy indoor presentation. We were crowded into a small room and all of the bodies Photo by Jill Lawlor. made it a tad warm, but everyone had a great time nonetheless. The Walt Whitman Association celebrated 7 Minutes of the Walt Whitman Foundation, May 2, the Good Grey Poet’s birthday with a gathering at 1927, Walt Whitman House Archives. Whitman’s home, with our customary cake and punch, 8 Anne Montgomerie Traubel, letter of donation, with young poets – including ninth grader Kathleen Hohweiler of Haddonfield Memorial High School. She was winner of the 2014 Bernadette Stridick Prize in Poetry for her poem on the theme of civil rights, “She Exists.” Walt Whitman was present, in the guise of our great friend Darrel Ford sharing thoughts and poetry, accompanied by one of our newest board members, Gretel DeRuiter, as guest speaker. Ms. DeRuiter teaches at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy; which is not far from one of the poet’s stomping grounds – Germantown, where he frequently stayed with friends like the Smiths. (L-r) Walt Whitman (Darrel Ford), speaker Gretel See the article in this same issue on the carriage stone DeRuiter, professor Tyler Hoffman. Photo by Jill Lawlor. for a little information of the Smith family and their connection to the house. The Association’s annual poetry contest was again graced with a substantial pool of fine young poets making the jobs of the judges from extraordinarily difficult. They chose the representatives whose work is herein published for your enjoyment. It is always a treat to attend the party to hear the poets read their works and to hear the commentaries of the judges. Ms. DeRuiter was the co-ordinating judge for the Walt Whitman Association poetry contest this year. She remarked, in her keynote address, how impressed she was that over 300 young poets submitted works in Whitman’s honor over a century past his death. She also spoke about the joys of teaching Whitman to young students like these. Another great reminder from her 2014 Poetry Contest winners flank Walt Whitman after the rain went address was that of a teacher who recollected the oft away. Photo by Jill Lawlor. forgotten aspect of young Whitman: Whitman the teacher.

- 5 - - 7 - May 8-19, 1864 George takes part in Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.

May 13, 1864 First Union soldier buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

May 31, 1864 Whitman turns 45, John C. Fremont nominated to oppose Lincoln by Radical Republicans.

June 7, 1864 Lincoln wins Republican nomination for a second term.

June 14, 1864 hitman Whitman, who has been ill for several weeks, is asked to W at War avoid the hospitals for a time. June, 1864 Great Central Sanitary Fair held on Logan Square, January, 1864 Philadelphia, also raises over a million dollars for relief Whitman mentions a new friend, Congressman James organizations. Garfield of Ohio. Garfield will eventually habitually greet Whitman with, “After All Not to Create Only”, after the June 16, 1864 title of a later Whitman poem (eventually “Song of the President Lincoln, along with Mary and Tad attend. Exposition”). Lincoln speaks and is honored by, among others, the Union League. Then Secretary of the Union League is George March 9, 1864 Boker, future friend and supporter of Whitman. Whitman General William T. Sherman placed in command of Union called Boker “a true high man” at the time of his death. forces in the west, Ulysses Grant promoted to Lieutenant Boker was a well-respected poet and playwright, one of General. the founders of the Union League, and a staunch convert to the Republican party. He has Lincoln sign a number March 12, 1864 of copies of the Emancipation Proclamation to be sold as Grant replaces General Henry Halleck as commander of fund-raisers. Boker later served as Ambassador to Turkey Union forces. and Russia and, as had his father, President of Mechanics National Bank (today the restaurant National Mechanics in April 8, 1864 Philadelphia). Boker was also a contributor to Whitman’s th Senate passes 13 Amendment. carriage fund (see article in this issue).

April 25, 1864 June 22, 1864 Whitman sees his brother George marching through Whitman heads home to Brooklyn. Washington in the company of Burnside’s army; he walks with him for some time. June 28, 1864 Fugitive Slave Law repealed. April, 1864 New York Metropolitan Sanitary Fair raises over a million July 9, 1864 dollars for war relief. General Lew Wallace delays Jubal Early’s attack toward Washington at Monocacy, allowing defenses of the Capital May 1, 1864 to be enhanced. A warship had been waiting to sail the U.S. Army reports 117,000 men unfit for duty in hospitals President to safety should the Confederates arrive. Wallace and such. later went on to have a fascinating career. He oversaw

- 8 - a recount of Florida’s vote in the controversial 1876 election. His reward was to become governor of the New Whitman Association Update Mexico territory. There, he was responsible for putting to an end the notorious “Lincoln County War” involving By David Stedman the equally notorious William Bonney (Billy the Kid). Walt Whitman Association President He also completed work at that time on his second novel, s usual, Walt “came through” for his friends and Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, one of the best selling and admirers as we celebrated his annual birthday most influential novels of the era. This book has a bit A event on May 29, 2014 It did not rain during his of a connection to Walt Whitman. In 1876, Wallace met 195th birthday party, but the ground was so soft that we fellow veteran of Shiloh Robert Ingersoll on a train. The gathered inside, which made for a cozy affair — and two talked long into the night – mostly about religion. then afterwards adjourned for cake and punch to the Ingersoll was one of the best known atheists in the nation. backyard garden which was pristine after the earlier Wallace was spurred to write Ben-Hur due in large part to showers. Our speaker was new board member Gretel pondering religion in the wake of this meeting. Ingersoll DeRuiter who is a teacher and life-long devotee of would go on to become a part of Whitman’s circle and his Walt’s poetry. Gretel spoke about Walt at the opening of eulogist. Whitman mentioned the novel in October 1888, the Cooper-Grant School in Camden and read the moving saying “I had Ben Hur here once and started to read it but poem he composed for the occasion. The school is now before I had got along far it disappeared - whether through only a memory, but Walt’s words touched us all. being stolen or lost or given away I do not know. I thought Our honored guests this year included the winners it really interesting and well done.” (With Walt Whitman in of the high school poetry contest, who had a chance to Camden, vol. 2, p. 122.) meet and be photographed with Darrel Ford, our Walt Whitman. “Walt” looked as if he had just stepped out Summer 1864 from the painting “Walt Whitman on the Wenonah Whitman is working on publishing DrumTaps. He also Ferry” — which had been restored by a generous visits hospitals in New York. donation from WWA member Charles Heventhal and was back on view for the first time. September 30, 1864 Professor Tyler Hoffman of Rutgers-Camden George and most of his regiment are captured near explained the careful, anonymous process by which Petersburg. They are imprisoned in the notorious Libby the poetry contest winners were chosen, and this Prison. Eventually the officers are sent to Danville and was especially interesting as a majority were from held in old tobacco warehouses. Conditions are brutal; Haddonfield Memorial High School. Everyone George will suffer greatly during his ordeal. remarked on the high quality of the work, selected from probably the most poems ever submitted — more than October 3-4, 1864 600 — from both sides of the Delaware valley, and the Walt and his mother learn of George’s capture in the eloquence and feeling of the young poets. (The winning newspapers. poems are included in this issue of Conversations.) As always, following the formalities, the WW House was October 20, 1864 open for tours by our curator, Leo Blake. President Lincoln proclaims the last Thursday in November We were especially glad to welcome members of to be Thanksgiving Day. the Striddick family, who each year donate the funds for prizes, including the Bernadette Striddick grand October 29, 1864 prize. Our friends from the Indian Springs Questers Whitman publishes “Fifty First New York Veterans”, an in Moorestown, who have done so much to help us account of George’s regiment. in recent years, were also present and glad to meet NJ State Park Service Director Mark Texel who had November 8, 1864 observed the poetry readings and had kind words for all. Lincoln reelected over challenger George McClennan. I should mention in conclusion that the State of has recently upgraded the security system for the November 16, 1864 Whitman House to “state of the art,” this on the advice General Sherman begins “marching through Georgia.” of the Association. Walt’s House is a national treasure entrusted to all of us. Thanks for your support of the Walt Whitman Association!

- 9 - # If you are not already a member, please join by filling out this form and returning it to The Walt Whitman Association • 326 Mickle Blvd. • Camden, NJ 08103

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Conversations Celebrating Whitman Michael J. Boorse, Editor “I celebrate myself, and sing myself.” - Walt Whitman Published twice yearly by the Walt Whitman Association Conversations welcomes your stories about Walt Whitman. Write us to David A. Stedman, President share anecdotes, sentiments, and observations about your experiences as an Antoinette W. Vielehr, Executive Director enthusiast of Walt Whitman; those that might be of interest to others will be 326 Mickle Blvd. Camden, NJ 08103 • considered for publication. Send correspondence to Conversations, c/o [email protected] Walt Whitman Association, 326 Mickle Blvd., Camden NJ 08103.

The Walt Whitman Association 326 Mickle Blvd. • Camden, New Jersey 08103