File:Frances (Appleton) Longfellow to Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow, 23 July 1851 (3f132f0c-d77e-41b2-9833-e777db8cf5c4).jpg

Manuscript letter

Archives Number: 1011/002.001-021#027

My dear Alex,
A box was despatched from Boston to Portland per Express on Tuesday, containing a cake-basket which I hope will adorn your future home and often, at the “social board,” remind you of my earnest wishes for your happiness. I [crossed out: hope] trust you have not been too much puzzled to imagine from what friend it came, for I confess I had forgotten, in our lazy life here, so many days had passed since it was sent.
Sam will probably look in upon us in a day or two, [p. 2] and I shall commission him most eloquently to express our feelings on the approaching occasion – not so easily committed to paper. I have kept a letter from Anne Sophia for him nearly a week, & at last despatched it to Fall River, supposing that is still his head-quarters – unless he has already passed us on his way to you.
Henry pronounces Akers bust of my Uncle very stirring & satisfactory & I hope it will add to his fame.
The heat, even here, oppresses me too much today to do more than send you these hasty lines, which, however, like telegraphic ones, must imply to you much more than [p. 3] meets the eye.
Hoping to become acquainted with my fair sister when I return to Castle Craigie, where we shall be most glad to welcome her, I will not trouble her with a greeting from a stranger but simply send her my love through you –
ever affly yrs
Fanny E.L.
Nahant. July 23d [pencil, brackets: 1851]
P.S. I find Henry sent Sam’s letter to Portland not to Fall River.

• Keywords: correspondence; long archives; frances e. a. longfellow papers (long 20257); frances elizabeth (appleton) longfellow; people; document; social life; family life; subject; Correspondence (1011/002); (LONG-SeriesName); Letters from Frances Longfellow (1011/002.001); (LONG-SubseriesName); 1851 (1011/002.001-021); (LONG-FileUnitName)