All the Days of My Life: An Autobiography

    Gratefully thine,
    Gertrude W. Cortland.

    Point Loma,
    Nov. 29, 1911.

My dear Mrs Barr:

I am most honored and pleased to receive your kind letter in which you give me an inside view as to certain resemblances between the historic character Peter Stuyvesant, and his modern replica – Theodore. I am reading the book with unusual interest, because of your thought in this particular. The story ought, and no doubt will have a wide reading, especially from New Yorkers, who hark back to the olden days when the metropolis had its beginning. More welcome to me, however, than is the story, is the token your letter furnishes, that I still remain in your kindly remembrance.

It is a pleasure to think of you so strong, and vital in mind, in the full ripeness of your years.

When you come into my thought, our friends Mr. and Mrs. Klopsch come in your company, and the pleasant evening hours spent with you in their home, delightfully repeat themselves. Should we come to New York again, I shall spare no effort to see you. Mrs. Gage desires much to meet you, and it would be a joy to entertain you, if we could, in our California home.

With best wishes for you and yours, in which my wife begs to join, I am

    Your friend,
    Lyman Gage.

THE CHASE NATIONAL BANK

A. Barton Hepburn, President

    June 23, 1910.

Mrs. Amelia E. Barr,

Cornwall-on-Hudson,

N.Y.

My dear Madame:

They say all “Scotch” is better for being diluted. That indicates one claim to goodness which I possess, but the answer to the question you submit can better be supplied, I am sure, by an “undiluted” Scotchman.

I am therefore sending your letter to the Secretary of our Society, Mr. William M. MacLean, with the request that he furnish data to enable me to reply, or reply direct. You will hear further presently.

Trusting he may be able to discover the information you desire, I am

    Very truly yours,
    A. B. Hepburn,
    President, St. Andrew’s Society.

A. BARTON HEPBURN

Eighty-three Cedar Street,

New York

    November 23, 1912.

Mrs. Amelia E. Barr,

Cornwall-on-Hudson,

N.Y.

My dear Mrs Barr:

I received from your publishers yesterday, “A Maid of Old New York,” and shall employ my first leisure in reading the same.

I thank you very much for your courtesy and also for your letter. I shall note the reincarnation of Peter Stuyvesant with interest. I always enjoyed the three Dutch Governors – Wouter Van Twiller was rather a favorite of mine. I remember Washington Irving’s description of him as a man who conceived his ideas upon such a magnificent scale, that he did not have room in his mind to turn them over, and therefore, saw but one side of a question.

Again thanking you,

    Very truly yours,
    A. B. Hepburn.

Dear Mrs. Barr:

It hardly seems to me possible that I have let a month go by without writing to thank you for your kind thought in sending me yourself a copy of “The Lion’s Whelp.” Mr. Cleveland has been ill most of that time, and that accounts for many of my shortcomings. I want to thank you now, and to tell you, how much pleasure the reading of the book gave Mr. Cleveland while he was still in bed. I have not had time to read it yet myself, but I have the pleasure of possession, direct from your hand – and the other pleasure of reading still in store.

With many thanks and all good wishes for the New Year and Christmas time,

    Very sincerely,
    Frances F. Cleveland.

    13, Dec., 1901.
    Westland, Princeton.

My dear Mrs Barr:

Even in this time of great sorrow, I can not forbear to thank you for your book – “Prisoners of Conscience.” I have wandered in the Shetland and Orkneys, and crossed the Pentland Firth, and know the bleakness of the islands, and the wildness of the seas that moan around them. I have journeyed too through the desolate creed of Calvinism, and fought with its despairs in my soul, standing by many a death bed, and beside many an open grave, until God gave me victory over the cruel logics of men, that belied His loving heart. Years ago, as you know, freedom came to my soul through the truth as it is in Jesus, and I have been trying to preach it ever since. I am grateful to you, for the power, the depth of feeling, the intense earnestness, with which you have told this truth in your noble story – God and Little Children – you know my creed. And I will preach it in the Presbyterian church as long as I am permitted, because that church needs it most. And now it comes to me with a new meaning, for my own dear little Bernard is with God in His Heaven, which is full of happy children.

    Faithfully yours,
    Henry Van Dyke.

    220 Madison Avenue,
    July 28, ’97.

My dear Mrs Barr:

Jewett brought the book – the novel and I read every word with pleasure, in spite of the grief and sorrow, the pain and anguish that came to the hearts of the brave and good. Every thing in the book is consistent, harmonious. The religion of the people, the cruel creed, the poor and stingy soil – the bleak skies, the sad and stormy sea, the wailing winds, the narrow lives and the poverty, the fierce hatred and the unchanging loves of the fanatic fisher folk, are all the natural parents, and the natural children. They belong together. You have painted these sad pictures with great skill. You have given the extremes, from the old woman who like the God of Calvin lived only for revenge, to the dear widow who refused to marry again, fearing that her babes might be fuel for hell. The story is terribly sad and frightfully true. But it is true to Nature – Nature that produces and destroys without intention, and without regret – Nature, the mother and murderer of us all.

You have written a great book, and you are a great woman, and with all my heart I wish you long life, and all the happiness your heart can hold.

    Yours always,
    R. G. Ingersoll.