Letter from E[zra] S. Carr and Jeanne Carr to Louie Strentzel, 1873 Oct 29.

Creator

E[zra] S. Carr and Jeanne Carr

Recipient

Louie Strentzel

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Transcription

University of California, Oakland, Cal.,Oct. 29, 1873. Dear Louie:I received your letter only to-day, but should not have waited for it to thank your father for the grapes. The grapes came last Monday morning. We had a notice that they were at the express office Sat. evening too late to get them before the hour of closing. That was the day after the meeting of the Club. We distributed them immediately among the friends -- and left for San Jose: where the State Grange were in convention last week, which with some doings in the Normal School, kept us all the week. The subject before the Club was Fruit Nomenclature, and I did not therefore prepare any elaborate account of my trip, and occupied only half an hour -which it seems was an "appetizer" for I am requested to repeat it with amplifications for the benefit of the Oakland Library. Should this be one of a series of readings for their benefit I will let you know.I am very much defrauded and as much provoked that I believed the promises made to us about homes at Berkeley. Dr. Merritt who has been the principal Regent engaged in building operations, assured me that our houses would be completed by the 18th of September, just as I was starting for the mountains, and as I was far beyond post offices I felt that I must limit myself to that time and be on hand for the necessary moving. Came home alone, leaving my companions (the most delightful woman ever had or will have) to spend a blissful Autumn between the head of Kings River, around Mt. Whitney, etc., and to take a horseback journey from there to Shasta, in which I could have accompanied them had I known there was no home and no moving in the case. It vexes me to read the five letters I have received since I left them and know what might have been. They have been in entirely untrodden ways - but all the time with animals, so that the fatigues were nothing to those already borne. No such fortunate conjunction of kindred spirits will ever occur again, nor shall I ever find myself with gentlemen whose companionship is so instructive. I never once felt that I was an incumbrance - or restraint upon their movements.I want you to know my John Muir - and I wish I could give him to some noble young woman 'for keeps1 and so take him out of the wilderness into the society of his peers. As he is coming to spend the winter with us, I hope you will meet. But it is awfully provoking that I cannot gather all my pets into a home which would be attractive to them, and some expression of myself. My homes hitherto have been larger and roomier bodies, expressing my individuality so well, that you would have felt acquainted with me, and with all my beloveds, had you been shut up there all by yourself. I always expected to see your mother's bonnie face by my ingleside, which does not mean a stone, or a hole in the floor:Thank the father as he should be thanked. The pretty leaves v/ere spoiled – not so the unspoilable kindness. Loving you all dearly, we are,Your obliged,E. S. & Jeanne Carr I am very sorry to hear the father is ailing - I trust not for long.

Location

Oakland, Calif.

Date Original

1873 Oct 29

Source

Original letter dimensions: 20 x 26 cm.

Resource Identifier

muir02_1215-trans.tif

File Identifier

Reel 02, Image 1215

Copyright Status

Copyright status unknown

Copyright Statement

Some letters written to John Muir may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Owning Institution

University of the Pacific Library Holt-Atherton Special Collections. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.

Page Number

Page 3