Creator
J. H. Mellichamp
Recipient
John Muir
Transcription
Wednesday, 14 Jan.'03.
N[ew] O[rleans,] La.
To Prof.John Muir,
Martinez,Cal.
My dear Sir:
I send you many thanks for the California paper which I received this morning,--surely it is a wonderful state and has everything in its borders to satisfy and delight the heart of man! Were I some 10, 15, or 20 years younger I think I might be tempted to pull up my stakes and even bid farewell to the sea-islands of S. C. where my happiest days have been spent,--but I am too old now to move, for I am seventy-three, and I am getting many ailments which will bear their fruit somd day! It has been very cold during the past week or two, and I find myself hugging the fire more or less all the time -- glad that I am not at the inhospitable North as it has been so made by the demons of the Trust and all their deviltry. It looks a little as if it wants to snow, and I wish it would, for a change, a condition which one hardly ever sees in beloved Carolina, at least in the soft, mild region from which I have emigrated. Wish I was there now. I pine for my old Home! I trust all are well in your home -- yourself, and Mrs. M. and the young ladies. My little sick grandchild, Ruth St.Le is now perfectly well,and getting as fat as she need be.
I am, my dear Sir,
Yours very truly,
J. H. Mellichamp
Does Quercus Texana grow in your region? There are many trees growing in the streets and a day or two ago my little daughter Sophia picked up in the streets many acorns of the same, which I shall send to a kinsman to be planted on James Island, S.C., opposite Charleston. They may do as well as the gonolobus which I sent him two or three years ago, and which clambers all over his front piazza bearing foowers and foccicles better than in New Orlanes!
Does Thalia dealbata grow in your regions? I used in the old days to find it abundantly next to our old place on James Island, S.C., growing in old lagoons and in cypress land, and once during the war I collected specimens of the same which were very fine. If I go next summer to my old haunts I shall collect a few specimens for your Herbarium, if you'd care to have them. The leaves at best are fine -- flowers small rather, and violet colored, I think. The plant was once lost to botanists in South Carolina, but Elliott refers to James Island, and again to Mr. Middleton's on the Ashley, where it was abundant.
Location
N[ew] O[rleans] La.
Date Original
1903 Jan 14
Source
Original letter dimensions: 16.5 x 26 cm.
Recommended Citation
Mellichamp, J. H., "Letter from J. H. Mellichamp to John Muir, 1903 Jan 14." (1903). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 2494.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/2494
Resource Identifier
muir13_0066-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 13, Image 0066
Collection Identifier
Online finding aid for the microform version of the John Muir Correspondence http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0w1031nc
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
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Pages
3 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
