Creator

Anna Merrill Foster

Recipient

[Annie L. Muir]

Transcription

[Marked " Indianapolis letters"] [Evidently Miss Annie Muir is the one here addressed]
Pasadena, March 18, '95.

Dear Miss Muir:

Perhaps you are out here by this time, too. The little Phoebe was growing so thin and weak shut up within the brick walls of Baltimore that I at last consented to accept my father's oft-repeated invitation and go to them in California. Such separations are very hard, and I hope we shall never be compelled to do such a thing again. But Phoebe is thriving here and my father and mother are less lonely. My brother Sam is managing and working on the ranch seven miles from here, and we are all to move over to the new home next month. Mr. Foster will begin teaching again in the fall, but does not know yet in what part of this big country we may be. He so much prefers college teaching that he would rather have such a position than receive a large salary in a public academy or high school. I wish you were an influential trustee of some flourishing educational institution and felt it necessary to fill a chair of History and Economics, or Literature, or Greek. It is going to be a very difficult matter for us to decide, for we are hoping with all our hope that a position will present itself which we shall be willing to keep for life. We are homesick and long to settle down and change about no more.
I suppose you feel that you have two homes now that so many of you are in that paradise of an Alhambra Valley. I wish I had an opportunity of seeing your brother's books; I surely shall sometime; they would be delightful reading. You do not say anything of those little girls; they were very interesting to me. Janet Moores is at home now, and almost herself again, everyone says, but still very nervous; her mother is almost worn out entertaining her, trying to bring back the old sunny Janet.
I have less time for reading here, as there is much to do about the house as well as caring for the little girl now fifteen months old. The truth is that I can just squeeze in the Outlook each week and the Review of Reviews; I grasp at every minute. As soon as we have decided on our next year's whereabouts I shall write and tell you, but I hope to hear from you before that. I shall ask Mr. Foster whether there is still a picture of Phoebe at one year. Much love to you!

Your friend,
Anna Merrill Foster

The ranch address will be La Crescenta, Los Angeles Co., Calif. I'll be there all summer.

Location

Pasadena [Calif.]

Date Original

1895 Mar 18

Source

Original letter dimensions: 20 x 24.5 cm.

Resource Identifier

muir08_0897-let.tif

File Identifier

Reel 08, Image 0897

Collection Identifier

Online finding aid for the microform version of the John Muir Correspondence http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0w1031nc

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

5 pages

Keywords

Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters

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