Creator
Jeanne [C.] Carr
Recipient
[John Muir]
Transcription
4
which all liberal souls were invited with a dancing floor for the young under an enormous oak tree gay with lanterns; a favorite band hidden on the Bank of Arroyo See discoursing & other attractions. I took with me Ruth Ginner a little woman who as Ruth Burnett was in the Univ of Wis in your day; and a lovely lady with (well concealed) mediumistic powers. I, with no more intention or expectation of any occult proceedings than I have at this moment. It was a very gay & festive scene; the band playing & dancing in full swing when Ruth came to me with a strange look on her face and said, "I have just seen Dr. Conger under those trees; never saw him more distinctly in my life." She knew him well in Wisconsin & here. Not long after Mrs. Hoff reported a similar experience This was long after his decease,
Embrace each for me, beginning with grandma.
1.
Dec 18" 94.
Dear John.
The mother said in her letter that you had not heard of Flora, Congers death until through me, and as I am driving myself into every kind of occupation which diverts my attention from the great emptiness of our home, I will give you the singular experience it brought to memory, & under my observation.
You may or may not remember that Conger was a trained and really excellent practitioner of medicine; in the early months of our residence here, he was called to the sick bed of a lovely little girl, the prize pupil in our public school. As he did not return, Mrs Conger sent once to my cottage &
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the morning brought the whole story of the accident which occurred on the Carmelita property through which the party drove on their ride homeward.
Flora was the only one seriously injured, & her dislocated ancle was set in plastered dressings within half an hour.
She was in splendid health when the accident occurred, and on the eve of a very promising entrance into happy marriage with the only child of J. F. Crank a wealthy & prominent citizen. But it seemd that no skill could save her; Mrs Conger has apparently lost interst in life, for Flora was her idol. The house is rented as a boarding house; Mrs. C. & Lulu live in rooms on the east side, and take their meals outside. Howard stays at the mine and has no fondness for work or study, but has only the bad habit of continuous cigarette smoking.
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and whatever the hard, cold facts might be, I always believed in the honesty and sincerity of the narrator. When he had finished he said; 'if it is possible, and I die first, I will try to make you understand how natural it is, no super about it!!"
I went at his request to his death bed; and he assured me that he had just seen the spirit of a little daughter buried at Salt Lake, and that his mother came and went all through the previous night. He was as clear in mind as I ever saw him. And now, of Flora, whose death occurred more than a year ago, let me tell you with a bit of preface.
There was a festival gotten up for a benefit to the Unitarian-Universalist Church to
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requested me to stay with her as she feared he would be gone all night. I complied, and she, not feeling well, retired, leaving me enjoying a book by the fire.
After midnight, I heard his step, and presently he came into the sitting room, and dropped into a rocking chair as if utterly exhausted.
I stepped in to the kitchen & brought him a cup of tea or coffee from the still warm stove, which he took very gratefully; and soon after broke out in a suppressed tone. "My God! my eyes, these very eyes Mrs Carr, have seen the curtain lifted. I have watched the most beautiful thing my eyes will every see. the whole process of reembodiment. I want to tell you now, before I forget one feature of it." And so he did: very impressively, but without waking Mrs. Conger
in page 3
6.
Out of my own experience & cannot understand how one can so completely lose interst in the life that now is, or the infinite
vanity of perfumers. I have not lost any affection for one that life has brought to my shanty of a soul, where it grows out a
temple Each will have his statue and inscription.
I enjoy the book more and more. taking it in sips and dips.
You ought to bring Louie and the girls and we will take you to Echo Mt. & make a Lion of you for the growing menagerie.
G Wharton James enquired if I had ever met Mr Muir; would like to make his acquaintance. "So would I; G Wharton, it should be made every seven years;" measured thus we shall soon need to be introduced.
Jeanne Carr
Location
[Pasadena, Calif?]
Date Original
1894-12-18
Source
Original letter dimensions: 20.5 x 25 cm.
Recommended Citation
Carr, Jeanne C., "Letter from Jeanne [C.] Carr to [John Muir], 1894 Dec 18." (1894). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 6942.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/6942
Resource Identifier
muir08_0631-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 08, Image 0631
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
2 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
