Letter from G. P. A. HEALY to GEOPGE PERKINS MARSH, dated August 30, 1857.
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Dear Marsh
Your favor from Woodstock gave me real pain to learn how ill George was, but we rejoiced to know he was recovering.
The days when 1000$ turn in a year or two into 10000$ have passed here in Chicago, but if you send me a draft on New York by return of post, I can through my friend Thomas B. Bryan invest it for you for 18 percent with safety, this is the best I can do, so apprise me of your wishes.
I am happy to
inform yourself & Mrs. Marsh that I have bought a little place 15 miles from
Town called Cottage Hall. We shall not go to live there until next May, it will
force me to take change of air, my constant hard work begins to tell on me, &
between ourselves I feel I am no longer so young as I was forty years ago! &
this place contains 12 acres, from which there is a fine view of the country all
round; if I was not to be absent from Louisa this winter we would go there this
coming Autumn; but I must go to New Orleans until Marsh or April & then to
Washington where
I may remain until June or July! Thus you see I am as
bad as ever!
My sister & her husband are staying with us they think of passing the winter at St. Paul, for the sake of his health, my brother Thomas & Mrs Healy's Niece are also with us so we have quite a house full I trust with summer that you & Mrs. Marsh may feel like paying us a visit at Cottage Hill.
As I passed through New York, I saw the Pains who were well & happy they,
especially she, talked with me of yourselves I have seen them at Washington &
she and I compared notes of what Marcy said to her, & what Douglas said to me of
our friend Marsh; we were both pleased! Poor Marcy, alas! So flys the world away My
dear friend, be assured any thing I can do in any way to serve you or yours, will
always give me pleasure.
Our affectionate regards to Mrs Marsh & George.Yours most sincerelyGeo. P. A. Healy
References in this letter:
Thomas Barbour Bryan (b. 1828) was a Chicago lawyer who lived in Europe and in Washington, DC for many years. In 1857 Healy painted "The Bryan Family," now at the Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia.
The American portrait painter, George Peter Alexander Healy (1813-1894), was one of the most popular artists of his time. He is known for his paintings of presidents, statesman, and members of Society on both sides of the Atlantic. A native of Boston, he studied in France under Antoine-Jean Gros and established a studio in Paris. In 1840, the U.S. Minister to France, General Lewis Cass, introduced Healy to King Louis Phillippe, and his reputation was established in Europe. In all, Healy made thirty trans-Atlantic trips but settled in Chicago at the behest of a wealthy Illinois businessman, William Butler Ogden.