September 18 Sunday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Mary Mason Fairbanks. After relating his trip to Fredonia and back, Sam’s fatigue led him to declare, “I am an old man at 45—older than some men are at 80.” He urged Mary to visit them in Hartford, that he didn’t think he could stand a trip to “that remote region” (Cleveland) where she lived. He expected to be able to send her a copy of P&P by Dec. 1.

We shall leave here for Hartford day after tomorrow, unless the weather is very hot. We have rebuilt our kitchen & doubled its size; we have torn out the reception room & made the main hall larger by that much; we have carried the driveway off to the right, past the greenhouse, & it now enters the avenue a hundred feet east of where it did before; & we have lowered that ground & brought the house up into view [MTP].

Karl Gerhardt wrote to thank Sam and Livy for the letter of credit, and to tell of their progress [MTP].

September 18? Sunday – Sam wrote from Elmira to Charles Webster and Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933). Sam enclosed a letter to Tiffany that Webster was to mail upon Sam’s telegram. Sam’s letter to Tiffany requested “a moment on business” upon arriving in New York [MTP]. Note: Herbert M. Laurence, New York decorator, had recommended Tiffany. (See Oct. 24 entry.)