September 27 Sunday – In London Sam wrote to Wayne MacVeagh.

The solacing word from you, who have suffered the like disaster with us has value, & we thank you for saying it, & for the moment of easement it brings to our pain. We can never forget how good you & Mrs. MacVeagh were to Susy, nor how eloquent Susy’s thankfulness for it was, nor how strong were her affection & admiration for your Margaretta. … And we live on. How, we do not know — nor why [MTP]. Note: See Dec. 19, 1893 for more on MacVeagh.

Sam also wrote to H.H. Rogers:

I was glad to get the letter of last November which Miss Harrison remailed to me, for it flooded with light an episode about which I was in doubt and darkness before. It all stands explained, now, and I see that you did the right thing, followed the only right course. I would have done just so, myself — even to the hiring of Hummell. That was clean, straight wisdom. I wish I had Wilder instead of Colby for my lawyer — that paltering ass [MTHHR 237-8].

 Note: “Probably Abraham Henry Hummel, an attorney frequently accused of sharp practices, who, in addition to his criminal cases, also specialized in lawsuits involving theatrical people” [n1]. William Wilder had been attorney for Thomas Russell & Son in the lawsuit against Webster & Co. Evidently Sam admired him. Colby was Bainbridge Colby, who Sam thought would never recover the five or six thousand he had tried to Sue Daniel Frohman for in 1894 [n2-3].

Sam added that they had finally found a house for $1,350 a year, “a little more than we wanted to pay,” and that they would “move into it in about a week” (Oct. 5) [238]. Note: This places the first week in October when they took a small house at 23 Tedworth Square, Chelsea, in southwest London. They kept their address a secret, using Chatto & Windus for a return address and closing themselves off from nearly everyone.

Sam also wrote to his old friend, Joe Twichell.

Through Livy and Katy I have learned, dear old Joe, how loyally you stood poor Susy’s friend, and mine, and Livy’s: how you came all the way down, twice, from your summer refuge on your merciful errands to bring the peace and comfort of your beloved presence, first to that poor child, and again to the broken heart of her poor desolate mother. It was like you; like your good great heart, like your matchless and unmatchable self. It was no surprise to me to learn that you stayed by Susy long hours, careless of fatigue and heat, it was no surprise to me to learn that you could still the storms that swept her spirit when no other could; for she loved you, revered you, trusted you, and “Uncle Joe” was no empty phrase upon her lips! I am grateful to you, Joe, grateful to the bottom of my heart, which has always been filled with love for you, and respect and admiration; and I would have chosen you out of all the world to take my place at Susy’s side and Livy’s in those black hours.

Sam thought his dead daughter a “rare creature; the rarest that has been reared in Hartford this generation.” He listed those in Hartford who he felt also knew it: Charles and George Warner, Harmony Twichell, the Drayton Hillyer’s, the A.C. Dunham’s, the Frank Cheney’s, Edward (Ned) Bunce’s, Henry Robinson and Richard E. Burton [MTP].