Charles W. Chesnutt to George W. Chesnutt, 7 April 1924
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[1]
I have your letter of April 31st. I am sorry to learn that you are in such hard luck. Since hearing from you I have had a visit from a worker of the Associated Charities here in Cleveland. She says that you are in need, and made many inquiries about you which I was unable to answer for lack of information, as I have out of touch with you for many years.
I am not able at present to lend you the amount you ask for, as last week my daughter Dorothy2 was married, which cost me a round sum of money. And I have made some poor investments which set me still further back. However, I enclose you a New York draft to my order, endorsed to you, for $25.00. Don't lie awake nights worrying about repayment or interest, but if, with your various burdens and disabilities you ever have it to spare, I will not
[2]
Mr. Geo. W. Chesnutt -- #2
refuse it.
I have spoken to Lillie3 and Sarah4 about your case, and one or the other of them may write to you. My family are all well. I hope you will dig out of your troubles. It was certainly a large contract for a man of your years and resources to have four children in less than seven years.
With best wishes,
Sincerely yours, CWC:WCorrespondent: George W. Chesnutt (1879–1960) was Chesnutt's half-brother, the third of the five children of Andrew Jackson Chesnutt (1833–1920) with Chesnutt's mother's cousin and stepmother, Mary Ochiltree Chesnutt (1850–1926). In 1905 he married Mattie (Margaret) Dottie Jackson (1883-1974). The couple moved first to Pittsford, New York, and then to Brooklyn. For a time he worked as a butler and then as a mail laborer for the New York Central Rail Road. One son, George Harold (1904-1978), later lived in Chicago; nothing is known about his other children.
1. The archivist's correction here is wrong. Chesnutt is replying to a letter misdated April 31, 1924 (the nonexistent date to which he refers in the first paragraph). The reference to Dorothy Chesnutt's March 29 wedding "last week" makes it clear that the Chesnutt dated the current letter correctly and suggests that George Chesnutt's letter was actually written March 31. [back]
2. Dorothy Katherine Chesnutt Slade (1890–1954) was the youngest child of Charles and Susan Chesnutt. After attending the women's college at Western Reserve University from 1909 to 1913 and working as a probation officer for two years, she began teaching junior high school French and English at Willson Junior High School in Cleveland. She married John G. Slade (1890–1976) on March 29, 1924; they had one child, John C. Slade (1925–2011), known as Johnnie. [back]
3. Lillian Chesnutt Richardson (1871–1940), called "Lilly" or "Lily," was Chesnutt's youngest sister. Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, just before their mother Anne Maria (1835–1871) died, she came to join the Chesnutt family in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1888. She worked as a typist and stenographer in Cleveland, first for Chesnutt and then independently, both before and after her marriage in 1893. Her husband Gerrit (also Garrett) S. Richardson (1871–1926) was head telegraph operator for a railroad company in Cleveland, and a nephew of Chesnutt's mentor Robert Harris (1839–1880). The couple had one son, Charles. [back]
4. Sara (also Sarah) N. Chesnutt (1877–1969) was Chesnutt's half-sister, the second of the five children of Andrew Jackson Chesnutt (1833–1920) and his second wife, Mary Ochiltree Chesnutt (1850–1926). Sara attended the State Normal School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and became a teacher. She seems to have lived in Fayetteville most of her life, first with her parents and then with her younger sister, Anne Chesnutt Waddell (1881–1965). [back]
