We were all glad to get your nice letter, though I had decided that you were going to wait until Christmas or next Spring to write me.

The day after you left New York, a letter came for you from Cleveland, which I never sent you, because like a farmer, you went away and left no address, but as the letter was from Cleveland, I imagined it was from your daughter and that you have since seen her, and that she has told you everything that was in it. I have been looking for it this morning so I could send it to you, but up to this time, have not succeeded in finding it. Miss Block is on her vacation, and probably she put it away some place for you, and when she returns, I will ask her to send it on.

Mrs. Wetmore enjoyed the many nice things you said about her and her efforts to please you, and felt fully repayed for all she had done for you, because of your appreciation. Kathleen said yesterday, that she enjoyed your visit very much, and that you are one of the nicest men she ever knew. I gave William the dollar which he had paid for pressing your suit, so forget about it for the present, and the next time I am in Cleveland, I will let you pay for pressing one of my suits.

Junior and Frances are fine, and Frances has not forgotten you. The same crowd were out for the week-end last week, and they wanted to know, if you had learned to do the new card trick, before you left, and I said I thought not.

My daughter Helen came out a week ago Wednesday, and stayed one week, and went home to her mother Wednesday evening last, and on Thursday, came over to my office, and brought her trunks, coats, bags and everything, and her mother swears she is through with her for life, and she is back at my home again, where I suppose she will stay until she returns to Michigan, about the [2] Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt Continued #2. 12th or 15th of September. As you know, her mother is "impossible". It seems as if one week's stay at my house and association with Lucile, opened the child's eyes to the fact, that she had been missing a great deal by being kept away from me, and that her mother had probably not always told her the truth about me, and when she went back to her mother, and the mother commenced abusing my wife and me, the child defended us, as a result of which, there was a terrible terrible scene, and immediately her mother assumed, that we had tried to turn the child against her.

I had a terrible day yesterday, as her mother was on the wire at least a dozen times, cursing and swearing, etc., and then the child came in here about 3:30 P.M., and she was very much excited, and between them, I went home with a nice headache on the 8:10 P.M. boath instead of the 5:20, which I always take, and I took Helen with me, and had a long serious talk with her, and told her more about her mother and her treatment of me, than I had ever done before. Her mother and her mother's family had browbeaten this child all her life on the "eternal question", and one day she and Lucile had a long talk about it, and Lucile told her she was crazy, if she allowed anybody to convince her, that her father was Colored, or that she was Colored, and that her father was a wonderful man, and that if it had not been for the race question, which her mother had emphasized and brought to the front soon after her father came to New York, that her father might have been one of the most successful men in the city, and I really believe that she has changed this child's entire idea, as to her own value as well as the value of her father, and that for a while, she will hate her mother now, because of the way her mother and her mother's people have always talked about me, and made her feel that she was inferior on account of being my child.

God knows how it will terminate, and I am very much afraid, it will cause me some more trouble and unpleasantness with her mother, but I am willing to go through any trouble, if the child's mind is cleared up on the "eternal question", and she "finds" herself. As I look back now, I can remember that until Helen was four or five years of age, she was dreadfully afraid of her mother and hated her, but after the mother had Helen with her all the time, she poisoned her mind against me, and constantly dinned into the child's ears the fact, that her father was a monster, and an inferior man in every way, including [3] Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt Continued #3. race, and I guess it was a great relief to the child, to have the talk she did with Lucile, especially in view of the fact, that Lucile is a Southern woman of refinement and culture, and took the position which she did concerning me, her children and Helen. If I had your ability as a writer, I think I could weave a very powerful story about me and my life, and experiences with my two wives and my children.

By the way, I hope you saw the article by BraithwaitBraithwaite in the current "Crisis", in which he commented to quite an extent on you and your writings, and if you did not see it, I want you to get it and read it, and write me yourself or have Helen write me, what you think about it.

Please give my kindest regards to your wife, Helen and your other daughter, and also remember me to your partner, Miss Moore. I know if Lucile was here, she would send lots of love. I have just remembered that Lucile told Helen all about you, and your position in Cleveland, and how little the question meant to you, and of course what Lucile told her, was a great eye-opener to her.

Well, when you get time, sit down and write me a few lines.