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The Whippoorwills next Sunday Jan 29? 1853[in pencil]
Dear sisters Cora[in pencil] of mine
I am getting along swimmingly. And en-
joying myself very well. The more I study naturel history
the better I like it. there is a charm in it which none but
a naturelest can understand. After this I shall never suffer
from ennui. Wait till I get home and see if I dont make
naturelests of you girls. And then too see if before fall
I dont have one of the cabinets. I shall know how to
go to work next summer. And you instead of fooling away
your time over [illegible] or [illegible] (how do you spell it) shall
learn to handle an insect catcher dextrously. And you shall
soon learn too to bring down a bird with a charge of mustard
seed which will not cut him up so but you can take his
skin off properly. Why small girls we'll have twice
as much fun as those poor fools that cant wink indipend-
-antly. You were made for something better than dolls
or puppets, who can only do as they do. I wish you could
here Doc Kirtland give talk about the lack of independence
in the present generation Dont he give it to them though
Tell father I rec'd his letter containing the V allright
thank him for the same thought I had no present need
for it. Ive not spent all I took with me yet
Father says I ought to write at least twice a week
and :: faith ho I've done just that same eversince I've
been here.
So Dr Egan has played the rascal has he. I was
afraid he would make some trouble about paying
Notes and Questions
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The letter was sent from "The Whippoorwills nest" (top line) - Robert Kennicott was in East Rockport, OH at the time, studying Natural History with Dr. Jared Kirtland at his home called "Whippoorwill Farm." The year "1853" is written in a different handwriting, but January 29 was on a Saturday in 1853. The mark following the 29 may be a question mark, showing he was uncertain of the date but would likely have been certain of the day of the week (Sunday), in which case it was actually written on Sunday, January 30, 1853. Alternatively, the letter may have been written in 1854 during Kennicott's 2nd winter studying with Kirtland, and when January 29 was on a Sunday. However, his misspelling of words like naturalist ("naturelest") and entomology ("entimology") indicate that the letter was probably written earlier in his natural history career, more likely in 1853.
5/2/2023 Initial review completed. CE
Action: Changed the "your" in line 9 to "you".
8/8/2023 Added [illegible] designations to words in line 12.