Henry and Mary Warner lived in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, now part of Pittsburgh. They are the great-grandparents of poet Marianne Moore. By the 1860s they had three surviving children: John, Henry, and Annie. Their letters to John, a Presbyterian minister living in Gettysburg, are preserved as part of Marianne Moore’s family papers.
Transcript:
Allegheny City Wednesday May 8th 1861 Back kitchen 9 ½ A.M.
Our Dear Children—Breakfast & business of the morning over, I sit down to write to the folks in Gettysburgh—Mother on my left hand & Isabella on my right hand sewing, as house cleaning is done, & glad I am of it, Mother says I need not be so glad, as the least of it fell to my share, we are all in excellent health & cheerful, the letter from Anne I herewith send, I received this morning, we wish you to forward it to Henry, and dont let it lay about until you get time. We hope Anne has Henry’s letter by this time, I mean the one we sent to you, Mother is anxious she should have it, as such things cheer her up, for from home among strangers. We suppose by this time the Penna border is pretty well secured against rebels, from present appearance the rebels will have enough to do without troubling the folks in either Gettysburgh or Chambersburgh, or any other place along the border; they will soon find themselves in a tight place. We have no news, Mr. Zug is at Harrisburgh I suppose on business about the Western Penitentiary, as he is one of the managers of that institution, and the investigation of old office affairs connected with the Estate of John Lindsay is laid aside for the present. I am therefore much at home—we have had much rain latterly—the sun is just now come out—Allegheny is very dull, hardly a soul stirring, over in Pittsburgh it is quite a contrast, a great many strangers are in the city. People seem busy walking backwards & forwards, but little or no draying & very little doing in the stores—very few arrivals or departures of boats for ports below Cincinnati, although the rivers are in a good stage of navigation—We think it rather a risk for Anne to send any thing by rail or river to this place, as I can muster up no more news for you I will conclude
I remain your Affectionate father & mother Henry & Mary Warner
Kind remembrance to Jennie
Citation: Henry and Mary Warner, autograph letter signed to John and Jennie Warner. Allegheny City [Pittsburgh], 8 May 1861. Moore VI:04:18