May 4, 1864: Henry and Mary Warner to John Warner

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 Anne. Their letters to John, a Presbyterian minister living in Gettysburg, are preserved as part of Marianne Moore’s family papers.

Transcript [excerpt]:

Allegheny City, Wednesday, May 4. 1864. Afternoon

Dear John, Hoping this letter may find yourself, and our dear little Mary in good health, we commence to write to you ‘our weekly’ and in the first place have to say, we are all in good health; last Saturday evening we received a letter from Henry, in which he said he had written to you lately, he was then in good health & spirits; and from everything we could learn there was no fear of him or the company leaving the Fort; Weather latterly has been cold, wet, & disagreeable, this day is cold and clear; All eyes seem to look forward towards the conflict likely to take place on the soil of Virginia between Generals’ Grant & Lee. May the Mighty God of Jacob favour us this time. […]

Your affectionate father & mother Henry & Mary Warner

Citation: Henry and Mary Warner, autograph letter signed to John Riddle Warner.  Allegheny City [Pittsburgh],4 May 1864. Moore VI:06:5