Dec'r. Sund. 10th [1854] Philadelphia
Mr. Langdon
very sick all the week, died Sund. night, Tues. his remains were conveyed to Portsmouth. He is a great loss to Susan & Augustus. Susan was put back in her steady improvement, by too much company the previous week -- and this week by the death of her friend.
Dec. 14th
I rec'd a letter from Dr. C.W. -- from C.W.W. California , also from Laura saying that Mr. Phipps was taken sick in South Scituate. Sund. 3d Dec.
Today is the 15 Dec --
Susan has improved and I hope to be able to return to B. in few weeks. I wrote to Dr. C.W. Sund. 10th & the 15th today. We rec'd a letter from Dr. C.W. & Laura that said Mr. Phipps was very sick with typhoid fever, and he had moved home to Bridgewater where Dr. Wild had visited him. I sent the letter with note from me to Mary Cushing. Susan & I felt very sadly for the P. but I could not leave Sue to go to them. I got from E.J.C. a letter from my Charley, Califor.
25th Christmas, Monday
Presents exchanging. I rec'd. two, one was a nice black silk for a dress fr. Susan & G.A.W. -- The other a china match dish from Mrs. Bradford. I had to restrain my fancies without in that [lines?] cash short. Otherwise Christmas passed like other holy days, except the uproar thru the night made by rowdies -- any thing but good & agreeable.
Since then I have made up my blck. silk dress -- and trimmed a bask beside some plain sewing. For reading I have read "Cranford" - [Village?], "Ruth Hall", and news papers -- and walked out when the weather permitted.
Monday, 1 Jan.
Signed a recpt. and wrote a note to C.C. Rhodes. a beautiful day. Susan feeling much better than she did 4 weeks ago which is encouraging.
5th Jan.
Susan said she feels like her old self -- and G.A.W. is less anxious &c.
Sund. 7th Jan.
I have been reading aloud to Susan all the morning. Some excellent articles from the Christian Register. The office was burnt out last week. This afternoon I meant to write to Dr. C. Wild etc. Last Thursday we were very glad to hear that Mr. Phipps was mending.
Frid. 12th Jan'y. 1855
G.A.W. left Phil. for Boston.
Sat.
Emma went to dancing school.
Sund.
We read the morn. At noon, Dr. Bache & Lilly called. Dr. & Mrs. Furness, the Bradfords in the eve.
Mond. Tue
Sue busy cutting out dress for Em. I read and sewed some [callens?] . Mrs. Windsor
Wednes.
A. Deland, Helen Newboldt, Mary Perry dined here. 3 nice girls. I had a poor night fr. indigestion. Dit. next night. Laid it to oysters. Took oil -- got better. We got through the week safely in G.A.W. absence. He returned with Miss Greene Sat. Jan 20th
Sunday 21
I wrote to Dr. C. Wild & E.A.W. -- Susan has written to Mary & Roby H. I have spent this day in my chamber writing.
Walter Langdon (c1812-1854) died on December 10th.
Elizabeth Ann (Wood) Bradford (1806-1887) was the sister of George A. Wood. She and her husband, Samuel, lived a few blocks from the Woods. In 1855, Samuel was treasuer of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.
Cranford is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell published in 1853.
Ruth Hall is a novel by "Fanny Fern", pen name of Sarah Payson Willis, published in 1854.
The fire that Mary refers to, at the Newspaper Exchange building at 22 School Street, actually happened more than two weeks earlier, on December 22, 1854. The Christian Register was the leading Unitarian weekly publication for much of the 19th century. It later underwent a name change and then merged with another publication that continues today as the magazine UU World.
Dr. Franklin Bache, a medical doctor and a great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, lived one block away from the Woods.
William Henry and Annis (Jenks) Furness. Rev. Furness was minister of the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia from 1825 to 1875.
The "3 nice girls" are presumably friends of the family. There are two young woman named Anna Deland and Helen Newbold, both around 19 in 1855. There are several Mary Perrys."
