BIB_ID
349623
Accession number
MA 372.135
Creator
Morris, Benjamin Wistar, 1819-1906.
Display Date
1876 July 1.
Credit line
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan before 1901.
Description
1 item (2 p.) ; 20.4 cm
Notes
Part of a 12-volume collection of Autographs and Manuscripts of Bishops of The Protestant Episcopal Church (MA 364-375). The arrangement of the collection is by Bishops in the order of their consecration and chronological within their portion of the collection. Letters in this collection have been described individually in separate catalog records; see collection-level record for more information.
Written on the verso of the obituary for Henry Rodney Morris, printed on mourning paper and dated Portland, July 1, 1876.
Written on the verso of the obituary for Henry Rodney Morris, printed on mourning paper and dated Portland, July 1, 1876.
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan before 1901, possibly from the estate of Bishop William Stevens Perry of Iowa.
Summary
Informing him of the death of his son and explaining the circumstances; saying "My beautiful & brave boy lies cold in death in his room immediately above me. God took him yesterday, in an instant, while he was vainly trying to save the life of two other men. They had fallen into a cesspool of four air, and Rodney hearing the alarm rushed to the place, & insisted on going down to their rescue. The bystanders remonstrated in vain, & saying he would try to save the men whether he died or not, he plunged down into the very jaws of death, & never spoke again. He was a noble, pure, God-fearing boy, the light of our household, & the pride of our friends."
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