Letter from Theodore Dreiser, New York, to Paul Dresser Gromley, 1923 October 23 : autograph manuscript signed.

Giving an account of the recipient's father, Henry Gormley's conduct following the death of Paul's mother, "Tillie" (Claire Clotilde) in the matter of a sum of $500 which she had left in a personal bank account and which she had, according to Dreiser, desired to be distributed to her siblings; stating that Henry Gormley misrepresented the matter in claiming that the money was his and inducing his wife's siblings to sign a waiver renouncing their claims to the money, and informing Paul Gormley that, in consequence, he washed his hands of the Gormley family, and has since "never varied in my decision to have nothing more to do with either your father or you unless the petty business was straightened out as Tillie intended that it should be."; stressing that he does not wish to receive any of the money himself, as he is faring "very well indeed", but that the matter "irritated" him, and he "cannot accept as friends people who will do such things, and urging Paul Gromley to set the matter right, concluding that "until the thing is straightened out I cannot accept & proffer up friendship - as much as I might be interested to know more of you -for Tillie's sake & your own."