Description:

Caroline Fillmore
Clifton Springs, NY, ca. September, 1877
Caroline Fillmore 4pp ALS from Clifton Springs Sanitarium 1877
ALS

Caroline Fillmore (1813-1881). Autograph letter signed "C.C. Fillmore" from treatment at a water cure facility, the Clifton Springs Sanitarium, a few years after her husband Millard Fillmore's sudden death, and just a few years before her own. 4pp, two sheets recto and verso, on black-bordered mourning stationery measuring 4.5" x 7", Clifton Springs, NY, letter undated; original envelope also included with small loss at lower right - addressed to Mrs. Delia Avery, postmarked September 29, 1877. Light toning, uneven fading to ink, expected mail creases some of which have begun to tear, but signature remains bold.

Born Caroline Carmichael, she first married prosperous merchant Troy McIntosh before marrying Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States, in 1858, five years after Fillmore left the White House. Caroline required the former president to sign a pre-nuptial agreement to protect her fortune, which she had inherited from her previous husband. Both she and President Fillmore had been widowed prior to their union. Although it was Caroline that was often sickly, Millard died suddenly of a stroke in 1874. After his death, she is believed to have suffered more physical and mental illness. This letter, from the Clifton Springs Sanitarium in Ontario County, New York, where she was receiving what was at the time state-of-the-art water therapy, alludes to these struggles and her efforts to get well. The Clifton Springs Sanitarium opened in 1850 as a site for water cure therapy or hydrotherapy by Dr. Henry Foster; there the sulfuric waters offered a natural site for revitalizing baths. Foster's facility developed popularity throughout the 1860s and '70s and was expanded in the 1880s, offering holistic cures that incorporated the healing sulfur waters, psychiatric treatment, exercise therapy and more.

Letter reads in full:

(p1) "Clifton Springs Sanitarium
My dear Mrs. Avery

I feel greatly obliged for your kindness in regard to your question which is to me an important one as I much depend on the rest & freedom from care & anxiety that the Dr. wishes me to have till I am stronger. So if this girl is willing to wait at the outside. I am close not over a month & I can know what she will expect for wages & if she can & will be willing to devote herself to me and do it kindly I shall then know what to do. Some of my friends

(p2) here think it would be the best plan to take one here that is quite familiar with the ?? here. You would be surprised to know how many have applied here who say they are tired of the hard work & no rest. I have had under consideration one who has taken care of a lady in Rochester. I am to see her today or this evening I shall know more about it & will write you if you will make any list for me as to what this girl expects. I must be more particular in the future but I had felt so little interest in life that I did not care, and I had so much that must be done that I feel that I'm very

(p3) much to blame that I kept Anna after she had been impudent before & now thought I could not do without her as I have without the slightest trouble. I take more baths & have no help in anything. I do want one who can hold her tongue & mind their own business. I shall be greatly obliged. I am getting along quite fast I hope. I am very anxious to get home. I am just a home body & one works very hard here. I was shocked to hear of Mrs. Babcock's death and also Mr. R. Hollister's indeed so many constantly drifting off all the time! I regret extremely you have been ill since Miss Hamilton left you she has not yet returned here & the home is so full yet. I don't know that the car

(p4) gets home her mother is a lovely dear good woman. She has been very kind to me. We have been out riding this morning. I am not surprised to hear Mrs. Hasley is not as well as she expected to be travelling. She is certainly frail & delicate but very brave. I hope she will get home safely. I suppose the Marcus-Bundy wedding must have been a grand affair & the bridesmaids must have looked lovely as they always do. I shall see Mrs. Fisher this evening & shall take pleasure in giving her your kind remembrance. I have not yet been down to the dining lounge it is so full but some charming people here with love to Mrs. Bounds and yourself.

Affect. yours C.C. Fillmore"

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 7" x 4.5"
  • Medium: ALS

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