Title
Dr. Peter Bryce Letter to his Wife, December 31, 1879
Subject
Bryce, Peter, 1834-1892
Bryce, Ellen Peter, 1841-1929
Bryce Hospital (Tuscaloosa, AL)
Mental health facilities
Description
Dr. Bryce wrote to his "dear Nellie" on the last day of 1879. She was at her family home in Columbia, South Carolina.
Source
Personal Collection of Victor Morris Friedman
Date
1879
Contributor
Elizabeth Bradt (Description)
Type
Document
Identifier
1241
Coverage
Tuscaloosa (AL)
Text
Alabama Insane Hospital
P. Bryce, M.D. Superintendent
Tuskaloosa, Ala, Dec. 31, 1879
My Dear Nellie: -
This is the last day of the year, and I can’t let it pass without a word of gratitude & congratulations that our lives have been spared, we have been blessed in such an extraordinary degree by our kind and indulgent Heavenly Father. When we look back over the past, and review the splendid opportunity that you & I, above most mortals, have enjoyed of doing good, we see enough to fill us with shame & humiliation. It is so with me at least. I thank God I have done something however, and I thank him that every year brings with it to me a deeper sense of my responsibilities and a stronger determination to meet them like a Christian in the future. I pray God may spare us both to advance His Kingdom on Earth and that the close of each year may find me advancing in sweetness for the Kingdom of Heaven.
I will try to get off your New Year flowers tomorrow morning, so that it will reach Columbia about the same time you do. Mr. Somerville, Mr. Matthews, Prof. Parker & myself will pay a few New Year calls tomorrow. This however will form the theme of my next letter.
(Love to all) Affectionately Your Husband
P. Bryce, M.D. Superintendent
Tuskaloosa, Ala, Dec. 31, 1879
My Dear Nellie: -
This is the last day of the year, and I can’t let it pass without a word of gratitude & congratulations that our lives have been spared, we have been blessed in such an extraordinary degree by our kind and indulgent Heavenly Father. When we look back over the past, and review the splendid opportunity that you & I, above most mortals, have enjoyed of doing good, we see enough to fill us with shame & humiliation. It is so with me at least. I thank God I have done something however, and I thank him that every year brings with it to me a deeper sense of my responsibilities and a stronger determination to meet them like a Christian in the future. I pray God may spare us both to advance His Kingdom on Earth and that the close of each year may find me advancing in sweetness for the Kingdom of Heaven.
I will try to get off your New Year flowers tomorrow morning, so that it will reach Columbia about the same time you do. Mr. Somerville, Mr. Matthews, Prof. Parker & myself will pay a few New Year calls tomorrow. This however will form the theme of my next letter.
(Love to all) Affectionately Your Husband
Original Format
Letter