Lang writes:

      “…warming ourselves over a wood fire in an upper room in a boarding house at Washington. The mystery of steam!... the moonlight trip in the Steam Boat from Stonington…we encountered the odd scenes on which we were actors among different customs and ways and yet finding human nature the same everywhere. From the member of Congress down to the poor black, all contending for or helping dear Self, the God of the world!...The large scale on which the Capital City is drawn out impressed me most favorably and its buildings so suitable in amplitude and grandeur for the operations of the whole Union. The beauty of the Capitol and the White House, with their grounds, so princely and imposing (tho Mr. L. says that a private nobleman’s estate in Engd. will often surpass either), the curiosities of the patent office and national institute, where Capt. Wilkes has contributed such rare specimens of beautiful things belonging to nature’s three great kingdoms, from the islands beyond the seas… the plants of the Conservatory…many that we set as exotics are mere weeds in barbarous lands. Our visit at Phila. on our return… was extremely pleasant at United States Hotel. Wm. discovered, as the proprietor of the house, an old friend of his, who used to be one of the dashing auctioneers of the place…Misfortune led him to this step and in carrying on this Hotel in a luxurious style he is amassing a fortune for his old age. He studiously avoids identifying his family however, with the establishment…We saw Joseph Bonaparte’s estate and old chateau at Bordentown and you would have been pleased to see the pictures and ancient finery of the place…Kate Landis appeared remarkably interesting and Pam is really changed in the inward and outward man, he seems to mortify the body for the spirit’s sake. He interested me much….”

      William Lang, the writer’s husband, was a merchant who sold iron imported from England, first in Boston, then in New York. He was also an amateur architect who designed several "cottages" - elegant villas - near Roxbury, as well as a magnificent house in Scarsdale, New York

     Kate Landis writes:

      “…I have suffered from the face [tooth] ache since my marriage… My honeymoon has been rather a singular one…I had such a face ache that I was unsuited for everything…” Also caring for her sick father. “Here I am, married at last, at the American Hotel though instead of housekeeping…we were in treaty for a house in Logan Square more than a year ago. Harry took a fancy to this house…some trouble with the owner…disgusted Mr. Landis…we will look for a domicile elsewhere…we intend to use every exertion to find a suitable mansion…Houses are very scarce just now in Phila….We were very much surprised by a visit from cousin Susan and Mr. Lang…They stayed at the United States Hotel and Harry and myself passed a very pleasant evening with them there…Pam [her brother?]  is still struggling after righteousness but… there are some things he might advantageously alter in. His situation is very trying and I sympathize with him, but much is owing to his indecision, want of energy and a diseased imagination. He cannot see the state of affairs clearly and without prejudice, owing to a morbid condition of mind and imagination. He talks with me sometimes and I try to set him right…I wish he could be settled and happy in some steady pursuit…He cannot make up his mind whether he is fit for the ministry or not. Pops is perfectly willing he should study divinity if he will only decide to do so…”

      Katharine Reynolds Landis was married to Henry Landis, a young widower and rich partner in a Philadelphia hardware firm. “Pam”, mentioned in both letters, was apparently one of Kate’s brothers; his fate is unknown. But he must have been the black sheep of the family. Another of her brothers became Quartermaster General of Pennsylvania; another was a Rear Admiral of the Navy; and her brother John was a career Army officer, a West Point graduate (nominated for the Academy by future President James Buchanan, a family friend). He became such a close friend of her husband’s that when they finally secured a home, John lived with them, as did two of her unmarried sisters. Fifteen years later, John F. Reynolds, a Union General during the Civil War, died heroically on the first day of the battle of Gettysburg. Henry himself was a Captain and commander of an Artillery battery which he himself organized; he survived the War.

      The recipient of this pair of letters, Susan Colby, was the daughter of the wealthy New Hampshire entrepreneur who was elected Governor in 1846, though serving for only a year. Meanwhile, after studying at Emma Willard’s Seminary in Troy, N.Y., Susan Colby was appointed the first principal of New London Academy in New London, N.H. – a coed school that eventually became Colby Junior College for Women. Two years after she received these letters, when she was 32, she married James B. Colgate, a future Civil War financier, President of the New York Gold Exchange, and benefactor of Colgate University in New York.