Ellen Eyre: to Walt Whitman, March 25, 1862

On March 25, 1862, Walt Whitman received the following letter addressed to him at Pfaff’s, the bar on the corner of Bleeker Street and Broadway.

Tuesday Mar 25 1862

Walt Whitman

My dear Mr. Whitman

I fear you took me last night for a female privateer. It's true that I was sailing under false colors.—But the flag I assure you covered nothing piratical—although I would joyfully have made your heart a captive.

Women have an unequal chance in this world. Men are its monarchs, and "full many a rose is born to blush unseen and waste its sweetness in the desert air." 2

Such I was resolved should not be the fate of this fancy I had long nourished for you.—A gold mine may be found by the Divining Rod but there is no such instrument for detecting in the crowded streets of a great city the [unknown?] mine of latent affection a man may have unconsciously inspired in a woman's heart. I make these explanations in extenuation not by way of apology. My social position enjoins precaution & mystery, and perhaps the enjoyment of my friend's society is heightened which in yielding to its fascination I preserve my incognito; yet mystery lends an ineffable charm to love and when a woman is bent upon the gratification of her inclinations—She is pardonable if she still spreads the veil of decorum over her actions. Hypocrisy is said to be "the homage which sin pays to virtue," and yet I can see no vice in that generous sympathy with which we share our caprices with those who have inspired us with tenderness,—

I trust you will think well enough of me soon to renew the pleasure you afforded me last P.M., and I therefore write to remind you that there is a sensible head as well as a sympathetic heart, both of which would gladly evolve wit & warmth for your direction & comfort.—You have already my whereabouts & my hours—It shall only depend upon you to make them yours and me the happiest of women.

I am always

Yours sincerely,

Ellen Eyre

Analysis

Scholars have long argued about the identity of Ellen Eyre, all of them assuming that the writer was a female.

For example, C. Carroll Hollis presents an argument that identifies Ellen Grey as the writer, citing that she may have known Whitman when they were both living in Brooklyn. He notes that her picture was found displayed among Whitman’s belongings at his home in Camden at the time of his death (24-26).

But in 2009, Ted Genoways provided evidence that Eyre was a man. A note on the website of the Whitman Archive explains:

"Ellen Eyre" was one of conman William Kinney's various pseudonyms. In 1862 Kinney managed to establish a fraudulent medical practice on Broadway between 8th and 9th under the name "Dr. B. Coffin." Running his scam as Dr. Coffin during the day, Kinney's evenings were spent posing as "Mrs. Ellen Eyre." As Eyre, Kinney would send letters to prominent men in New York; the men would agree to meet Eyre at the time and place appointed by her in the letter. As Ted Genoways notes, "What exactly transpired thereafter is veiled in niceties of the period, but the letters from several suitors, published later in the Sunday Mercury, are highly suggestive. One invited Eyre for some 'twilight entertainment,' another thanked her for 'your "loving kindness" at our last meeting.' One man, offended at being asked for money, wrote that he never considered 'our tender relations in the light of a financial operation.'" Kinney was eventually arrested after a sting operation exposed Ellen Eyre's true identity: Kinney performing sexual favors dressed as a woman and later blackmailing men to keep the affair discrete.

Eyre's interest in Whitman (and Whitman's interest in Eyre) remains unclear. Genoways summarizes some of the questions raised by Whitman and Eyre's encounter: "Is 'Ellen Eyre' attempting to elicit an admission from Whitman that he saw through the disguise, or is the young conman intent on extending his deception? If the latter, how complete could the deception have been? If Whitman clearly recognized his attire as a disguise, did he also recognize that 'Ellen Eyre' was attempting to disguise not just his identity but his gender? Was Whitman's interest, in other words, in the young woman 'Ellen Eyre' or the young man who arrived at Pfaff's under the shadowy light of the cellar's torches in the garb of a woman?" (For more on Ellen Eyre see below: 1862, July 8.)

Notes

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