Richmond, Jan 28th 1862

My Dear Phil

I was pained to see
in the paper the other day: the death
of your little girl; the news was so
sudden and unexpected that I hardly
know how to express my feelings
of sympathy with you and Miss
Pink at such a loss; consolation I
know must come to you from a higher
source and holier place than any we
can find on this earth. It must be
a strange feeling Phil, and yet not
without its sweetness, to know you
have a child in heaven, and to
feel sure that there you will find
the “little blossom” again, with a
youth and radiance more beautiful
and perfect than the earth could have

[page 2]
eve given, it always seemed to me
like God in taking away a little
child to himself, was only endeavoring
to lead the parents still more to him
too, and to keep them more con-
stantly in remembrance of the “house
with may mansions” he has ready for
them when the course is finished and
the keeping of the faith in the flesh
is ended. My Father and Mother
send their sincere regrets for the
affliction that saddens you both. Jennie
writes also, but I came off without her
letter this morning so I suppose it
will be mailed separately–I should
write more but my wrist continues so
painful that it is with great diffi
culty I can scribble the words–
Give my love to your wife and believe
me as ever Yours sincerely
A. Q. Holladay

Wednesday morning. I concluded to keep my
letter a mail in case Jennie’s was not
mailed, and finding she had kept hers
for mine, I send them together.

The infant’s name was Betty Blosson Cabell; her father Philip Barraud Cabell, 1836-1904, nephew of General Philip St. George Cocke and grandson of General John Harwell Cocke, was one of the few antebellum students at the University of Virginia to obtain a master’s degree. After the war he was a professor at Urbana University in Ohio, and later a minister of a Swedenborgian church in Wilmington Delaware. His wife Julia Calvert Bolling Cabell known as “Pinkie” or “Miss Pink”, had been a popular Virginia belle before her marriage the previous year.
MSS 38-111