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Appendix A
In the original project of his biography Mr. Wanamaker intended to include voluminous extracts from the diaries and family correspondence of Isaiah Williamson. But in the end he decided to include as an appendix only a few letters, written between 1876 and 1879. These, he felt, would illustrate the human side of Isaiah Williamson at a time when the writer of the letters was growing old and had amassed great wealth.
Philada., Feby. 12th, 1876.
Dear Brother:—
I have been thinking that during the winter is perhaps the best time to buy a Horse, and if you think "old Black" will not be able to do duty the coming Summer, I wish to propose to you that if you will buy a good, quiet, safe and suitable Horse for such old fellows as you and I to ride behind, at a price not exceeding $200, that I will pay for him. I at first thought I would say "buy a Horse and I will pay for him," but then it occurred to me that you might go and buy a $20,000 Horse that would trot a mile in two minutes or less, which neither of us would feel at home in riding after; in truth such an one might take us a great way from home contrary to our wishes. Then the question arises, if you get another Horse what will be done with "old Black."160
