Mr. Isaac Stevens.
The young couple boarded in Fairhaven, a suburb of New Bedford, for several months, and then removed to the town. They entered with lively interest into the society of the place, at that time the abode of many wealthy and somewhat aristocratic families. Mr. Stevens had already made the favorable acquaintance of the first people before bringing his wife there; her family and personal attractions were known, and they were cordially received. Mrs. Hazard made them a short visit during the winter.
Halleck asks his assistance in starting an engineering journal for the corps.
I know too well your zeal for the profession to doubt for a moment that the measure will receive your countenance, and the support of your able pen. If we succeed in the undertaking, I am quite sure that it will be of much advantage to us individually, and will contribute greatly to the reputation of the corps.
If the delights of married life have not entirely driven away the recollection of old bachelor friends, I hope you will again favor me with one of your old-fashioned letters. I have heard too much of the attractions of your bride to scold you for so long neglecting me. From all accounts, my dear Stevens, I must pronounce you a most fortunate and happy man, and I shall embrace the first opportunity to make the acquaintance of your lady, and most heartily welcome her into our corps.
Yours most truly,
H. Wager Halleck.
The young couple spent Thanksgiving in Andover. The stern but true-hearted father, deeply mourning the untimely loss of his two elder daughters, was gladdened by the presence of five children,—Sarah, Isaac, Oliver, Mary, and the new daughter, Margaret. The latter was greatly admired, and was received with warm affection and kindness by them, and by uncles William and Nathaniel and their families. She was highly interested and pleased with the Thanksgiving festivities, a new experience to her; for the Quakers and Come-outers of Rhode Island, many of whom left Massachusetts to escape the tyranny of the “Lord Brethren,” never made much of that holiday, but kept Christmas instead.
After a delightful visit of a week, they returned to New Bedford and the pleasures of domestic life, and for the young husband what he always enjoyed,—hard work. This seriously encroached upon his proposed course of study and reading, yet with Mason he would run up to Providence to hear Ralph Waldo Emerson’s lectures.
On June 9, 1842, their first child, a boy, was born in the old Newport mansion, and named Hazard, after his maternal grandfather.
Newport, June 9, 1842.