On May 31, 1899, Susan Thompson of Tacoma, Washington, wrote to Paul Laurence Dunbar. She and Paul were both natives of Dayton, though he had since moved to Washington, D. C. On the day of her letter, Paul was in New York City recovering from a severe case of pneumonia.
My Dear Brother, though I am unknown to you, I have watched your career with interest. Perhaps your birthplace (Dayton) has had something to do with it, as I first saw the light and spent my younger days near there. I say something, as it is a very small part of my regard for you, knowing so well that one's birthplace is so insignificant compared with the person that is born there. And yet when one has wandered as far from the home of their birth as has the writer, there is a feeling of "kinship" towards those who have been born there that neither time nor space has been able to overcome. Dear old Dayton. It will always be dear to you, as it is to me. I shall be very much pleased to hear from you, if you receive this letter. "Paul" [is] the name of my youngest son, and of my baby grandson, therefore dear to me.
Susan F. Thompson to Paul Laurence Dunbar, May 31, 1899. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 1).
Paul's illness was widely reported in the press, which prompted another stranger to write to him. He received some health advice from a woman in Chicago who had also been a Dayton resident.
Pardon this letter to you. It is from a Dayton Lady. I am Mrs. George Coffman of 4th Street. You know my boys: Tom, Harvey, Eddie. Ed is the one who has had lung trouble. We have found of all the places he has been sent to that Pasadena is the best. His doctor there left Chicago some three years ago, he having lung trouble very bad. He now is well and makes lung trouble a specialty. He gives no medicine but inflates the lungs. I am so very anxious to have all young men get well is why I have written. We must not delay for a moment when the lungs are at stake.
Mrs. George Coffman to Paul Laurence Dunbar, September 16, 1899. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 1).