Jessie Louisa Whitman

Jessie Louisa Whitman (1863-1957) was the niece of the American writer, Walt Whitman. Her interview with Ralph L. Fansler, coupled with her letters, have greatly contributed to Walt Whitman's biographical information.
Early life
Whitman was born in 1863 to Martha Mitchell Whitman and Walt Whitman's brother, Thomas Jefferson "Jeff" Whitman in Brooklyn, New York. She had one sister, Manahatta "Hattie" Whitman. The family moved to St. Louis in 1868 but remained close to Walt and their other family members on the east coast. In the early 1870s and 1880s, Jessie and Hattie went East for school and spent many summers living with George Whitman in Camden, New Jersey.
In the letters between Walt and his brother Jeff, Walt called Jessie by the nickname 'California'.
Later life
Around 1945, Jessie's lawyer and a friend had her committed to a sanitarium. As evinced from her letters to Fansler, however, it seems that her mental health was stable despite having been committed.
The letters written by Walt Whitman that had been held by Jessie were given to the Missouri Historical Society in 1960.

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