Robert King Carter's Correspondence and Diary

   A Collection Transcribed
        and Digitized
   by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.

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Electronic Text Center , University of Virginia Library

Summary


July 21, 1702
Letter from Robert Carter to Jonathan Mathews and John Goodwin, 1702 July 21

     Robert Carter responds to a letter from the London merchants, Jonathan Mathews and John Goodwin, noting that the sales of the Wormeley estate tobacco were acceptable, and that he is sending 11 hogsheads more of good tobacco. He encloses an invoice for goods for the Wormeley family including some items not strictly necessary, arguing that the estate should assist in paying for the widow's expenses. He states that one-fifth of the previous year's tobacco belongs to his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Wormeley, the widow, who will ship her share to Mathews and Goodwin herself in the future.


Letter from Robert Carter to JonathanMathews and JohnGoodwin, July 21, 1702

-1 -

Rappa[hannock, Lancaster County, Virginia]

July the. 21st. 1702.

Mr. Jona. Mathews
Jno. Goodwin --

     I Recd. yor. Lettrs. Invoice &c. Relating to Esqr. Wormeleys es
-tate, but the Goods you know wch. Way the [y] went, Wee ha[ve]
bin hard putt to it, to gett Necessarys for the familys,T[he]
sale of the Tobo. as you promist it, Wee Cannot Complain[of]

     This Encloses a Bill of Lading for 11 hogsheads of Tobo. of that [Con]
-cern Consign'd you, by the Gloster , I hadDesign'd you [more]
but when the Cropps Came to be Concluded, fell short inm[y]
Reckoning. I saw the Tobo. myself, it Appear'd to me ex
-traordinary Good.

-2 -


     Herein is Another Invoice for the familys [use] Ipray God it
meets wth bettr. Success than the last did. There are some
things in't, not AbsolutelyNecessary for the familys servts. use, as the
Spice, the Wine &ca. but inregard the house is kept there,
and Wee are forc'd often to Trouble my Sistr . Wormeley when
Wee do any business about the Childrens Estate; I think it
but Reasonable, they ShouldContribute Something to her house
keeping, I wish you take Care to lett the Wine be good wch.thing you
[illegible] are but seldom Guilty of.

     A fifth part of the Last Cropp that went home belong'd
to my Sister Wormeley, of wch. she hath Desir'd me to give you
Notice, This Year She hath her Own Tobaccoe herself, And
hath sent a good the Chief part O'nt to you, Not Else to Add att
present but am Sr.


yor. humble Servt.

NOTES



Source copy consulted: Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County, Processioners' Returns, 1711-1783, and Wormeley Estate Papers, 1701-1710, 1716, Acc. 30126, Archives Research Services, Library of Virginia, Richmond, 155-156.

Robert Carter generally used a return address of "Rappahannock" for the river on which he lived rather than "Corotoman," the name of his home, on his correspondence, especially to merchants abroad. The county and colony have been added for clarity.

[1] The Gloster was built in Hampshire, England, in 1680, and was 300 tons in size; her owners were Charles Morgan and Thomas Perry of London. She carried 23 men and 12 guns in 1700. (Collector's return for Rappahannock River, 1701 December 25-1702 March 25, CO5/1441. . . . ; and Middleton. "The Chesapeake Convoy System, 1662-1763." )

[2] The clerk struck the word "use" that follows "familys" but it is necessary for the meaning of the sentence.

[3] The word "familys" has been struck by the clerk and "servts." substituted. Apparentlythe children's estate could support the sevants, but not the widow who was, of course, provided for byher husband.

[4] What this contraction stood for cannot be determined. The meaning seems to be "of it."


This text revised June 9, 2008.