A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
List of Letters
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, University of Virginia Library
Summary
July 9, 1718
Letter from Robert Carter to William Dawkins, 1718 July9
Robert Carter writes to London merchant William Dawkins, July 9,1718, that the colony has received reports from several sources thatGibralter was under seige by the Spanish. The colonists are veryconcerned that ships that were on route to England, not knowing ofthe war, will be captured. He is especially concerned because two ofhis sons were sailing to England to school. He continues that aLiverpool ship, the Caesar,
has on board ahogshead of tobaacco shipped by "Mr. Lee" on Dawkins' accountconsigned to [merchant John] Pemberton who has been informed that hemust account to Dawkins for it.
Letter from Robert Carter to WilliamDawkins,
July 9, 1718
-1
-
[Rappahannock, LancasterCounty, Virginia]
July 9th 1718.
To William Dawkins
Sir,
The bulk of my business went
by the "Carter"
& "Sarah." God send them
safe passage. We havenow a strong
report bro't from Yew [sic] York and Jam=
=aica and likewise someFrench
from Martinico , thatGibralter was
beseiged
by theSpaniards, which we
reckon will occasion an immediate
war with Spain; and ifso we are
much afraid that our ships that are gone,
knowingnothing of it, will be
in a great deal of danger. Theprotec=
=tion of the Almighty be over my
dear boys.
This comes by a Liverpool man,
Capt. Pickering, in the "Ceasar."
He hath a Hhd of stem'd Tobo:
shipd by Mr Lee on yr acco: con=
=signed to MrPemberton
who is ad=
=vised it belongs to you and must beac=
=counted for accordingly. You will take care
to entitleyourself to the prompt payment.
I am, Sir
NOTES
Source copy consulted:
Minor-Blackford Papers, James Monroe Law Office and Museum, Fredericksburg,Virginia. These texts are all nineteenth-century copies. Apparentlythere was in existence a letter book of Robert Carter's -- nowlost -- from which the unknown copyist recorded these texts. Asthey are the only texts, the punctuation and "corrections" obviouslysupplied by the copyist have been retained.
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, especiallyto merchants abroad. The return address, county, and colony have beenadded for clarity to this unheaded letter.
[1] The reports of a siege of Gibraltar werewrong.
[2] Carter's sons Robert (1704-1732) and Charles (1706-1764) were on board the Carter
on their wayto England for their further education. As the letter of July 26,1718, from Dawkins to Carter shows, they had arrived safely.
This text revised October 10,2008.