Robert King Carter's Correspondence and Diary

   A Collection Transcribed
        and Digitized
   by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.


List of Letters | About This Collection

Electronic Text Center , University of Virginia Library


Summary



Letter from Robert Carter to Landon Carter, July 5, 1723

     Robert Carter writes to his son Landon Carter, then in school in England, July 5, 1723, that he was pleased with Landon's letter and his reports of his studies. He reminds Landon that only good progress and good behaviour will enable him to remain in England, and to write by the Carter.



Letter from Robert Carter to Landon Carter, July 5, 1723


-1 -

[Rappahannock, Lancaster County, Virginia]
July the 5th. 1723

My Dear Son Landon

     I reced your Lettr: by the Carter last Year
and you make me beleive that you are a good Boy &
mind your Book which is the only way to prevail with me to
let your Stay be longer in England then your Brothers
hath been, If I hear you are a naughty boy and do not
Improve your time Suitable to the charge I am at upon
you. you [sic ] must Expect I will forthwith send for you away
so that According to your behaviour you must Expect to
be treated, I reckon by this time your brothers hath left
Mr. Lows and that you are alone, pray be sure dont forget
to write to me per the Carter, I pray for your well doing and
Send my blessing to you who am -- --


Your Tender Affectione & Loving Father

NOTES



Source copy consulted: Robert Carter Letter Book, 1723 July 4-1724 June 11, Carter Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond.

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. His usual return address, the county, and colony have been added for clarity to this unheaded draft.

[1] Landon Carter (1710-1778) was Carter's seventh child by his second wife, Elizabeth (Landon) Willis, and was the second child to bear the name Landon, the first having died shortly after his birth in 1708. Landon would live at "Sabine Hall," Richmond County, and marry three times, leaving many descendants, some of whom own "Sabine Hall" today. As an adult, he would keep a very interesting and useful diary. (Greene. The Diary of Colonel Landon Carter. . . . )

[2] Solomon Low was the master of the lower-level school that Carter's sons attended. See Carter's letter to Low 1723 July 5.


This text revised August 27, 2009.