Letter from Robert Carter to John Pemberton, March 25, 1724

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        and Digitized
   by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.

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Summary

Letter from Robert Carter to John Pemberton, March 25, 1724

Robert Carter writes to Liverpool merchant John Pemberton, March 25, 1724, to report the safe arrival of Captain Watkinson's vessel, the Vine, carrying goods Carter had ordered. He is pleased with the accounts Pemberton has sent, and urges him to continue the work to obtain the repeal of the act prohibiting the importation of stemmed tobacco. He intends to send some leaf tobacco to Liverpool if he can get freight.

Letter from Robert Carter to John Pemberton, March 25, 1724

-1 -
Mr. Jno. Pemberton
per the Bayley Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
Mar. 25. 1724 --

This is only a Short line by a London Ship just ready
to Sail to Advise You of the Arrival of the Vine Captain Watkinson my goods
are landed this Morning have not yet Seen the inside of them, Your Accounts
&c are to my Entire satisfaction, its admirable stripped leaf Should
not advance with You Surely a little patience will bring the smokers to
a better mind, I heartily wish You may be Successful in getting [the Act]
prohibiting stemmed Tobacco repealed, it is a cruel one to me having al [ways]
stemmed my Crops these thirty Years & more, I intend to try Your Mar: [ket] with a
little more leaf Tobacco of our Common Sort if I can g [et] freight, The follow
ing Clause is written in a former Letter Which I duplicate here for
fear of Miscarriage, The rest is heartily to Wish Your Welfare & to
Subscribe -- --

Sir
Your very humble Servant

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. The county and colony have been added for clarity to the heading on the draft.

[1] Parliament had passed an act forbidding the importation of stemmed tobacco in 1722. John Randolph would be sent to England in 1729 as agent for Virginia to try to have the act overturned; his mission would be successful. ( Arthur Pierce Middleton. Tobacco Coast: A Maritime History of the Chesapeake Bay in the Colonial Era. [Newport News, VA: Mariners' Museum, 1953], 116. )

This text, originally posted in 2002, was revised March 7, 2011, to add a footnote, and to strengthen the modern language version text.