A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
List of Letters
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Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to Colonel George Braxton, May 21, 1728
Robert Carter writes to Colonel George Braxton of King and Queen County, May 21, 1728, concerning the purchase of slaves from a ship of Braxton's that has just arrived, urging Braxton to have the ship tie up at Mann Page's landing so that Page can have the pick of the cargo for himself and Carter. He offers cash and bills of exchange.
Letter from Robert Carter to Colonel George Braxton,
May 21, 1728
-1
-
[Corotoman, Lancaster County, Virginia]
May the 21st: 1728
Colonel Braxton
Sir --
Your notification of the Arrival of your Negro
Ship came last night Colonel Page
on Saturday writes me Colonel Digges
and Mr. Nelson
was in daily Expectation of 400 Slaves from the
Same place the Ship had touchd at Barbados and was to Sail
in a few days Colonel Page I know wants to buy I believe amongst
us we may take at least 30 From you if you will but please
us in Choice and Price I have two or three hundred Pounds
Cash that I would have you take in Payment at the Discount of £
15 percent . I propose before any Sale that you bring your Ship
up against
Colonel Page's the management of this Affair I wholly leave to
Colonel Page on whom I order your Boy to wait in his way to your
Point. The Cash is at your Immediate call The bills of Exchange
you
will not Expect until the return of your Ship I am
Sir --
Your most humble Servant
NOTES
Source copy consulted:
Robert Carter Letter Book, 1727 April 13-1728 July 23, Carter Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond.
The name of Carter's home, "Corotoman," the county, and colony have been added for clarity to this unheaded draft.
[1] Cole Digges (1692-1744) lived at "Bellfield" in York County. He was appointed to the Council in 1719. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . .
, 3[1705-1721]: 518,
and Louis B. Wright and Marion Tinling, eds.
William Byrd of Virginia: The London Diary (1717-1721) and Other Writings.
[New York: Oxford University Press, 1958.] p. 459.
)
[2] Thomas Nelson (1667-1745), a resident of Yorktown, was a merchant and was sheriff of York County in 1722 and 1723. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . .
, 4[1721-1739]:12,34,184;
and Greene. The Diary of Colonel Landon Carter. . . .
, p. 96.
)
[3] A bill of exchange is a kind of check or promissory note without interest. It is used primarily in international trade, and is a written order by one person to pay another a specific sum on a specific date sometime in the future. If the bill of exchange is drawn on a bank, it is called a bank draft. If it is drawn on another party, it is called a trade draft. Sometimes a bill of exchange will simply be called a draft, but whereas a draft is always negotiable (transferable by endorsement), this is not necessarily true of a bill of exchange. ( "Dictionary of Financial Scam Terms,"
8/22/2005
)
This text, originally posted in 2004, was revised October 6, 2014, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.