A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
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Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to William Dawkins, August 10, 1728
Robert Carter writes to London merchant William Dawkins, August 10, 1728, to cover a bill of lading, report the arrival of accounts Dawkins had sent on the Sarah,
and comment on the sales. He complains about York River tobacco receiving higher prices than his. He sends a bill of exchange and comments on his efforts to collect debts due the merchant, and on charges Dawkins has made on the account of the Nathaniel Burwell estate.
Letter from Robert Carter to William Dawkins,
August 10, 1728
-1
-
Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
Augst: 10th: 1728
Mr: Wm: Dawkins
Sir --
This concludes me for this time herein Send
you a bill of Lading
for 45 hogsheads of my own Crop Tobbo: I cannot praise
it from my own Eye Sight, but the persons your
under whose Inspecting
Care it was made
to whom I give large Salarys for that very purpose assure me it is very
good and well handled,
Yor. packets by the Sarah
Via Maryland came
to my hands two days ago bringing me the Sales of Mr. Burwells
Tobbo:
wth. an Accot: Currt: of that Estate, and an Accot: of Sales of 20 of mine
by Keeling
you Say that you had about 25 left which you were
daily get
ing of and would send the Accot. as Soon as finishd I will rest in hopes
those unaccounted for will come out
as well as the Bettys it will ever be
a mistery to me that our Tobbo: made here falls so much Short in
Price to the York river Tobbo: I beleive I may appeal to yor. memory
to Say it was not so formerly Sure I am neither their Grounds nor
their care exceed ours, when you have closed the Sales I hope you will
take the first Opportunity to Send me an Accot. Currt.
Now Send you Capt Doves
Exchange
on your Self
for £45"18. and mine and D, Lee's
for £7"6"8 I have rec'd a ballance
that belongs to you from Tom Winter of One pound One Shilling
and Six pense to be charged to my Accot. I have hopes in the long run
to get your Outstanding Debt of Hutchins's
Execrs: his widdw: promises
me fairly I will prevail with her if I can to get her bond Conollys
is a Special poor fellow but I beleive he is honest and will pay wt.
he is able, and before you cant Expect it,
Capt:: Dove brought me in Some odd things and
I thought I had given orders to you to let him have the money but
Dove tells me Mr
Athawes
could find no Such order I observe you have
charged half perCt: upon the Sale of Mr. Burwells Tobbo: for which you
have no Allowance from me I shall discourse Colonel Page
who act [s]
with me in that affair and you will hear futher from us about
it, I am
Sir, Yor. very humble Servt.
per the Carter
Copy per the Capt.Wilcoxs
NOTES
Source copy consulted:
Letter book, 1728 August-1731 July, Robert Carter Papers (acc. no. 3807), Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
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] A bill of lading is "an official detailed receipt given by the master of a merchant vessel to the person consigning the goods, by which he makes himself responsible for their safe delivery to the consignee. This document, being the legal proof of ownership of the goods, is often deposited with a creditor as security for money advanced." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online
. Oxford University Press.
)
[2] The Sarah
was a 120-ton London vessel with a crew of 13 commanded by John Reynolds in 1728 and 1729. ( Adm 68/194 and 195, found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
)
[3] Captain William Keiling commanded the Betty.
( Survey Report 6800 summarizing Adm. 68/194, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
)
[4] 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
)
[5] This may be John Hutchins of Lancaster County who died in 1727. (Sorrells. title>Landholders & Landholdings.
p.30,
and Ida J. Lee. Abstracts Lancaster County,Virginia, Wills. 1653-1800.
[Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, Inc., 2004.] Reprint of the original 1959 edition. p.120.
)
[6] Patrick Connelly appears on a 1716 list of titheables in Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County ( "Tithables in Lancaster Co., 1716." William and Mary Quarterly
1st. ser., 21[July 1912]: 107.
)
This text, originally posted in 2004, was revised December 12, 2014, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.