A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
List of Letters
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About This Collection
Electronic Text Center
, University of Virginia Library
Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to William Hall, February 7, 1729
Robert Carter writes to William Hall of Stafford County, February 7, 1729, to notify him that John Mercer has filed a caveat against Carter's issuing a deed for land on Pohick Creek, and asking him and Mercer to come together to discuss the matter.
Letter from Robert Carter to William Hall,
February 7, 1729
-1
-
Corotoman, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
Feb: 7th. 1729
William Hall
Mr Warner
has now returned a Survey of the land you had
a Warrant for upon Pohick
Mr John Mercer:
of your county has desired a Caveat
might be entered against a deeds passing for this Land I have appointed some
time between this and the 15th of April next for the hearing of this Caveat
Mr: Mercer and you must agree the time of your coming down here if you
are to take notice from you
Your friend to serve you
The same letter to be written to Simon Connel
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.
The county and colony have been added for clarity to the heading on this draft.
[1] William Hall may have been a resident of Stafford County because that is where John Mercer lived at the time. See Carter's letter to Mercer
this same day.
[2] John Warner was the surveyor of King George County in 1727; he laid off the town of Falmouth in 1728. Later he worked for Lord Fairfax, and prepared an important map of his holdings. (Harrison, Landmarks of Old Prince William
, 626-628.
)
[3] Pohick Creek is located in today's Fairfax County and runs northwest to southeast passing just south of the town of Lorton and emptying into Gunston Cove off the Potomac River. In Carter's time, this area was part of Stafford County. ( Alexandria Drafting Company. Regional Northern Virginia.
[Alexandria, VA: Alexandria Drafting Company, 2002.] p. 12.
)
[4] John Mercer (1704-1768) emigrated from Ireland where he had been trained as an attorney. "He settled at Marlboroughtown [in then Stafford County] in 1726 as a practicing attorney and at once allowed a facile pen to get him into trouble with the government." He eventually lost his license to practice law, and turned to the land speculation that he had begun as soon as he reached Virginia. "He married first on June 10, 1725 Catherine Mason (June 21, 1707-June 15, 1750) only child of Colonel George Mason (16??-1716) and his second wife Elizabeth Waugh, daughter of the Reverend Mr. John Waugh."(Harrison. Landmarks of Old Prince William
p. 315;
Copeland and MacMaster. The Five George Masons.
; and "John Mercer."
)
[5] A caveat is a "process in court (originally in ecclesiastical courts) to suspend proceedings; a notice given by some party to the proper officer not to take a certain step until the party giving the notice has been heard in opposition." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online
. Oxford University Press.
)
[6] Simon Connel was a resident of Staffords County. (See "Cornwell-L Archives."
)
This text, originally posted in 2005, was revised January 27, 2015, to strengthen the footnotes and the modern language version text.