A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
List of Letters
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, University of Virginia Library
Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to Micajah Perry, June 16, 1729
Robert Carter writes to London merchant Micajah Perry, June 16, 1729, to cover a bill of lading (not present) for 20 hogsheads of tobacco and explaining why he cannot change the marks on them. He comments on his costs in managing the Lloyd estates.
Letter from Robert Carter to Micajah Perry,
June 16, 1729
-1
-
Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
June the 16th. 1729
Micajh. Perry Esqr.
Sir --
The only business of this Shall be to Enclose to you a bill of
Lading
for 40 hogsheads of Tobacco
on board the Betty Captain Keiling
which I reckon
my own Tobacco and Expect to have an Account of the Produce of it placed to
my Credit. I have already told you the Tobacco was marked with this mark
before I received Your last Letters and would have been attended with dif [i] =
=culty to have altered before the Shipping so that now I reckon you will
take it as a note of Distinction only where the Tobacco was made Upon
this reason I shall decline drawing upon you for the Salary to the General
Overseer. for the Salary to the Doctor. and Shall forbear making my
Account to you of the Contingent Charges of the Estate for the Yr. 1728 which
you must Conclude are Considerable having had no manner of
Supplies from you for that Year I am
Sir
Your most humble Servant
Richard Meeks's
Salary the General Overseer
LLs
Plantations is £35 sterling Per Annum
the Doctor's is £15. this you know I have annu=
ally drawn for. The Quit rents.
The rent for Lands
for the working of 20 odd
of Slaves. The Levys are Standing Charges and the Clothng of the
People has been Entirely upon me.
NOTES
Source copy consulted:
Robert Carter Letter Book, 1727 April 13-1728 July 23, 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] 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] 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.
)
[2] Quit rent was the term used for "a (usually small) rent paid by a freeholder . . . in lieu of services which might otherwise be required; a nominal rent paid (esp. in former British colonial territories to the Crown) as an acknowledgement of tenure," in this case, to the proprietors of the Northern Neck. Carter as the proprietor's agent, collected these payments. ( Oxford English Dictionary Online
. Oxford University Press.
)
This text, originally posted in 2005, was revised March 12, 2015, to add a footnote and strengthen the modern language version text.