A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
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Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to William Camp, November 20, 1729
Robert Carter writes to William Camp, the manager of the Burwell estates and his own properties in the Gloucester and York counties area, November 20, 1729, to request that he examine land at Arnold's Ferry that Carter is to purchase from Major Robinson and that is to be divided between Mrs. Robinson and her sister. Camp is to advise Colonel Braxton, Carter's agent in the matter.
Letter from Robert Carter to William Camp,
November 20, 1729
-1
-
Corotoman, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
Novr. the 20th. 1729
Wm Camp --
This Day I received a letter from Major Kemp
fixing the time for
Dividing the Land at Arnolds ferry
between the two Sisters Mrs. Wormeley
& Mrs. Robinson Mr. Kemp is to Act in behalf of Mrs. Wormeley Mr Robin [son]
has promised to be there & to take as much care of his wifes interest in the
Division as if he was to keep the Land. a Surveyor is to run Round the bound [s]
of it & then to run a Dividing line the choice after the Division is to be deter
-mined by lot I have written to Colonel Braxton
to appear as my friend in this
Matter however by all means I would have you there & to go up a Day or two bef [ore]
hand and take a Strict Narrow View of all the Land & the Circumstances of it that
You may be able fully to advise Colonel Braxton you know I shall want a good
River Landing an equal share of the best of the Land an equal Share of the
Timber & an equal share of the uncleared Grounds with an equal Share of
The buildings, the pasture grounds the Marshes & the other valuable convenien
-ces The patent
is for a thousand Acres Major Robinson undertakes it shall
hold out tht. at least he reckons there is a hundred or two hundred Acres more
its highly Necessary the dividing line tht. is made Should be well & plainly
Marked but tht. I suppose everybody will be for
I doubt not you will use your utmost diligence & dexterity
in this affair in which you will much oblige
Your friend
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.
See Carter's letter
to George Braxton of the same date on thiss matter.
[1] William Camp (Kemp) was described by Carter as "the General Overseer of Mr Burwell's Affairs" and he wrote that Camp earned a salary "£50 . . . for the year 1731." Carter and his son-in-law, Mann Page, were the trustees of Nathaniel Burwell's children after Burwell's death in 1721. Camp was a resident of Gloucester County where most of the Burwell estates lay, and he must also have supervised "Rippon Hall" in nearby York County. ( Carter to George Braxton, November 20, 1729
,
and Carter to William Dawkins, July 11, 1732,
and Virginia Tax Records.
[Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1983.] p. 539.
)
[2] Matthew Kemp was a successful merchant in Middlesex County where he was also a justice, militia officer, and sheriff. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . .
, 4[1721-1739]: lv, 12, 107, 200, 205.
See also numerous references in Rutman and Rutman, A Place in Time: Middlesex. . . .
)
[3] On the Fry-Jefferson map, Arnold's Ferry crosses the Mattaponi River between King William and King and Queen counties. It is a few miles up the Mattaponi from Newington, Braxton's home.
[4] This may be Elizabeth (Tayloe) Wormeley, widow of John Wormeley (1689-1727).
[5] A Benjamin Robinson was sheriff of Essex County in 17724 and 1725. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . .
, 4[1721-1739]: 66, 86, 117.
)
[6] George Braxton I (c.1677-1746) of Newington, King and Queen County, successful merchant, justice, militia officer, and burgess. (Kneebone et al.
Dictionary of Virginia Biography.
2: 204-5.
)
[7] In North American law, a patent is "a territory, district, or piece of land conferred by letters patent" which were "originally: an open letter or document. . . issued by a monarch or government to record a contract, authorize or command an action, or confer a privilege, right, office, title, or property." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online
. Oxford University Press.
)
This text, originally posted in 2005, was revised July 14, 2015, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.