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 Alderman [Micajah] Perry, June 29, 1731
Robert Carter writes on behalf of himself and his son John, as executors of the estate of Mann Page, to London merchant and city alderman [Micajah] Perry, June 29, 1731, to notify him of two bills of exchange on Page's estate drawn to John Randolph, and of shipment of tobacco from the estate on board the Burwell.
Letter from Robert Carter to Alderman [Micajah] Perry,
June 29, 1731
-1
-
Rappa[hannock, Lancaster County, Virginia]
29 june 1731
Alderman Perry
Sir,
We have already been very large & particular to you
about Colonel Page's
Affairs & of the methods We had agreed upon about
the Discharge of his Debts. This is to advise you of two Drafts
now
made upon You payable to Mr Randolph
one for one hundred pounds
the other for fifty three pounds and Six pence being for Cash taken
up of him for Discharge of some further debts due from Colonel --
Page's Estate & We desire you to pay them at Time & to place thm to the
Accot of that Estate. Captain Cant,
by whom this is designed, hath
forty hhds of Colonel Page's Tobo.
You will receive Bills of Lading
for it
by the Ship. These Bills of Exchange I have signed, & they are to be --
sent to the Secretary
for his Hand also. We are Sir
Yr most humble Servants
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 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. (See "Bill of Exchange"
in the online Dictionary of Financial Scam Terms: the Truth vs. the Scam.
)
[2] Captain Constantine Cant commanded the Buwell
which may have been owned by William Dawkins and Micajah Perry as Carter reported her December 1723 arrival to each of them. ( Adm. 68/194-195, found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
)
[3] 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.
)
This text, originally posted in 2006, was revised October 13, 2015, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.