Letter from Robert Carter to Captain George Turberville, June 29, 1731

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   by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.

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Summary

Letter from Robert Carter to Captain George Turberville, June 29, 1731

Robert Carter writes to Captain George Turberville of Westmoreland County, June 29, 1731, concerning the difficuties in collecting the Secretary's fees in that county, Turbeville's debts to Carter, and a pair of millstones.

Letter from Robert Carter to Captain George Turberville, June 29, 1731

-1 -
Corotomon, [sic] [Lancaster County, Virginia]

29 June 1731

Capt. Geo. Turbervile

Sir,

In answer to yours of yesterday I begin with the
Secretary's Business. Mr. Lord of the 9th Instant tells me he had received of the Secre [tar] ys
Tobacco in their Parish Six hogsheads which you had told him he must accot
to you for. I have given Will Rowing, who is now in my Sloop --
particular orders to take in this Tobacco if he can get it, however it will
not be amiss if you spur on Lord to be careful in getting the Tobacco on board
the Sloop. Mr. Lord mistakes himself when he says he has no List of the
Secretary's Fees, I'm sure he or some of his Officers had the list from me.
I sent away the List I had from the Secretary's Office soon after it came
to my hands. It amounted to 3694 pounds of Tobacco .

The Secretary between his Clerk & the Sheriff meets with --
very extraordinary usage, what his fees came to in 1729 you are no --
Stranger to. Four hogsheads of his Tobacco that were to be weighty & to come
from Minors, were not rolled when my Sloop called for them not
until I went up a little before Christmass, & they were very light at last
how much of the Accot is paid I know not. If this Sloop misses of his Tobacco
I believe Mr Lord may expect a Call from the Secretary. This Rate of
Management

-2 -

Management will hardly find him Paper & Pens & Ink for his
office; he is to be here is [sic ] eight or ten days he will then consider
what is proper for him to do.

I now come to my own Business. Your Bill of exchange
for eight pounds five shillings & Eleven pence discharges the Balance
of your Money Debt. Your balance in Tobacco Is 3901. Sallard
accots to me for three thousand one hundred & thirty eight, You
Balance the Rest by a long Bed Roll of Fees, many of them I --
understand not You charge me with Orders for Fines I don't re=
member I ever had two pence for all the Fines; some of them I am
sure are not mine to pay. The Charge of Mrs. Newton's Power of
Attorney for Reliquishment of her Dower ~~is none of mine~~ lies not properly against me
~~to pay~~ ; I never authorized such a thing nor will I take any --
thing less than her Personal appearance at Court & Private --
Examination as you already know; fees for this I suppose I
shall hear of hereafter; I pray you therefore to put the Saddle
upon the Right Horse.

You mention something of a pair of Milstones I had --
from your Father . I remember I had a pair of stones from Turkey
Cock hill which was many Years before your Father died & several
years after I delivered them with his Consent, as far as I can collect
the story, to Captain Richard Ball, who claimed them as his. I --
know Nothing more of them, If I had them you should be --
welcome to them; which is the Needful at present from

your humble Servant

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 Lord had been appointed sheriff of Westmoreland County in 1729. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]:200. )

[2] 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. )

[3] Simon Sallard (d. 1747) was referred to in the 1733 inventory of Carter's property as "Mr." He was then the manager of the plantations in Richmond and Northumberland counties, and the overseer of Brick House Quarter in Richmond County. ("Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." ; Morton. Robert Robert Carter of Nomini Hall. p. 33; and Greene. The Diary of Colonel Landon Carter. . . . p. 304. )

[4] Turkey Cock Hill is located in "Northumberland Co., probably south of the Great Wicomico River." (Miller. Place-Names . . . . p. 160. )

[5] George Turberville's father was John Turberville (d. 1728). a prominent landowner and sheriff of Llancaster Couty. ("Turberville Family of VA." http://members.tripod.com/~Bonestwo/index-6.html. 2/20/2006; and McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 3[1705-1721]: 92, 146. )

[5] A Captain Richard Ball operated a mill in Lancaster County in the "early 18th century." (Sorrells. title>Landholders & Landholdings. p. 43. )

This text, originally posted in 2006, was revised October 16, 2015, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.