A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
List of Letters
|
About This Collection
Electronic Text Center
, University of Virginia Library
Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to Alderman [Micajah] Perry and Company, July 26, 1731
Robert Carter writes to London merchants Alderman [Micajah] Perry and Company, July 26, 1731, alerting the merchants to several tobacco shipments, and sending an invoice (not present) for goods for the Burwell "familys." He also reports bills of exchange.
Letter from Robert Carter to Alderman [Micajah] Perry
and Company, July 26, 1731
-1
-
Rappa [hannock, Lancaster County, Virginia]
July26. 1731 --
Alderman Perry Esqr. & com.
Gentlemen --
I have already written to you by the Burwell
l & the Spotswood
Acquainting you with the tobaccos I had Sent to you by them two --
Ships and likewise of what went in the Micajah and Philip
Both my own and Mr. Burwells
This accompanys an invoice for some goods
for the Supply of Mr. Burwells familys which I desire may be sent
into York River upon the Risk of that Estate I purposed
this invoice by Captain Bradby but not getting it ready [in] time eno:
ugh now send it by [the] Welcome
& a Copy by the Bailey
I am to advise you I have drawn a bill of
Exchange
upon you to Colonel Grymes
for £14"0.2 which I desire
you to Pay upon accot of Mr. Burwells Estate
Herein are some first bills of Exchange
belonging to Mr. Burwells Estate vizt
Ann Buckner on yrself for -- -- -- £106"0.0
James Bradby on yourself for -- -- 6"1.9
Augustine Smith
on Haswell & Company 15.0.0
Colonel Thomas Jones on Mr. Edmund Randolph}
Betty Burwells money -- -- } 36.0.0
Also the following first Bills on my
Own Accot -- -- --
Colonel John Grymes
on yourselves for -- -- 23.19.7
Colonel Byrd
on Christopher Smith -- -- 23.0.0
Phil Smith
on John Berry & Company -- -- 22.8.9
By Barnes & Dove
NOTES
Source copy consulted:
Letter book, 1731 July 9-1732 July 13 , 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] This vessel was commanded by Captain Constantine Cant and 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.
)
[2] The Spotswood
was a London ship commanded by James Bradby, 1727-1732, and was owned by Micajah Perry. ( Adm 68/195, 70r ff., found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia. See Carter to Micajah Perry
April 16. 1730.
)
[3] The Micajah & Philip was a large vessel of some 400 tons carrying a crew of 27. The captain's name varies from record to record as James Bradley or James Bradby. Thomas Jones wrote to his wife, then in England, concerning this ship in 1728, "The Micajah & Philip that comes to James River is as good as the best Ships that Comes hither, but Bradby the master seems to be a little conceited and prodigal." ( Adm. 68/194-196, found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia
; and Virginia Magazine of History and Biography.
26[1918]: 172, abstracting the Jones Papers at the Library of Congress.
)
[4] The 140 ton Welcome
was owned by London merchant James Bradley to whom Carter would write about her on May 17, 1727
. John Trice (Frice) was her captain, 1723-1728. ( Adm 68/195, 154r, found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
)
[5] The Bailey
was a London ship owned by William Dawkins and commanded at various times by Adam Graves (1725-1730) and by Thomas Dove 1730-1732. She was a vessel of some 250 tons and carried 15-17 crew members. ( Survey report 6801 summarizing Adm. 68/195, 156v, and other data in Adm. 68/194 and /196, found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia;
A letter of Carter's to Dawkins May 12, 1732,
refers to "your ship Bailey." as does a letter of August 10, 1733, from Carter's executors to Dawkins. [ Lloyd T. Smith, Jr., ed.
The Executors' Letters of Robert Carter of Corotoman, 1732-1738.
(Irvington, VA: Foundation for Historic Christ Church, 2010) p. 76].
)
[6] 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.
)
[7] Augustine Smith (1666-1736) the "son of Col. Lawrence Smith, of Gloucester county, and York Town." He lived in Spotsylvania County where he is usually referred to as "Gent." in records. He was a noted surveyor who accompanied Alexander Spotswood on the Golden Horseshoe Exploratory expedition. "Spotswood also strengthened and expanded the colony's western frontier by leading an expedition
in the summer of 1716 across the Blue Ridge Mountains and down into the Shenandoah Valley. He claimed these lands for the king, and in the 1730s the area was settled as a buffer against French and Indian aggression.." (Renee Schaeffer. "Augustine Smith Tidbits";
Harrison. Landmarks. . . .
, 223, 590, 627; and Alexander Spotswood" in Encyclopedia Virginia
. )
[8] William Byrd II (1674-1744) of "Westover," Charles City County, was educated in England and at the Middle Temple. He was a burgess, Council member, Receiver General, and three times the agent for the colony in England. (See the sketch of him in Tinling. The Correspondence of the Three William Byrds. . . .
pp. 195-202.
)
[9] Philip Smith was sheriff of Northumberland County in 1723-1724. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . .
, 4[1721-1739]: 34,67.
)
This text, originally posted in 2006, was revised February 12, 2016, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.