Robert King Carter's Correspondence and Diary

   A Collection Transcribed
        and Digitized
   by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.


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Electronic Text Center , University of Virginia Library


Summary

AMs

Robert Carter Diary, 1726

     Robert Carter records his suffering with gout, the work being done on his plantations, the prevailing winds and other weather, visitors he received including members of his family, family weddings and births, trips to Williamsburg and the sums he spent while there, the death and funeral of Governor Hugh Drysdale and his assumption of the post of acting governor of the colony, arrival of ships with goods and letters from Britain, movement of tobacco and other crops from his outlying farms on his sloops, the loading of tobacco on ships bound for Britain, and frequent trips to his farms and mill.



Robert Carter Diary, 1726


-folio 35 recto -

[Kept at "Corotoman" on the Rappahannock River, Lancaster County, Virginia]

      January 1 [1726] I went to Captain Lawrence Store very cold Stood a
great while on the Sand eat heartily bread & Cheese dra nk
a bottle Southam 2 or 3 glasses white wine began to be
lame I came home
2d rise very well was Lame when I came out of my
Coach received the Com [ission?] grew lamer the Gout in my
left foot had an uneasier night rise twice my
Pain in my left foot somewhat better drank water had a
pretty good Night
3d rise easy a little Lame eat no breakfast but
Coffee eat Venison drank some wine Southam
afterwards water in the Night more uneasy the
day before my Goods from Lawrence Landed
4 rise pretty well eat nothing drank Coffee Robin
his wife [and her mother] E [lizabeth] Churchill came home brought my Letters
from Keiling & Cobb eat stewed Chicken Turkey drank
wine Southam [cyder] had a very uneasy r night got n [ot]
to sleep till near 4 slept until almost 9 rise pr [etty] [well]
but Lame
5 drank Coffee eat nothing mr Steptoe here & [r . . .]
Eat Peas drank Water some Southam [cyder] sat up late had a ni [. . .]
rise twice
6 smart frost W [ind] northwest clear had an easy day grow w [. . .]
Eat a little 12th Cake sat up until 12 drank 3 or 4 Gla [sses wine]
had a uneasy Night sharp weather wind Blows [hard?]
sent Charles Coachman to Piankatank [River . . .]



-folio 35 verso -


January 8th 1725/6

my Goods from Keiling came this morning
mr McNeal Captain McCrag came here I drank Coffee in
the morning Eat Peas stewed Chick [en] drank several Glasses wine
at Night drank part of a bottle cider my foot swelled grow very
lame had a bad Night can hardly walk had a Sorer pain
above my ankle
8 very lame can hardly hobble rise at Sunrise W [ind] SW last
Night Lawrence men brought my sloop home had my flat into
Corotoman [Creek] Captain Keiling here we played until 11 my
ankle very much swelled & very stiff had a bad night
9 rise pretty easy but so lame could not go to Church
continued all day my ankle & toe swelled at night very
Painfull went to bed slept until near one got upon abun
dance of pain sat up an hour slept until 1/2 an hour after
3 in a great deal of pain fell a sleep again slept until
seven easy swelling a little abated rise after 8
10 very lame was forced to get a gout slipper & larger
Stocking can hardly Set my foot to the ground
hobble about wth a Crutch drank Coffee in the morning Saing
came here Eat fre [sh] barley drank Some whey went to
bed after 10 slept until five my right foot Complains
my left Contiues very full of pain & swelled my
pain chiefly above my Ankle
11 a rainy morning W [ind] at northeast. pretty warm a good
Season I was pretty easy all this [omission in text] [day] drank Coffee
at 2 Clock eat a piece plum Cake at dinner Eat a
little Barley that was very much heightened
with wine &c drank a great deal of Sack
Whey
played wth Savage my foot very mu [ch]
swelled went to bed in a great deal of
pain from 12 to 3 was upon a rack wth
great difficulty got to the fire after 3
fell asleep Slept until 8 W [ind] came to northwest
12 was pretty easy all this day Thomas Edwards
C [harles ] Grymes came here played until almost
12 Clock my foot very much swelled was
taken wth a pain [in] my Side held me 2 hour
could not Sleep used hot Cloths it removed in
to my Stomach very oppressive to my
breath Eat hominy this day drank some ci
der & water & some water after
[I] paid off Monsieur Arigo today his ball
[a] nce was 14/5/3 I gave him 19£ Cash the
[rema] ind [e] r for his Journey to Philadelphia
[We?] parted very easily I took Physick at 5
[Wind at] northwest blew hard rise at 9 pretty Eas [y]
[free?] of the Pain in my Side



-folio 36 recto -


January 1725 6

14 I continue pretty easy all day my
foot very much swelled had an untoward Night
a pain above my right ankle mr MacNeal
had six hogs 6 bushell of Peas [omission in text] Salt I eat
for my dinner Peas a wing of a Chicken 1/2 dozen
fried Oysters had a very uneasy Night
15 rose very much out of order headache Qua
ling the Pain in my right ankle much
less my swelling in my right foot abated
I sent a warrant to Parson Scott for 3000
Acres of Land in K [ing] G [eorge] & Stafford Yesterday
gave a lease to John Bell for 150 Acres
L [ewis] Burwells Land after drinking Coffee
was very easy r rain in the morning after
a fine warm calm Sunshine day Eat
Chocolate drank several cider Night very un [easie?] [omission in text]
Swelling continued mr Lee here played
until 11 Stagg here
16 Sunday snowed did not go to Church
P [hilip] Smith came home sat until 11 very
easy swelling continues rise in the
Night Eat nothing but Chocolate &
Toast & butter
17 Swelling abated in the morning d
rank Coffee Eat toast butter drink small
beer Edwards 2 Fleets Turvervile wen [t]
in my boat to the Oyer & Terminer [court]
received Letters from Mr.Stark 24 October dates
snowed Yesterday hard frost last Nigh [t]
cold this morning W [ind] northwest not hard
W [illiam] Strother came here sat up until 11 drank small beer
had an easier Night swelling abates daily
18 rainey Fleets went away early, rained Edwards Smith
went away wrote to Savage Carter Dade Linton Eat
Chocolate Peas drank small beer sat up until 11
easy slept well
19 Signed conditions wth Strother he went away
gave him my note for his Salary paid him 5 [£?]
for Richard Haynes cold raw cloudy day Changed [ . . . ]
Gouty Slipper swelling very little
20 Major Eskridge came here Snow cloudy W [ind] West [ . . . ]
& Garland here Signed Conditions wth [Richard] Meeks settled Accots
21 Captain Morrison came here wth Colonel Pages [boy?]
22 Eskridge & Morrison here wrote fo[r . . . ]
Perry sent to my Daughter [ . . . ]


-folio 36 verso -


January 20 1725 [1726]

My Son Robert Negroes went away
21 Meeks went away cold cloudy Snowy weather
22 bitter Snowy Weather W [ind ] north & to the eastward
23 Sunday Eskridge went away bitter frosty cloud [y]
weather my Family with Captain Morrison went
to Church no body there continues cloudy hard
frost W [ind] north
24 Sent Colonel Page boy over the river frosty cloudy
calm killed the last of my hogs my Swelling quite
gone I walk strong at [omission in text] Dr Edgar came here
25 Cloudy frosty calm W [ind] northwest
26 continues cloudy cold frosty W [ind] W
I signed H[enry] Lees Deed also Murphews
escheat warrant Matty had a pound Coffee
this day is to last 21 days
27 last night my Sloop went away for
mr Hamiltons Goods to Wiccomoco
a calm cool morning w [in] d So [uth] wrote to
Major Eskridge Meeks sent away Mur
phews warrant of escheat Henry Lees Deed
28 fine frosty Morning walked in my slippers
to the Old house W [ind] southeast fresh Gale Captain
Morrison went away
Tully tells me Captain Lawrence had 380 foot
of Plank Denis & T [homas] West had [omission in text] Peter
brot home my runaway Captain Woodward arri
v [e] d & came ashore with Biscoe brought my letters
from Captain Hyde & Landon
29 a fine day W [ind] west began Falconars
Tea Mat [ty] had 1/2 pound Sent mrs Seaton 3 pisto [les]
weighd 3/5/7 1/2 the ball [ance] of her Ferry
Accot:
30 I went to Church first time after my Gout
Friday last 28 W [illiam] Waugh found dead near
the road coming home from Captain Pin
kards

31 a very cold day W [ind] northwest I read Turnrs
Lettrs
about an Escheat
[Fe] bruary 1 W [ind] west cold clear came to southwest warmer
2 W [ind] southeast weather variable came to southeast
4 Sloop go t [sic ] to Urbanna
[Captain H] ale arrived I went aboard bought 9 Ser
[vants?] [I am] to pay 2,000 for Tradesmen 3 15£ for
[ . . . ] Captain Lawrence here


-folio 37 recto -


February 4 1725 [1726]
















                                                                                            Portion of a page from Carter's 1725[26] diary

Lawrence had my Sloop out of the
Creek had a new Cable new sails new
Hall [iar] ds tackle &c
Daughter Page sent me 2 pols [sic ] butter
by Peter Robin & his wife went yesterd [ay]
to mr Edwards Captain Woodward removed
to Corotoman [Creek]
mr Stagg came about 1 o'clock Charles
bad wth the tooth ache Sam brought home
my horse last Night & Letters from Meeks &c
5 my Son mr Stagg went aboard Woodward
to taste some wine for mr Wormeley
came back Colonel Grymes wth them
6 my flat set them over [the river] very cold
W [ind] nrth Doctor Edgar here my two Ne
groes from Ragged point went aw [ay]
Saturday wth Dumeries their Overseer
Monday morn Tully came here
7 began to hoe a piece Ground for a Nur
sery Edgar had 15 shillings
James Bryan had a note for a bushel
Salt on meeks Tully went about pun
cheons
my Carts came home Bunting
did not work until 10 Clock Winder makes
sorry Weeding hoes Birch has pretended
Sickness 2 days frost left his work
at Noon has cut his Shin
mr Ja [mes] Reid here.
9 was at Court Colonel Tarpley promised to pay me
my Tobo in these parts
10th at Night Sawney came here with Letters
by the Burwell
11 I write to Colonel Page sent him back the UB Jnos [sic ]
Doctor Edgar had 16 shillings & 5 before
14 I delivered mr Richard Lee Shapleys Protest £5: [ . . . ]
2 gallons rum 2 pounds sugar to William Martin for mrs Cook ['s]
funeral went aboard Woodward Choice his win [e . . . ]
got home about 9 cold southeast wind
15 gave my Son Charles 1 pistole [ . . . ]
30 shillings Cash his milled 1/2 Crown [ . . . ]


-folio 37 verso -



February 1725/6

15 gave out 1 pound Coffee to begin tomorr [ow]
1/2 pound Tea, my Son Charles goes to York
17 I send Captain Carter 6 1/2 gallons rum 6 pound sugar
I gave out to Gumby 3 broad Chessels to frost 1 bro [ad]
Chessel 1 Scribing ditto, fine weather W [ind] north geese flock
together mightily very Noisy first Lamb the
12th of the month 1 ewe brought 2 awhile & a black
I go to measure the Corn first time since
W [illiam] Waughs death the 28th he measured the
Corn the Tuesday before the 25th I measured
Just 12 barrels Indian Corn had got to the [omission in text ]
17th about 2 o'clock & 3 pecks of Wheat from the
Mill I went to the Office Conners has not yet
finished prizing 1 has not Top to fill another
must fill it up wth his 2ds I have ordered him to
mark it I saw his Mare hankering about the
quarters has no Calves
signed Conditions with Tully he hath
done the Puncheons 2,000 & Odd goes Away
to Blough Point gave a warrant to Andrew Hutcheson for
Land on Salisbury Plain Run mrs You
ng
Lame several days never comes out
of her Chamber
Andrew Hutcheson brings me a Letter about some Land from
Meeks I send him no warrant as yet wrote him the
reason fine calm weather
19 Sam Jones brings me a Bass Has a bottle
rum owes me another Bass
Thomas Seddon comes from Stafford about Lan [d]
12 Lambs this day six already dead
foggy rainy morn very warm mrs
Young keeps her Chamber
21 mrs Young abroad, a cool day W [ind] east I went to H
Kellys
drew his Tobo found it basely handled
corrected him for it he promised to pick out the
[b] ad reckons upon 4 prized hogsheads came home
[in] the Night found mr Harrison & his wife
[at] my house
[several?] gentlemen came here I wrote Strother Savage
Bell [this?] day wind north Alice Phillis came
[Letter fr] om Henry Hickes came Complains
[ . . . ] brought [this?] because he will not
[ . . . ] my [ . . . ]


-folio 38 recto -


Febry 24 1725/6

Sent away by Newgent 3 Deeds to Capt
Strother
13 ditto to mr James Carter
Newgent had 6/3 of me -- a fine day
I went to the Store wth mr Harrison & Robin
my sloop wth Gregory came from mr
McNeal this night
25 hazy morn W [ind] southwest cold dry 23 lambs
February 4th at Night Gregory delivered mr Hamilton ['s]
Goods 5th Went into mr McNeals Employ
Two days Thomas Frost hat [h] been upon his ow [n]
Inventions did no work lay out all nigh [t]
no body knew where he was gone
mr Stagg did not come this time
28 my Sloop came from Captain Lawrenc [e]
goes into Captain Keilings Employ
my Three Ser [vants] Sent away wth the Sloop
March 1st Cornelius McGuire Henry Ca [ter]
Robert Pellit a rainy day I went to Cook ['s]
appraisement had done before I came
carried a gallon rum [omission in text] sugar Lime Jui [ce]
1 quart wine spent it & left it all there
2 signed deeds with Rust for his Land on
Occaquan write to Colonel Mason Mary
Sheild Turberville Eskridge Carter
W [ind] southeast fine day rained all night
3 Cloudy W [ind] northwest Captain [omission in text] Sent my Goods home my
servant Talent discovered to me his Marriage I gave to
[Captain] Cants men a bottle rum had an uneasy Night
have been very much oppressed these 3 days
took Andersons Pills this morning in the Night
a humour falls on my Eyes generally with the head
ache cant Sleep above 4 or 5 hours in 24
4 gave a note to Thomas Heneag on Accot of John Tully to
Captain Carter for six pound
Colonel Ball &c here Gregory dispatched away
first for Captain Lawrence then to Nomini
had a very uneasy Night went not to Sleep until [ . . . ]
5 a fine day calm I sent per Gregory 29 gallons r [um]
to mr Meeks on his own Accot the Secretary & [family?] came he [re]
7 Came here mr Turbervile here Colonel Lomax [here]
8 mr Harrison went away my Pinna [ce takes?]
them down to mr Churchill I le [nt?]
Morgan 40 Shillings [ . . . ] ill [ . . . ]



-folio 38 verso -


March 8 1725/6

my Daughter Mary went away with
her sister Harrison I gave Mary 20 shillings I
gave my daughter Harrison 2 guineas
for her daughters
9 Colonel Lomax came went to Machens in
my Barge a rainy day I went to [Lancaster County] Court
in my Barge my Sons with me we
at Pines on Woodward s
entertainment
my servants Richard Talent Elizabeth his wife Arthur
Neal Charles [sic ] Sullivan bound for six years
I became payment to McNeal for Dun
lavy 20£ Sterling Dunlavy confessed a
Judgment to me 40£ on condition
on payments the said 20£ with Interest in 18
months his Son as a further Security bo
und to me as a further Security for
2 years Service
Theophilus Wills servant confessed himself no Gar
diner the court adjudged him to have
no Wages Wills himself owned before
the Court the thought he had no right
to Wages.
10 a rainy night W [ind] Shifted to northwest
a cloudy raw morning Captain Aug
Washington
here wrote to Colonel Lomax my
thoughts of their difference wrote to Savage about it
11 Colonel Grymes came here lent my flat [boat] to Den
lavy to fetch his things over
Jack Ashley here settled An Accot gave him
a note to the Store he went away the 12th
wrote to Strother Major Robinson
14 Colonel Page had 10 bushels Salt Captain Bow
man came in had 10 Weeks Passage
my wine came ashore
mr Richard Lee had Russels note on John Hud [na]
ll for 2070 pounds Tobo endorsed W Strother to put
[ . . . ] the hands of Perry or Fallin to rece
[ . . . ] ttles sent t [o Ma] jr Robinson


-folio 39 recto -


March 17 1725/6

Colonel Page my Son &c went away Robin went wth
them the Smith went with them my boy
George went for the college Garton brought me a
Bass Colonel Grymes went away has my orders
on Travers Downman for 1990 pounds Tobacco
Garton had a quart rum a pair shoes he ows me another
Bass I gave George 5 shillings milled 1/2 Crown to Mann
18 went to Denis staked out an Orchard
came home in the Night W [ind] northwest
19 W [ind] east cold Accot wth Charles Jones gave him note
for his Ball [ance] after he had 2 quarts rum
brot 6 bottles into the Closet
mr Stagg my Son Robert came over the river
about 12 I went to the Store 5 Lambs there
19 James Bryan begins about Second kiln Charles Cleph [ans]
-- --
4 Calves at Old house 1 died last Night
12 at Indian Town 1 wthout a dam
6 Calves at Changlins 16 lambs
6 Calves at Wolf [sic ] house 7 Lambs was
8 1 died to day
3 Calves at Corotoman 8 Lambs
8 Calves at Hills 9 Lambs 42 Lambs at
home this day gave out a pound Coffee to Ma [tty]
Yesterday began to rub myself
This day was the first I see the Martins
This day I went to Captain Smiths mr
22 Gee went with me we began to
dig Trees & make holes
19 a warm morning Bunting the
new bricklayer went out a Sund [ay]
morn came not home until mond [ay]
in the Night I charge Bunting for
this elopement 7/6 carrying away
my People wth him the Coachman
went away wth the spindle &c for Nom
ini
came home in the Night -- --
22 149"15"11 sterling my debt from Cook
makes Currency at 15 percent 172"5" [ . . . ]
Thomas Sedden has been 3 times with m [e since]
Christmas from the falls by Land Ayed [ . . . ]


-folio 39 verso -


[Ma] r [ch] 24 1725 [26]

had done Planting Trees at Old Plantat [ion]
l726
25 mr Gee went over the river James Withers
came here went away Saturday wrote
to Savage Strother
James Thomas came here went away Satur
day sent my two warrants wth him
28 a fine morn I was very much gripped
last night had eaten some shift Bacon
Turnip Tops plentifully a wing of a C
hicken some Clary Pancake some
mutton drank severa l Glasses of madeira
wine l glass Claret was in great
pain threw up some of my victuals
took E prop some Vol drops was
cold had my bed warmed slept until
12 waked very uneasy hot a low
quick pulse low spirits could hardly
breathe read the book of Esther we
nt to Sleep after taking And [erson's] pills
slept until 7 waked pretty easy Captain
Gale went away at 12 my Physic
worked 4 times drank Coffee & gr [een]
tea in the morn Eat stewed Mutt [on]
& bro [th] at Dinner drank nothing
My brick kiln fired this morning
my Chimneys Swept
29 Captain Watkinson arrived in the Night brought
my Letters from mr Pemberton &c
30 Came mr Keith from Williamsburg & Sam
Doctor Nicholas man from my Sons Letters gives
me Accot of his wife's delivery of a Son
31 Wind at southwest blew so hard Keith could
[n] ot go over the river I went to the brick house
[A]p [ri] l l 1 a fine day W [ind] at southwest Keith went away
[ . . . ] ay half penny if he likes him he is
[to pa] y me 20£ for him by hnn Jansd [sic ]
[began to write?] Letters I began to take Tincture of [omission in text]
                                                            yesterday



-folio 40 recto -


Ap [ri] l 2d 1726

rainy a Season At Night Shut up my
kiln of Bricks Mr Grymes came at Nigh [t]
wth the governor's Letters I was very Ailing all day
a Sunday my Son Robert came home brot
me Letters from Eliot Lomax an Accot
of 3 Negroes dead at Pewmond's End
4 mr Grymes major Fitzhugh McCarty wen [t]
away he paid me 10£ Cash toward his quit Rents
Lawrence on Settling Accots paid me 11/10
I paid for John Tully 20 shillings sterling
I gave to Major Fitzhugh for John Warner
a pistole [e] Captain Belfield came here I paid him
5 Major Eskridge came here he promises to Settl [e]
an Accot with me & to pay me off in a little
time talks of a heavy hogshead Tobo to pay my quit Rents &c
6 a Cold day W [ind] west blew hard I went to the Hills
the Mill Buckles Wolf house Changlins India [n Town]
ordered Pursell hands from 4 Quarters to
finish Gregorys Corn field came home
after sunset was terriby afflicted wth &c
7 a Cold morning W [ind] west I was somewhat Easie [r]
slept well went to Denis Crowder Blough poin [t]
11 hogsheads at [Thomas] West 8 at Crowder 4 at Denis
8 Gregory came home last [night] came from Coles
Point
26th ultimo was forced into St Marys
lay there [omission in text] days brought home 3 tubs butter
Meeks Weight no 4.65.5.62.6:66 Old iron
239 pounds 104 bushels Salt a hogshead Beans a hogshead Peas 8 --
flitches Bacon Cask cider 57 hogsheads Tobbo.
the same day sent Gregory away aboard of Keiling
with aforesaid Tobo & 9 hogsheads more Friday night my
boat fetched mr Stagg over a Saturday he Taught here
10th Easter day mr Bell preached an excellent Serm [on]
the greatest number of Communicants that
ever I saw my kiln fired the day before
11 very warn went to the Kiln met Gil Met
calf there my Sloop returned from Keiling
12 a warm day prepare for town
13 I deliverd to Thomas Berry two notes Henr [y]
Rydr for 450 pounds Tobo John Moreheads for [ . . . ]
Joseph Gregory goes away for Fleets ba [y]
mr Berry promises 12 000 [pounds in ?] 12 h [ogsheads to]
be prized 9 of them now 2 [ . . . ]


-folio 40 verso -


Ap [ri] l 15 1726
I carry to Town wth me Gold -- -80/ -- / --
Spanish silver     16/ -- / --
milled money     14/ -- / --

some Gold & silver in my pocket
This day dispatched Hust, Conner Tob Pursel
Murphy. Bryan wrote to Strother James Carter
Meeks several others
The Carter arrived the 17th April got to Anchoring
the 18 [th]
I was sick at Colonel Pages until the 24 went to Town
on Monday 25th returned to Colonel Pages 6 May
got home the 9th at Night see another book
of particulars in my being abroad -- --
May 10 a fine day Ordered Washing my Sheep Put
on thinner clothes left off my waist Coat I went aboard
th [e] Carter
11 I went to the earth digging at the Church Ordered Bun
ting
away
I paid to George Yerby 40 shillings on Accot of Tully by a
note on Captain Carter
12 I brought home wth me in my bag 10/12 shillings current
2/12/6 milled money [symbol in text]
13 Gregory came home last Night brought 53 hogsheads
of my Crops from falls 8 hogsheads Nathaniel Burwell 8 hogsheads Henry Lee [sic ]
I weighed all my own tobacco 8 hogsheads Came ashore
2 from Red Oak of 3 damaged l from
Poplar damaged I took great heaps of dirt
out of the hogshead the red Oak Tobo wretched thin
piebald Stuff covered with Yellow mold very
high Case
14 Joseph Gregory came home from the Carter he
Carried 70 hogsheads on board 8 Henry Lee 8 ditto
Nathaniel Burwell 54 hogsheads of my own tobacco 40 marked
[tobacco mark] 14 marked [tobacco mark]
6 a rainy day Ralph Page Major
[E] skridg Captain Walls went away I received
[fro] m Alexander Hamiltons men 9 dozen & l
[bo] ttles of Hock alias Rhenish [wine]


-folio 41 recto -


May 17 1726

Robin christened his Daughter Eliza Godfathers
Charles Carter & Phi [llip] Smith Godmother [s] Eliza [beth]
Churchill Mary Carter I gave to mrs Falconar
the Midwife for Charles & Mary Carter a pistole [e] [e]
18 Cold Cloudy day we have Planted & replan
ted most of our Crops
19 cold in the morning Sent my Mares away I went
aboard Captain Denton Agreed to Sell his Negroes
I am to [have] Sixteen or 20 2 [/] 3ds men at 20£ per head I am
to draw 10 percent on the Sale for Commission to make good all
debts in this manner if any of the Bills of exchange will
not be paid the Protests are to be returned to me
I am to give new bills for the Principal the
Protests to be mine he is to run into Coroto [man Creek]
there to lie for the Sale I am to be at no man
ner of Charge all to be charged to the Owner
21 I began the Sale 32 went off this day
23 sold 13:24th 11 in all 56 3 of them for tobacco
Thomas Berry ows me 5 shillings Simon Sallard owes me 40 shillings sterling
I trust Gregory with a large Negro Girl he is
to give me his Bond to pay me Sixteen Pounds
sterling with Interest until the money is paid
I trust to Thomas Carter for 24 shillings Sterling I am to
Stop so much out of his Crop.
24 I sold a boy to William Edwards a boy he pays 16£ for him
a note for 8/7 shillings Sterling on mr Pain the rest to be
as followeth --
25 I set out for Town carry the following money
gold 16"15 shillings Spanish 9 1/2 guineas in my Pocket som [e]
gold 33 Shillings silver, in the ginny bag 25£
current money wanting 3 shillings -15 pence
June 8 I got home at Night
9 Tully gives me Accot of Six Thousand foot Inch
& 1/4 Pine Plank sawed at mr Fleet in his waste
ground in his Corn field 15 Trees 28 Stocks
10 My Sawyers & Tully go away to Nomini
12 Sunday Tom Frost gets Burch Wills Mooney to tak [e]
a Boat Frost & Wills launched the Boat aboard [a]
Barbadoes man they got drunk coming ash [ore]
Mooney jumped overboard sank right dow [n]
& not seen any more
13 Monday Thomas Frost looked at the frame [but]
did no work John Grymes had Colonel Page [ . . .]
& Six Bottles came here from Major Rob [inson ?]



-folio 41 verso -


June 14th 1726

Thomas Frost not at work I went out wth my son
Charles to all the home quarters & to Kellys Coopers Eat my
Dinner at the brick house got home after Dark
15 was at the Mill blough Point Crowders Deniss'
got home after dark
16 a rainy day was at Church to hear a fun [era]l Sermon
no body there cleared up at Night
17 Joseph Gregory came from the falls 22 hogsheads
Crop Tobo1 from Harrolds 1 from Chews
1 from Skrines 7 from B [enjamin] Robinsons 17
from Peumds End 1 from Occupation
20 1 Cask Peas from HB
lent Captain Denton a horse to Wiccocomoco
Let Cooks Children have some Lin [?] &c took
Bond of Edmunds Yerby Flower settled wth poor
Sent Burch Manuel to Changlins, Single
Thorp Camble to the Indian Town
18 Gregory went aboard the Carter wth 54 hogsheads
20 [tobacco mark] 23 [tobacco mark] 11 2 for the Secretary
Sold a Negro Girl to Barret for 2400 pounds tobacco
21 Gregory goes his voyage to Stafford was prodi [gi]
ous drunk when he went away we had a Vestry
this day for Appointing Counters
23 I go to Town carry with [me] 5 pistols 2 moydrs
a doubloon [sic ] 1/19 shillings in silver Captain Balls Captain
Lees pistoles for the Governor's Clerk
I lay at Colonel Page that Night went to Town the 24th
in company with Grymes Randolph met in Coun
cil in the Capitol at 4 Clock sat until past Sun
set adjourned to Saturday morning the 25th about
10 Clock Governor met us in the Council Chamber
Sat until 3 adjourned to 6 met at the Governor's house
after sunset Jenings Suspended the Governor
proposed this Currt half Years Salary for my
Lord Orkney & himself to be signed by the Presid [ent]
[a] s usually designed to be done by Orders of Council
[O] pposed a great heat ensued [t] he Orders made
[ . . . ] se at ten Clock past at my Offering to take my
[ . . . ] he swore he was not gone yet he would Stay
[ . . . ] Consequence be what it would if his Do
[ . . . ] answered so we parted Sunday morn



-folio 42 recto -


June 26 1726

I prepared in the morning to Come away
Coaches ready come [s] mr Grymes to me tells
me the Governor had sent for him when he returned
told us we were stopped the Governor would have a Coun
cil monday morning to take of [f] Jenings Susp
ension after him comes Robinson Summons us
to be at Council next morning Expresses sent after Colonel
Ludwell Coll Digges to fetch them to this Council
Grymes & I had mighty disputes at last I took Coach
waited on the Governor we soon came to a reconci [li]
alition of the terms the Summons were recinded
& the Council were discharged I took my leave
of the Governor & the Commissary we got to Colonel
Pages about 3 Clock I lay there that night came
from Colonel Page 1/2 hour after 9 reacht Seatons
by 12 Machins by 3 got home at 6 the Pertic [ula] rs
of these Councils see in another place At
Town &c I paid away the following Sums
to Mrs. Sullivan a pistole I received the change Paid
To the Governor's Clerk 3 pistoles for Belfield Ball Charles
Lee
sheriff's Commissions
to Wilkinson in part pay for his Care of mr
Burwells
Familys a doubloon & pistol
£5/8/1 1/2
I gave money to mr Rand [olph ?] mr Holloway Colonel Pages
Coachmen
27 I got home as before next day And until the
July 1st no remarkables Charles 4 Cows & Calves
from Thomas Wests, 4 ditto from Denis Syllava [n] s Doctor
Nicholas
here he paid me 30 shillings for James Whaley from
P Parkinson I delivered m [r] Peryasons bill
July 2 Robin & his [family] went to Colonel Wormeleys he had
of me £5 Cash
4 I sent my boat to Colonel Churchills for my
Daughter Mary Charles Coachman to Mill for Ind [ian] [corn]
5 I & my Son Charles went to Middlesex Court Ald [e] n
paid me 2/5 Cash Seager promised me to meet
me at Lancaster Court & give me a new Bond
6 began to Write my Invoices finished th [e]
Accot for the John & Betty took a Vomit of 25 G[rams]
Ypoco & 2 gr[ams] Tartar Em [etic] 2 Vomits spontan [eous]
2 more forced 5 stools had an easy Night
7 Continued upon my Invoices paid to [Mr.]
Edgar £ 3 Cash



-folio 42 verso -


July 8 1726

bought 15 barrels tar 7 barrels Pitch paid 15 shillings
for the Pitch 8 shillings for the ta r £ll/5/0
paid to Captain Smith for his Trees £10/12/ --
I took ashore from mr Sinnot a pipe of Captain May
nards wine the price not settled he asked 18£ Cash
I would give but Sixteen he went away called
at my house as he came down offered to put
the pipe ashore & only take receipt I consented
so took the pipe ashore wrote to Captain Maynard
that I expected to pay but sixteen Pounds
9th
11 Lee Hamilton Pinkard went away wrote to Colonel
Lomax mr Strother to buy me some Salt of [f] the
Bermudas Sloop had an Examination of [ . . . ] ec
Johnson Sarah Newton Lee Turberville bound
them over to Court
mrs Young told me her time was up she offers
to Stay until I can provide myself
Harry Quarry came in 20 January 1719 serves 2 years
6 months 3 weeks after his Indented time will be
free the 11th of August only Serving for the canoe after [that]
he brought me the orders of Court from mr Edwards
At the old house Plants told by the Counters 125 ,000
270 [,000]
At Indian Town Counted 12600 & 12 ,000 odd hundred
15/11/3 Currency Gave Captain Denton my exchange
19th at Night my Sloop home no Sheets to the foresail
but 2 Oars to my flat [boat] Mate Dove says She had no
more
21 I let James Bryan have 35 shillings
22 I received G Hamiltons Exchange for 6/13/4 for my
Sloops carrying his Goods from Wiccocomo
Colonel Page sends Sawny for my Boat
23 6 Clock Colonel Ludwells Express came wth the Accot
of the Governor's Death after 2 the morning before
of a pleurisy Dr Blair mr Holloway to take
Care of the Funeral appointed on Tuesday I
sent my Boat for Colonel Page with L [udwell's] Lettrs
wrote to L [udwell] . B [everley] . D [igges] . C [arter] of the Council also to
mr Robertson H. B -- v took H [ugh] Brents Exc [hange] 4 shillings [ . . . ]
Doctor of [the] Carter died this morning my Sons
Express came 2 hours after Colonel L[udwell]s I answered It by
[the] messengers
[Capt] n Graves came ashore stayed until 28 I took
[bills of] Lading Settled an Accot 26 gave him
[ . . . ] 26th mr Rob [er] tson came here 25


-folio 43 recto -


July 27th 1726

25th wrote to the Duke of New Castle Principa [l]
Secretary of State also to the Right Hon [ora] ble
the board of Trade & to notify the death
of the Governor &c See the Copys
gave to Odars Wife 20 shillings
while mr Robertson was here appointed a Coun
cil to meet on Monday 1st of August he wrote
Circular Letters to the gentlemen of the Council.
29 a great rain fell towards day Captain Mansel Trevi
sa in the Mansel arrived here from Antigua
Colonel Armistead Major Churchill &c here Settl [ed]
an Accot wth Colonel Armistead he paid me by
Debts due to Colonel Berkeley & himself from mr
Burwells
Estate --
30 Saturday I went from home in Compa [ny] wth
Colonel Page we reached his house before sunset
31 went to Church dined went to Williamsburg
got there before Dusk went into Company
drank a bottle wine
August 1 very uneasy a great many gentlemen
came to see me Colonel Ludwell did not come
at 2 Clock went to Council took the proper
Oaths Ordered a Proclamation to Continue
all in their Offices I gave the Council Dinner
after Settled the ceremony of the funeral
Sent a Message by mr Holloway to Condole mrs
Drysdale to know how she did & to know
when she would allow herself to be visited
I would wait on her if she pleased
2d we met in Council mr Grymes proposed
a Message of condolence which was readily
agreed to be be Carried by mr H [olloway] & mr Bl [ai] r they
were ordered to Acquaint her she was welcome
to Stay in the house while her Occasions req
uired mr [Richard] Hickman was ordered to take Care of
the house & Gardens when mrs Drysdale
left It The Funeral began at 3 the Council
had Gloves Rings & scarves the Council h [eld?]
up the pall from the house to the [hearse ?]
then walked after to the Church through the Militia the [ . . . ]
the Guns a zound while we way to t [ . . . ]


-folio 43 verso -


August l726

2 when we came to the churchyard the Coffin
was taken out of the hearse the Council took hold
of the pall and went by the Coffin to the body of
[the church] there [it] was Set we went to our Pew mr Le Neve
preached the Sermon his Text 57 Isiah 1st verse
perish & no man layeth it to heart merciful men &c
The righteous are taken away &c
signed a Proclamation for Continuing all Officrs
in their Posts signed 27 more afterwards signed a
Lettr to the board of Trade to accompany duplicates
signed several blanks signed a sheriff's commission for Gloucester
4 Visited mrs Drysdale she promised to deliver
mr Robertson all public Papers 5th Sent for my boys
                                                            saw mrs Stith &c
6 just as I was coming out of Town, mrs Drysdale sends me
a Letter enclosing Sir Robert Walpoles Letters to Lord Ork
ney
recommending Colonel Drysdale to Succeed Colonel
Spotswood
also a Letter from H [orace] Walpole to Colonel Drus [sic ]
desiring his Favor in behalf [of] mr Leheup to Succeed mr
Carter in the Agency of the country I wrote her a
Short Answer & came away lay at Colonel Pages that
Money pd & given aw
Night & Sunday went to Church heard mr Richards his
Subject Sincerity or Simplicity the words And
Jesus saw Natha &c
@8 Came to Coll Pag Seatons in Colonel Pages Coach had his horses
to Rappahannock got home at sunset in Machens
Boat very sick at Night Doctor Nicholas came to
me at Ghants Swamp
     Money I expended in my being out

mrs Sullivans Accot 8/1/6
paid to Hacker for Doctor Blair 3/8/3
to Ditto his Taylor Accot 1/6/9
gave to Sue Cooper for Washing 0/5/-
To mr H [olloway's] Coachman /2/6
To Mrs Sullivan's servants 0/5/-
To Colonel Pages Coachman 0/2/6
To my boys about 0/4/-
To mrs Stiths Coachman 0/1/3
To mr Claytons Tom 0/1/3

Carried to Town                           14/1/9
with me Gold 40/-/-
     Cash Span [ish] 10/-/-
     Beside what in my pocket
[at ?] home in the Purse Gold -- -- 27/-/-
of Spanish money -- -- 8/-/-
[ . . . ] ket Spanish -- -- 2/1/6
[ . . . ] pistoles 1 1/2 louis d'or



-folio 44 recto -


August 9th 1726

Began cider making the 3d of this month Began Bric [k]
making the 4th of this month Richard Haynes Begins
his voyage to the falls the 1st of this month
The Carter Sailed from my house the 29 of Augst
July the 4 of July August she left the river Began
stilling the 3d of this month
10th went to Court swore to Cooks Inventory was very sick [at]
Night went to bed at 9 slept [t] ill about 2 hours then restles
all Night
11 began to take Doctor Nicholas Medicine after
1st dose very cheery eat heartily of Veal drank wine
freely Eat a small supper drank madeira Whey
had a heavy Night slept about 4 hours
12 took the Medicines again purged both days
a very bad Night did not sleep a wink until daylight
Colonel Pages Sawney came here brought the Instructions
mr Crew came here I signed Lieutenant Colonel Robins Commission
& six Blanks wrote to mr Holloway mr Robertson
paid 10 shillings this day to Thomas Carter on Accot of Thomas Winder
my Boat both fetched & Carried over mr Crew
18 was taken with a fever & Ague missed it next day
20 had a violent fit Ague very severe began 21 st
to take the bark 4 first dose purged me took Laud [anum]
no stool after until wednesday Night no more
of the fever
22 signed my Will very uneasy
23 Colonel Grymes came here 24 Settled an Accot wth him
25 mr Edwards went over the river wrote by him to
mr Robertson
Richard Haines set out for the Falls a fair wind
I gave to my granddaughter Ann Harrison Hannah's
Girl Alice my daughter carries her away wth
her
I also give to the Child my Daughter Harri
son now is ensient with Hannahs boy Aa
ron or in case of the death of such Child
to be born then to the next Child Son or
Daughter to be born of my said daughter
Harrison Aaron stays behind my Dau [gh] t [e] r
at this time until He is big enough t [o]
move
I give to my said daughter 3 1/2 pistols 30 [ . . . ]



-folio 44 verso -


September 1 1726

the Secretary came hither I had the
Gripes took Hyera Picra It wrought severely
3 mr Grymes came here
4 I took manna wrought very much I continue
very bad
8 mr Robertson came here several Letters
from Spotsylvania Justices & Grayson
9 Metcalf here I sold 21 bushels wheat received
3 louis d'ors 3/3/9 this Night Colonel Ball
here
10 Secr [etar] y & Robertson went away My daughter came
here with her husband the 7th went away 16
Stag [g] here 16 Colonel Ball was here last Saturday
18 B Churchill went away
mrs Young had Cash 10 shillings 8
24 mr John Gwynn pays me 3£/8 Sterl [ing] & owes me
2£/3 shillings /3 pence & his quit rent for 2 y [ears] 1/12/-
October mr Gwynn sent me 2/3/3 the rent mr
Carter received
October carry to Town Spanish Gold &c

     In the bag -- -- 81/5/0
      Major Eskridge purse 16l/-/-
     In my purse Span [is] h 13/5/-
     Guyneas 2
     in the bag d [itt] o 12 1/2 guinas
     in the Guinea bag Spanish 9/8/-

November 9 I got home in the Night found Robert
Jones here met my Accots from Captain Hyde
10 agreed with Tim Stamps to be my
Overseer at Richland & Threalkill to
be Overseer at mr Burwells quarter
at night came Tully & the Sawyers
an Accot of Goblin Jacks death &
of a boy named Tomboy I had many
Lettrs from the Falls hamton dead at
Pewmonds End, the Sloop 17 hogsheads of my 2 [sic ]
wheat from Strother
[o] f them came before, 1 hogshead & 16 bushels
[fro] m Burwells Quarter from Pewmonds End, 106 bushels
[ . . . ] the Sloop from Nomini [brought] 20 hogsheads shelled
[corn ?] 01 bushels Salt 4 tubs butter Dicks


-folio 45 recto -


November 10 1726

Dick quarters 82 pounds Old Ordinary 80 Me [t] calfs 50
Brents quarters 28l
15 My Sloop sailed for the falls Scandret went by with
out calling
17 mr Bagg here I went to Corotoman &c very Sick twice
in the Night 3 days ago Sent a Comm [issio] n into Staff [or] d
to h [an] g a Negro 2 days since sent a Rev [sic ] to Captain John
Jones agreed with John Williams for Poplar Hall wth
James Stark for Halls Quarter rode to Corotom [an] Wolf house Hills
18 rode to H [ugh] Kelly Coopers brick house brewed Ale
19 rode to Denis Crowders Wests
21 a cold clear day a hard wind at West
22 my Sloop Ann entered into Captain Wilsons Em
ploy this morning
The Girl Ann died last Night
Meeks sends me Accots of 2 Negroes more
dead Gowen & Joan at Dicks quarters

26 Stagg pay [s] me currency 17/11/11
   he discounts 2 pair Rump for G [eorge] C [arter] 9/0
   2 pair D [itt] o for Carter Burwell 8/0
   5 bottles Stoughton 6/3
      -- -- -- --
   received 16/ 8/8

November : 30th: I Sent away for Rippon Hall the follow=
-ing Negroes, Tom from the Indian Town & Jenny his wife
Sambo. Judy his Wife and two Children --
Nick Reeds Joe his Wife Hannah and three children
The four Negroes that came from Cooks too with
Punch. Peter and the two women also the two Children
Charles the joiner. . The two Boys. Jemmy & Stephen

19 rode to Denis Crowders Wests
Also a white hand named John Tharp, All these
people were fresh clothed & found with bedding &c


December 5 Captain Strother tells me there is in the
Sloop 9 1/2 barrels Corn & 4 barrels to receive from
Skinker 52 bushels Wheat from Normans ford
5 bushels sowed Thomas had 6 1/2 bushels
9 barrels Oxford had
7 Tubs & pots butter one half full poplar
Tallow 48 pounds Richland 47l falls quarters 70l suet & a [ . . . ]
Captain Strother gives the following Accot of the Crops
of tobacco at the several quarters Carters mount 6 prized 7 to p[rize ?]
Normans ford 9 all prized
Hinsons 7 prized 2 to prize Red Oak -- l0 -- 5 [ . . . ]
Hall & 6 prized 1 light
Richl [an] d 6 -- 2 Park -- 9 -- [ . . . ]
Burwell 6 -- 4 Poplar -- 14 -- [ . . . ]
86 hogsheads all weighty & well handled [ . . . ]


-folio 45 verso -



December 7 1726

the six beeves from the falls at my Scales
weighed 2558 Tallow 138 pounds lost of Stro [ther's]
weight 27 pounds weight of the Butter as full
vessels & all 6 Tubs 28.38.38 55.72
71.75.pots 51.45.
W [illiam] Edw [ar] ds brought home toll cloth in 8 pieces
59 3/4 yards
Young Dunlavy brought me toll Cloth in
7 pieces 36 1/2 yds of several Sorts wch I allows
him for toward his fathers Debt at the rate
of 15 pence sterling per Yard
10 I go from home toward Town Carry 24£ in gold beside
the money in my Purse Mrs Young had 4£ gold & silver
29 I got home, 21 Robin Carter went from home I let him [have]
5 pistols & 40 shillings current money
Walker brought me 20 hogs from Dicks Quarter Whaley brought me
11 from Old Ordinary Gibson brought 7 from Coles Point
22 [Princess] Amelia came in I received my Letters at Church Captain Law
rence drowned Captain Graves died some daies after he left
Virginia Major [Sir William] Gooch to be Governor
I agreed wth Morgan for Bridg & fork quarters Whaley for old Ord [inary]
Pursel for Brents
23.24 fine Calm days smart frosts at Night
my Sloop unloading her 2d Turn of wood
we have drawn in 160 Cart Load [s] wood beside round
wood
26 my Sloop went into [Captain] Bretts' Employ
28 comes D [uke] Newcastles mr Leheup's mr
Commissary &c Lettrs
I let Ed Kirk have 20 shillings Cash
31 I had 2 Guineas from Captain Conway for
the Lawyers H [olloway] R [andolph] .



NOTES



Source copy consulted: Robert Carter Diary, 1722-1728, Robert Carter Papers, Acc. No. 3807, Albert H. Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.



[1] Lawrence commanded the Princess Amelia . When the ship arrived the next year, Carter would note in his diary on December 22, 1726, that "Captn Lawrence drownd."

[2] Southam is a type of English cyder. See Carter's letter to Weymouth merchant Edward Tucker June 28 & July 25, 1737.

[3] This footnote eliminated.

[4] Elizabeth (Armistead) Wormeley Churchill was Robert Carter's sister-in-law through her sister, his first wife. Judith Armistead. Elizabeth married first Ralph Wormeley (1650-1701), and then William Churchill (1649/50-1710) of "Bushy Park," Middlesex County. Her daugher Priscilla married Robert Carter II.

[5] Captain William Keiling commanded the Betty. ( Survey Report 6800, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia )

[6] A Captain John Cobb would command the Willis , a ship of 300 tons with 20 men, in 1727-28. ( Survey Report 6801 on Adm. 68/194-5, ff. 4r, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia. )

[7] Captain John Steptoe lived on land that later (about 1778) would be known as Kilmarnock in Lancaster County. ( B. Brainard Edmonds, Kilmarnock . [Kilmarnock, Va.: Little Pebble Press, 1976] 6. )

[8] The Piankatank River lies between the Rappahannock and York rivers and was the boundary in Carter's time between Middlesex and Gloucester counties (as it is today except that Mathews County has been cut off from Gloucester.

[8.5] Sack is "a general name for a class of white wines formerly imported from Spain and the Canaries." Sack whey is a "beverage made of wine and the watery part of milk that, for example, separates from the curds in making cheese." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online and "Wit, Mirth & Spleen." Colonial Williamsburg website, http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/summer00/wit.cfm, 8/12/2010. )

[9] This may be John Savage who was a surveyor, later (1734) to be employed by Lord Fairfax in his attempt to establish the boundaries of the proprietary. (Harrison. Landmarks. . . . p. 619. )

[10] "Thos. Edwards, a little petty Fogging Lawyer the Clark of our County that hath as much Mettle and more cunning for Contention then his predecessor had" Carter wrote to Landon Jones, July 22, 1723. His opinion of Edwards later changed for there are more appreciative mentions of him in Carter's diary. Edwards was clerk of the Lancaster County court from 1720-1746. ( Within the Court House at Lancaster. Lively, VA: Lively Printing Services, Lively, VA: Lively Printing Services, [1976]. p. 15. ; and "Thomas Edwards, Gentleman, Clerk of the Court" in Brown and Sorrells. People in Profile. pp. 94-103. )

[10.5] Henry Fleet (d. 1735) was the third member of a distinguished Lancaster County family to bear this name, and was justice, sheriff in 1729-1730, coroner, surveyor of roads, and militia officer. ("Rebecca Banton Mysterious Woman of Wealth" in Brown and Sorrells. People in Profile, pp. 129-30. )

[11] Charles Grymes (c. 1692-1743) was the son of John Grymes of Middlesex County, but lived at "Morratico," Richmond County where he was sheriff, burgess, etc. ( "The Grymes Family." Virginia Magazine of History and Biography . 28[1920]: 90-96, 187-94, 283-85, 374-75. and Ryland. Richmond County Virginia. . . . pp. 500, 504, 514.

[11.5] The Oxford English Dictionary. states that the term "physick," when used to refer to a medicine, means "cathartic or purge."

[12] Carter means that he had an unruly, uncomfortable night.

[13] Alexander Scott (d. 1738), had received an M. A. degree from the University of Glasgow before coming to Virginia. He was the minister of Overwharton Parish, Stafford County, and a considerable land speculator. There are numerous references to him in Fairfax Harrison's Landmarks of Old Prince William. (Copeland and MacMaster. The Five George Masons. . . . p. 78; and Harrison. Landmarks. . . . pp. 146, 158, 200, 257, 284-85, 337, 665. )

[14] Philip Smith was sheriff of Northumberland County in 1723-1724. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]: 34,67. )

[15] John Stark was a prominent Glasgow merchant in the sugar trade. He served as as baillie and provost (mayor) from 1725-1727. ( John M'ure. The History of Glasgow. [Glasgow: D. Macvean and J. Wyllie & Co., 1830] pp. 227-228 as seen on Google books; and "Provosts of Glasgow" at "Welcome to Glasgow" at http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/AboutGlasgow/LordProvostsmessage/Provosts+of+Glasgow.htm.

[16] Richard Haynes was master of one of Carter's sloops. (See Carter to Richard Meeks, June 30, 1729. )

[17] Captain Morrison may be Henry Morrison of Westmoreland County who was collector of customs on the South Potomac when he was appointed a justice of that county May 2, 1732. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]: 268. )

[18] Henry Lee (1691-1747) was a son of Carter's old friend, Hancock Kee (1653-1709). He lived in Westmoreland County at "Lee Hall" and married Mary Bland. ( Burton J. Hendrick. The Lees of Virginia: Biography of a Family. [Boston: Little Brown, 1935]. pp. 329-30. )

[18.1] See footnote 18 immediately above for an idetitification of Henry Lee. In this instance, and one some linews below, Carter entered the name as "HLee" but made the right vertical stroke of the "H" also serve as that of the vertical stroke of the "L."

[18.5] Carter owned a farm with this name, probably located in Northumberland County where there are a number of uses of this name including a creek. Here Carter probably means that his sloop was sailing for the creek. (Miller. Place-Names . . . . pp. 59, 170. )

[19] Old House Quarter was located in Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County, and was inherited by Carter from his brother. The name may refer to the original Carter settlement in the county. In Cater's 1733 inventory George Conolly was the overseer there, managing 31 slaves, 116 sheep, 105 cattle, and "a horse calld Blackbird." ("Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." ; Jones. John Carter II. . . . p. 55. ; and Jones. "Orders Book Entries . . . Referring to "Robert Carter. . . ." pp. 140-141. )

[19.5] Tully was a cooper, a skilled tradesman who could produce barrels of various sizes. His first name is given in the 1726 diary. He probably was the man who sold a tract of land in the east central part of Lancaster County to William Steptoe in 1740. (Sorrells. Landholders & Landholdings. p.32 . )

[20] Thomas West was the overseer at Blough Point Quarter in Northumberland County when Carter's inventory was prepared in 1733, but in 1726 he or another man of the same name may have overseen a farm much closer to Corotoman. (Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." .)

[21] Thomas Woodward commanded the Providence, a ship owned by Captain John Hyde & Company, during a number of voyages to the colony, 1723-1729. ( Survey Report 6800 summarizing Adm. 68/194 and Survey Report 6801 summarizing Adm 68/195, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, and Carter's letter to the firm, September 17, 1723 .)

[21.5] Robert Biscoe (1699-1748) was born in London and educated at Chrst's Hospital school. He became one one of Carter's clerks about 1716, writing letters and keeping accounts for the busines. He completed his indenture in 1724, prospered modestly as a merchant and farmer, married Elizabeth Lawson, and in 1743, wrote a book, The Mechant's Magazine; or Factor's Guide. (See the lengthy sketch of Biscoe in Brown and Sorrells. People in Profile. pp. 45-56.

[21] Thomas Woodward commanded the Providence during a number of voyages to the colony, 1723-1727. (Adm. 68/194 and 195, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.)

[22] Landon Carter (1710-1778) was Carter's seventh child by his second wife, Elizabeth (Landon) Willis. Landon would live at "Sabine Hall," Richmond County, and marry three times, leaving many descendants, some of whom own "Sabine Hall" today. As an adult, he would keep a very interesting and useful diary. A reproduction of a portrait of him may be found on the website of the Foundation of Historic Christ Church. ( Jack P. Greene. "Landon Carter" in Sara B. Bearss, John G. Deal, et al., eds. Dictionary of Virginia Biography. [Richmond: Library of Virginia, 2006], 3:76-78; and Greene. The Diary of Colonel Landon Carter. . . . )

[23] John Falconar was a London merchant with whom Carter dealt. In 1728, Falconar and Henry Darnell would form an association of 29 London tobacco merchants to deal with the French tobacco purchasing agent as a group in order to keep the price as high as possible. The associaton lasted only lasted a year or two before dissolving because some of its members were dealing directly with the French agent and selling below the agreed-upon price. ( Arthur Pierce Middleton. Tobacco Coast: A Maritime History of the Chesapeake Bay in the Colonial Era. Newport News, VA: Mariners' Museum, 1953. p. 129 )

[24] There was a ferry over the Piankatank River near Berkeley Island operated by Bailey Seaton that Carter often refers to when describing trips to Williamsburg. There is a Seaton property noted on the Fry-Jefferson map on the Piankatank River in Gloucester County.

[25] A pistole, often called a doblon, was a "Spanish gold double-escudo dating from the 1530s and surviving into the 19th cent.; (also) any of various coins derived from or resembling this from the 17th and 18th centuries." See the illustration on page 5 of John J. McCusker. Money & Exchange in Europe & America 1600-1775 A Handbook. [Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1978.], and discussion in note 3 on page 6. ( Oxford English Dictionary Online ).

[26] Thomas Pinkard ( -1740) was a resident of Lancaster County where he had large landholdings. He was sheriff in 1710. ( "Pikard Family." Pinkard Family William and Mary Quarterly , 12[Apr., 1904]: 262-264; Ida J. Lee. Abstracts Lancaster County,Virginia, Wills. 1653-1800. [Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, Inc., 2004. Reprint of the original 1959 edition.] p.177;. McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]:xxiii; and Sorrells. Landholders & Landholdings. pp. 20 21,23 45. )

[27] Although Carter had an extensive collection of law books, none fits his description of "Turnrs Letters." (Wright. "The Literary Interests of the First Carters." )

[28] Urbanna was a town in Middlesex County built on lands orginally owned by Ralph Wormeley who resisted the idea after the town was authorized by the act of 1680. But development began after his death in 1701 and the passage of the third town act in 1706. ( John W. Reps, Tidewater Towns: City Planning in Colonial Virginia and Maryland. Williamsburg,VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1972. pp . 78-9. )

[29] John Wormeley (1689-1727), a younger son of Ralph Wormeley (d. 1701) for whom Carter had been a trustee in John's youth. When his older brother, Ralph, died in 1714, John inherited all of their father's considerable estate in Middlesex and York counties. (See "Letters Concerning The Estate of Ralph Wormeley" in the opening page of this web site.)

[30] Ragged Point was a Westmoreland County farm probably located near the point of the same name. (Miller. Place-Names . . . . p. 131. )

[31] A James Bryan was listed as a resident of St. Mary's White Chapel Parish of Lancaster County in the 1716 tithable survey of the county. Carter agreed 1725 July 2 with a James Bryan "Brickmaker" for the production of 200,000 bricks. ( "Tithables in Lancaster Co., 1716." William and Mary Quarterly 1st. ser., 21(July 1912): 111; and Carter diary, 1725 July 2.)

[32] A puncheon was "originally: a large barrel or cask, esp. one of definite capacity, varying for different liquids and commodities (now hist.). Now: spec. a cask used for fermenting or ageing wine. The capacity varied from 72 gallons (for beer) to 120 (for whisky)." John Tully was a cooper, a skilled tradesman who could produce barrels of various sizes. ( Oxford English Dictionary Online )

[33] This was probably Barnabas Burch "the boatbuildr" with whom Carter had had problems before causing him to describe Burch as "an idle Roug ever Since he came here the work he has don hath not answerd" in his diary entry for February 2, 1725. In June of that year, Carter learned that Burch and several others had stolen a gun and hidden it in the woods. In July Carter won a judgement against Burch for running away, and because Burch confessed "that he is totally ignorant of and unable to perform the trade & misteries of a house carpenter for which he entered into Covenant with his sd Master in Great Britain." The court added time to Burch's indenture, and ordered that he receive no salary during his term. (Jones, Orders Book Entries . . . Referring to "Robert Carter. . . ." p. 120 page 181. )

[34] John Tarpley (1661-ca. 1739) was sheriff and a justice of the peace in Richmond County. After complaints received by the Council, Tarpley was removed as a justice on May 22, 1723. ( "Capt. John Tarpley I Family," , http://www.next1000.com\/family\/EC\/tarpley.johnI.html. 8/24/2009; and McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]:38. )

[34.5] Carter's diary entry for March 20, 1724, notes "Coll Pages man Sawney came here." Apparently a trusted slave, Sawney frequently traveled to bring messages from the Page home to Carter's.

[34.6] The Burwell 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. )

[35] John Shapley was made a justice in Northumberland County in 1725. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]: 82. )

[36] A chessel is "a cheese-vat. . . . The curds are put into the chessel or cheese-mould, which is placed under the press." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online )

[37] Blough (Bluff) Point plantation was in Northumberland County "on Jarvis Creek about four miles from Kilmarnock in Bluff Point Neck." Carter had purchased the property from "John Ludley, the Father and the Son . . ." and bequeathed it to Landon. (Miller. Place-Names . . . . . p. 82. ; and Greene. The Diary of Colonel Landon Carter. . . . , p. 4. )

[38] Andrew Hutchinson was a member of the vestry of Truro Parish, Prince William County. In 1745, he would draw a deed to give land from his grant to the parish for a chapel on its western boundary but the chapel would not be built there because there was no water. (Harrison. Landmarks. . . . pp. 287-88. )

[39] Mrs. Young was Carter's housekeeper. He had agreed with her for one year's service in 1724 but found her satisfactory for a longer term.

[40] Carter noted in his diary on December 15,1724, that he had agreed with Hugh Kelly as an overseer, and referred to the farm afterwards by Kelly's name. The location of the farm has not been identified.

[41] This number not used

[42] Henry Carter was a resident of Lancaster County, living on lands north of the Eastern brnach of Corotoman Creek. (Sorrells. Landholders & Landholdings. pp. 41, 44, and Brown and Sorrells. People in Profile. pp. 115, 138. )

[43] Carter's will mentions land bought of William Rust in "Hartford County" up the branches of Bull Run, which joins the Occoquan River. Fairfax Harrison wrote that in 1726 there was a bill before the House of Burgesses proposing to "divide Stafford [County] at Aquia creek and create above that boundary a county to be named Hartford, but after debate the proposal was rejected." (Harrison. Landmarks. . . . pp. 311-312, citing the Journals of the House of Burgesses, 1727-1740. pp. 408-414. )

[43.5] The Occaquan River is a major tributary of the Potomac River that lay in Stafford County in Carter's day. Much of the river today is known as the Bull Run, and forms the boundary between Fairfax and Prince William counties, and to the west, between Loudoun and Prince William counties. ( Alexandria Drafting Company. Regional Northern Virginia. [Alexandria, VA: Alexandria Drafting Company, 2002.] Coverage of Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, and Prince William counties.)

[44] George Mason III (c. 1690-1735), justice, sheriff, burgess, and county lieutenant of Stafford County, father of the constitutional theorist. (Copeland and MacMaster, The Five George Masons. pp. 50-86 ; and George Harrison Sanford King. The Register of Overwharton Parish Stafford County Virginia 1723-1758 And Sundry Historical and Genealogical Notes. [Fredericksburg, VA: privately printed, 1961.] )

[44.4] Richard Talent (Galent) was one of Carter's indentured servants, probably a clerk as he was a witness to codicils to Carter's will. Carter learned of his illegal marriage in March 1726, and took the Talents into court where they "voluntarily acknowledged" a revision of their indenture for "further service." (Jones, Orders Book Entries . . . Referring to "Robert Carter. . . ." p. 196. )

[44.5] 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, ff. 76v, found in the microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia. )

[45] "Anderson's Scots Pills, a product of the 1630's" had been invented by Patrick Anderson, a Scot, who wrote in a book published in 1635 that he had learned the secret of the pills in Venice. He passed the formula to his daughter Katherine who in turn passed it to a doctor named Thomas Weir in 1686. Weir obtained letters patent on the formula from James II in 1687. ( George B. Griffenhagen and James Harvey Young, "Old English Patent Medicines in America," in Contributions From the Museum of History and Technology. [Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1959], paper 10, 156-183. This article is now available online (with new pagination) at ManyBooks [http://manybooks.net/titles/griffenhageng3016230162-8.html], whose material came from Project Gutenberg [(http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30162/30162-h/30162-h.htm] which maintains the original pagination.)

[46] In the 1716 Lancaster County tithables list, a Thomas "Heanaugc" was listed in St. Mary's White Chapel Parish. ( "Tithables in Lancaster Co., 1716." William and Mary Quarterly. 1st. ser., 21(July 1912): 109. )

[46.5] A pinnace was "a small light vessel, generally two-masted, and schooner-rigged; often in attendance on a larger vessel as a tender, scout, etc." It could be rowed as well. ( Oxford English Dictionary )

[47] James Carter (1684-1743), of Stafford County, was the younger brother of Carter's dear friend and associate, Captain Thomas Carter of Lancaster County, and was one of Carter's chief managers. ( Joseph Lyon Miller, "Captain Thomas Carter and His Descendants," William and Mary Quarterly. 1st ser., 17(1908-09): 275-285. )

[47.4] A ferry across the Rappahannock from Lancaster County was located at this Middlesex County property, probably owned by Thomas Machen who appears in the records of Christ Church Parish, Middlesex, in 1725. It was a short distance from Machens across the county to another ferry located at Seatons in Gloucester County on the south bank of the Piankatank River. Carter regularly took this route to Williamsburg. ( Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, editor. The Vestry Book of Christ Church Parish Middlesex County, Virginia 1663-1767. [Richmond: Old Dominion Press, 1927] p. 202. )

[47.5] A barge is "a flat-bottomed freight-boat, chiefly for canal-and river-navigation, either with or without sails: in the latter case also called a lighter; in the former, as in the Thames barges, generally dandy-rigged, having one important mast," but Carter probably used the term in the sense of "a rowing boat; esp. a ferry-boat." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online )

[48] In the court records, Richard and Elizabeth's last name is spelled "Galent." They bound themselves "for further service" as did Neal and Charles "Sullivan." (Jones, Orders Book Entries . . . Referring to "Robert Carter. . . ." p. 121 p. 196. )

[49] Anthony Dunlavy's son of the same name was bound until age twenty-one. His father was to teach him and "one Samuel Marshal another servant belonging to the sd Carter in the weavers trade." (Jones, Orders Book Entries . . . Referring to "Robert Carter. . . ." p. 121 pp. 197-98. )

[49.5] Tow cloth used "the 'tow' . . . the short, waste fibers left after combing the longer 'line' fibers from the flax. . . . to make 'tow cloth'. Tow was spun into thicker, fuzzier threads and used for cheaper fabric. Tow cloth was used for utilitarian things like sacks, servant and slave wear, and other cheap clothing." At the site "A Woodrunner's Diary," (dedicated to "18th Century Living History In Australia." at http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com/2009/10/towtow-clothtow-ragtow-linen.html.) there are photographs of tow fibers. The editor thanks Linda Baumgardner of Colonial Williamsburg who identified what Carter meant by "toll" cloth! ("Class Act Fabrics . . . Linen. . . . http://www.classactfabrics.com/linen/linen_fabric.htm. 11/9/2010."

[50] Wills' full name is found in Jones, Orders Book Entries . . . Referring to "Robert Carter. . . ." p. 121.

[51] Augustine Washington (1694-1743) was the father of George Washington, and a resident of Westmoreland County on Pope's Creek. He was a justice, sheriff, and vestryman. His second wife, Mary Ball, was the mother of George. ( http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/faq/washbio.html [9/13/02] , and Norris. Westmoreland County, Virginia. pp. 151-153. )

[52] Jack Ashley is mentioned a number of times in Carter's diary; he lived in Spotsylvania County and apparently was an overseer for Carter at one time although he does not appear in the 1733 Inventory. (McIlwaine, H. R., ed. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . . 4 [1721-1739]:254. )

[53] Captain Samuel Bowman commanded the Lucia. Carter also mentioned this vessel in his diary in June 1724.

[54] The College of William and Mary.

[55] This may have been Anthony Garton (d. 1764) who lived in Lancasteer County on a tract of 100 acres that lay in Antipoison Neck due east of Corotoman, not far from Fleets Bay. ( Ida J. Lee. Abstracts Lancaster County,Virginia, Wills. 1653-1800. [Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, Inc., 2004. Reprint of the original 1959 edition.] p. 92 ; and Sorrells. Landholders & Landholdings. p. 17. )

[55.5] This probably was Rawleigh Travers of Richmond County. ( Horace Edwin Hayden. Virginia Genealogies: A Genealogy of the Glassell family of Scotland and Virginia : Also of theFfamilies of Ball . . . and Others, of Virginia and Maryland [E.B. Yordy, printer, 1891]. pp. 297-301. Google Books, 8/27/2010.

[56] William Downman was a justice of Richmond County from 1718, sheriff in 1722 and 1723, and a tobacco inspector in 1731 and 1732. (Ryland. Richmond County Virginia. . . . p. 504; and McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]: 12, 34, 238, 286. )

[57] Denis was a farm close to "Corotoman" as Carter mentions it fairly often in his diary. Apparently its overseer was named Denis, and Carter refers to the farm by that name.

[58] Charles Jones was a long-time overseer for Carter at "Hills Quarter" in Lancaster County. Carter wrote to him there in 1727, and he appears in Carter's will as the overseer on that property.

[59] Carter mentions this property several times in his diary, but there are also references to the "Brick House store," and they may be the same property. In his will, Carter describes a tract in Lancaster County that he bought from John Bradley that lay next to the lands of the "brick store. " Also in the will he notes that the store "formerly belonging to the Estate of Mrs. Mary Swan Dec'd" was "under the care of Capt. Thos. Carter."

[59.6] Carter apparently lost his train of thought for, after entering Charles Celphans's name, he did not add anything further. Clephan was a resident of Lancaster County whose will was probated in 1748. ( Ida J. Lee. Abstracts Lancaster County,Virginia, Wills. 1653-1800. (Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, Inc., 2004. Reprint of the original 1959 edition.) p. 54. )

[59.7] The Oxford English Dictionary Online states that a dam is "a female parent (of animals, now usually of quadrupeds). Correlative to sire."

[59.8] According to the online "Glossary of Mill Terms," the spindle is "the shaft on which the runner millstone rotates." ( Theodore R. Hazen & Pond Lily Mill Restorations. "A Glossary of Mill Terms." online at http://www.angelfire.com/journal/pondlilymill/glossary.html#anchor249736. 6/29/2010. )

[60] In his will, Carter refers to the old plantation "bought of Mr. Robert Jones" in Northumberland County. In his 1733 inventory, Dennis Sullivant was the property's overseer of 8 slaves, 36 sheep, 75 hogs, 66 cattle, and "a Mare called Mopsy 10 yers old," etc. The property was bequeathed to Carter's son Landon. (Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." ; and Greene. The Diary of Colonel Landon Carter. . . . p. 4. )

[61] James Withers (ca. 1680/1681-1746) had been born in England, probably in Bristol. He married Elizabeth Kenne and was a resident of Overwharton Parish, Stafford County, where he died on June 3, 1746. ("The Wither Family (Withers, Wythers) Homepage " by S. Tweety. http://members.aol.com/DocSWatson/Witherindex.html. Checked 10/1/02.)

[61.4] James Thomas was surveyor of Lancaster County, and after 1727, of Westmoreland County. In 1736, he would be one of the surveyors involved in the work of the commission to determine the bounds of the Northern Neck proprietary. (Brown. Virginia Baron. . . . pp. 83, 92. See Carter to Peter Beverley, December 14, 1727. )

[61.5] According to the Oxford English Dictionary Online, the grippe is influenza. Carter apparently means he had the symptioms of the flu.

[61.6] Carter's meaning of the phrase "shift bacon" is not clear. One meaning for "shift" in the Oxford English Dictionary Online, is "as a makeshift; for want of something better."

[61.7] A "clary pancake" would be a pancake sweetened with clary which is "a sweet liquor consisting of a mixture of wine, clarified honey, and various spices, as pepper and ginger." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online )

[61.8] Madeira is "a sherry type of fortified wine." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online )

[61.9] Claret is "a name" that was "originally given . . . to wines of yellowish or light red colour, as distinguished alike from 'red wine' and 'white wine'; the contrast with the former ceased about 1600, and it was apparently then used for red wines generally, in which sense it is still. . . . " ( Oxford English Dictionary Online )

[62] The meaning of Carter's abbreviation, "E prop," has not been determined, but it apparently was a form of medication, probably a purge, from his entry several lines below referring to his physic having "workt 4 times."

[63] Carter may mean vitriol drops, "a camphorated tincture of opium flavoured with aniseed and benzoic acid" according to the Oxford Englsih Dictionary.

[64] Watkinson was captain of the Vine, a ship that may have been owned by Micajah Perry. (Carter to Pemberton, 1724 March 25)

[65] Carter refers to the birth of his grandchild, George Nicholas (1726-1771), by his daughter Elizabeth (Carter) Burwell and her second husband, Dr. George Nicholas. (Carleton. A Genealogy. . . of Robert Carter. . . . p. 176. )

[66] 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 )

[67] This mill, sometimes referred to by Carter as the small mill, was located in Lancaster County and may have been the one "on the head of the Eastern branch of Corotoman" purchased by Carter's brother John from Thomas and Elizabeth Haynes 1670 January 4. The property included about forty acres. (Jones, John Carter II. . . . p. 73. )

[67.5] Larkin Chew (1676-1728) a burgess 1723-26, sheriff of Spottsylvania County, 1727-1728, where he owned 17,000 acres of land. He married Hannah Roy in 1699. ( "Genealogical Record: Larkin Chew," http://poslfit.homeip.net/cgi-bin/genea2.pl?id=10301 ; and "Mathews-Williams Family Genealogy," http://www.mathewscommunications.com/mathews/mw1/mw1g93.htm#6068 . both 8/20/2009)

[67.7] A Benjamin Robinson was sheriff of Essex County in 17724 and 1725. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]: 66, 86, 117. )

[67.8] There are a number of uses of this name including a creek in Northumberland County where Carter owned a farm also of this name. (Miller. Place-Names . . . . pp. 59, 170. )

[68] "Corotoman," or "Buckles," was a property "across the creek fromthe main plantation," Carter's home, also called "Corotoman." This farm was under the direction of an overseer named John Buckles (d. 1734), and Carter frequently refers to it as "Buckles." ("John Buckles, Overseer James Rob, Carpenter." Brown and Sorrells. People in Profile. pp. 112-118. )

[69] John Warner was the surveyor of King George County in 1727; he laid off the town of Falmouth in 1728. Later he worked for Lord Fairfax, and prepared an important map of his holdings. (Harrison, Landmarks of Old Prince William , 626-628. )

[70] Gibson's Plantation was a property located close to "Corotoman" in Lancaster County. Carter purchased 375 acres in 1703 from Edward Gibson, later adding 90 acres from adjacent property. In Carter's 1733 inventory, Ezericum Crowder was its overseer, and Carter sometimes refers to the property as "Crowders." (Sorrells. title>Landholders & Landholdings. p.18; and Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ."

[71] St. Mary's was the Maryland county across the Rappahannock from Westmoreland County, Virginia, where Cole's Point plantation was located.

[72] A flitch is "the side of an animal, now only of a hog, salted and cured; a 'side' of bacon." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online )

[72.5] This was Charles Stagg (d. c. 1735), the manager of the first theatre in Williamsburg, and a dancing master. He and his wife Mary had come to Virginia about 1715 and were indentured to merchant William Levingston to teach dancing. Levingston entered a contract with them the next year that they would attempt to obtain a license for "the sole provilege of Acting Comedies, Drolls or other kind of Stage Plays within any part of the sd colony not only for the three years next ensueing the date hereof but for as much longer time." ( Phyllis Hartnoll and Peter Found. "Williamsburg" in The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre online at Encyclopedia.com: http://www.http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-Williamsburg.html. 11/5/2009. A contract between the Staggs and Levingston is to be found in York County Records, Orders, Wills, etc,. Book XV, 53. )

[72.7] Williamsburg

[73] Fleet's Bay is at the east end of Northumberland County not far from Corotoman.

[73.4] Thomas Berry (1683-1743) of Northumberland County would be tobacco inspector at Wicomocco in 1731 and 1732. An abstract of his 1743 will is online through the USGenWeb Project at http://files.usgwarchives.org/va/northumberland/wills/berry01.txt. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]:238, 286. )

[73.5] John Hust (or Hurst) was the overseer of "Hamstead Quarter," Stafford County, in the 1733 inventory, supervising sixteen slaves with the assistance of one horse. Hust apparently was a carpenter because Carter mentions his doing carpentry work in various letters. (Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." )

[73.6] This may have been John Conner who was an indentured tailor at Corotoman. On December 15, 1727, Conner in court acknowledged the extension of his indenture for two years in return for Carter's promise to retain him as a tailor. (Jones, Orders Book Entries . . . Referring to "Robert Carter. . . ." p. 127 abstracting Lancaster County Court Orders Book 7 1721-1729, page 261. )

[73.7] This probably was the Pursel who would become overseer at Brent's Quarter on December 22nd. See Carter's entry for that date.

[73.8] On November 30, 1724, Carter wrote in his diary that he had agreed with James Murphy to be overseer at Metcalfs, a farm in Westmoreland County. In the 1733 inventory, John Ordra was the overseer there of 5 slaves, 3 horses, 10 sheep, 40 hogs, and 47 cattle. The property descended to Robert Carter III together with Brents Quarter. The two properties comprised 1932 acres. (Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." and Morton. Robert Robert Carter of Nomini Hall. p. 70. )

[73.9] Carter had recorded in his diary on March 19 that Bunting was the "new bricklayer."

[74] George Yerby (1692-1765) was a resident of Lancaster County who lived on a 220 acre tract in the eastern part of the county that he had purchased in 1719; it lay not far from today's Kilmarnock. The Yerby family was prolific, and there are many notations of them in the county records. (Sorrells. Landholders & Landholdings. p. 24, and Ida J. Lee. Abstracts Lancaster County,Virginia, Wills. 1653-1800. [Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, Inc., 2004. Reprint of the original 1959 edition.] pp. 236-239. )

[74.1] Piebald is used in a "chiefly derogatory sense, accoring to the Oxford English Dictionary Online, to mean "composed of differing or incongruous parts; motley, mixed" and "of two contrasting dark and pale colours."

[74.2] Ralph Wormeley Page (1713-1732) was the son of Mann Page and his first wife, Judith (Wormeley) Page. ("Family Trees of Thomas Jefferson and Other Famous Americans," http://www.ishipress.com/pafg70.htm, July 10, 2006)

[74.3] Hock is "the wine called in German Hochheimer, produced at Hochheim on the Main; hence, commercially extended to other white German wines." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online )

[74.4] The child was Elizabeth Carter (1726-post 1763), the daughter of Robert Carter II (1704-1732) and his wife, Priscilla (Churchill) Carter (1705-1757). Elizabeth would marry in 1742 John Francis Willis of Gloucester County. (Carleton. A Genealogy. . . of Robert Carter. . . . p. 312. )

[75] Denton was commander of the John & Betty, a slave ship owned by John Pemberton, a Liverpool merchant. The ship would be lost in 1729. (See Carter to Pemberton, April 15, 1730.)

[75.5] 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. ( "Dictionary of Financial Scam Terms" at http://www.fraudaid.com/Dictionary-of-Financial-Scam-Terms/bill_of_exchange.htm. 8/22/2005 )

[76] 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. )

[76.5] The will of William Edwards of Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County, was written November 18, 1736, and recorded April 8, 1737. It noted his wife Elizabeth and seven children. ( Ida J. Lee. Abstracts Lancaster County,Virginia, Wills. 1653-1800. [Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, Inc., 2004. Reprint of the original 1959 edition.] p. 78-79. )

[76.6] This was probably Barnabas Burch "the boatbuildr" with whom Carter had problems causing him to describe Burch as "an idle Roug ever Since he came here the work he has don hath not answerd" in his diary entry for 1725 February 2. In June of that year, Carter learned the Burch and several others had stolen a gun and hidden it in the woods. In July Carter won a judgement against Burch for running away, and because Burch confessed "that he is totally ignorant of and unable to perform the trade & misteries of a house carpenter for which he entered into Covenant with his sd Master in Great Britain." The court added time to Burch's indenture, and ordered that he receive no salary during his term. (Jones, Orders Book Entries . . . Referring to "Robert Carter. . . ." p. 120 abstracting Lancaster County Court Orders Book 7 1721-1729, page 181. )

[77] In 1723, the Assembly had passed an act limiting the quatities of tobacco produced in the colony. The vestries of each parish were required to take a count of all persons engaged in the production of tobacco and of the number of plants. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]:45-51; and Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, editor. The Vestry Book of Christ Church Parish Middlesex County, Virginia 1663-1767. [Richmond: Old Dominion Press, 1927] p. 202. )

[78] Elias Edmunds appears in the 1716 tithables list of Lancaster County as a resident of Christ Church Parish. On June 8, 1726, George Flower (d. 1749) and John Yerby were appointed as surveyors of roads in the county. ( "Tithables in Lancaster Co., 1716." William and Mary Quarterly 1st. ser., 21[July 1912]: 107; Jones, Orders Book Entries . . . Referring to "Robert Carter. . . ." p. 210; Sorrells. Landholders & Landholdings. p. 23-24; and Brown and Sorrells. People in Profile. p. 52. )

[78.5] In Carter's time, assistance to the poor, or welfare, was the responsibility of the parish vestry which determined the amount of the annual levy that each landowner would pay for each tithable with whom he was charged. It was the responsiblity of the churchwardens to distribute the levy to those in need. Carter was on the vestry at this time, and may have been one of the churchwardens. See chapters 3 and 4 in John K. Nelson. A Blessed Company: Parishes, Parsons, and Parishoners in Anglican Virginia, 1690-1776. [Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 2001] for a discussion of the vestry system.

[79] Williamsburg.

[80] A moidore was a gold coin from Portugal or Brazil in use in Carter's time. See the illustration on page 5 of John J. McCusker. Money & Exchange in Europe & America 1600-1775 A Handbook. [Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1978.], and discussion in note 3 on page 6. For its value, see p. 12.

[80.6] See pages 107-113 of McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739] for the record of the investigation of Edmund Jenings's incapacity to serve as president of the Council. As Drysdale was planning to return to England for health reasons, the president would serve as acting governor during Drysdale's absence. Because Carter was next senior to Jenings, he became president of the Council and acting governor,

[81] Cole Digges (1692-1744) lived at "Bellfield" in York County. He was appointed to the Council in 1719. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 3[1705-1721]: 518, and Louis B. Wright and Marion Tinling, eds. William Byrd of Virginia: The London Diary (1717-1721) and Other Writings. [New York: Oxford University Press, 1958.] p. 459. )

[82] There is a Seaton property noted on the Fry-Jefferson map on the Piankatank in Gloucester County. There was a ferry over the Piankatank River near Berkeley Island operated by Bailey Seaton that Carter often refers to when describing trips to Williamsburg.

[83] Mrs. Sullivan ran the boarding house where Carter stayed while in Williamsburg.

[84] Charles Lee (1684-1735) of Cobb's Hall, Northumberland County.

[84.5] Thomas Pinkard ( -1740) was a resident of Lancaster County where he had large landholdings. He was sheriff in 1710. ( "Pikard Family." Pinkard Family William and Mary Quarterly , 12[Apr., 1904]: 262-264; Ida J. Lee. Abstracts Lancaster County,Virginia, Wills. 1653-1800. [Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, Inc., 2004. Reprint of the original 1959 edition.] p.177;. McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]:xxiii; and Sorrells. Landholders & Landholdings. pp. 20 21,23 45. )

[85] James Whaley was the overseer at the Westmoreland plantations Old Ordinary and Moon's Plantation in Carter's 1733 inventory. . (Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." )

[85.5] This may have been John Alden (Aldin) (1682-1737), son of Robert Alden and Eleanor Willis.. He had inherited considerable property from his uncle, Richard Willis, who had been a prominent merchant in Middlesex County. ("Mary's Generation 9." http://lindabutlerfisher.tripod.com/westhufstedlerfamily/id17.html; reviewed 9/29/2010; and Rutman and Rutman, A Place in Time: Middlesex. . . . p. 109. )

[86] Given Carter's inventive and phonetic spelling, it is difficult to know what this word may be, but "ipecac" seems most likely as it is an emetic that had come into use in the previous century; it fits the context.

[87] Thomas Lee (1690-1750) was the son of Richard Lee II, and nephew of Edmund Jenings; he would build "Stratford," and succeed Carter on the Council. ( Burton J. Hendrick. The Lees of Virginia: Biography of a Family. [Boston: Little Brown, 1935]. pp. 48, 51, etc. )

[88] On July 13, 1726, the Lancaster County Court found Abraham Johnson, his wife Ellinor, and Sarah Newton guilty of "having stolen several goods belonging to the Hon Robert Carter," and ordered all three to be whipped. (Jones, Orders Book Entries . . . Referring to "Robert Carter. . . ." p. 123 abstracting Lancaster County Court Orders Book 7 1721-1729, p. 214. )

[89] John Turbervile (1654-1728) was a justice, burgess, and sheriff of Lancaster County. ( "Tithables in Lancaster Co., 1716." William and Mary Quarterly 1st. ser., 21[July 1912]: 106-11; and sources available on the web including Tricia Petitt. "TURBERVILLE-L Archives," http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/TURBERVILLE/1969-12/0000000002, reviewed 11/16/2010 )

[89.5] Carter's diary entry for March 20, 1724, notes "Coll Pages man Sawney came here." Apparently a trusted slave, Sawney frequently traveled to bring messages from the Page home to Carter's.

[89.6] Hugh Brent was a resident of Christ Church parish in the 1716 survey of tithables of Lancaster County, and he would be sheriff in 1734. ( "Tithables in Lancaster Co., 1716." William and Mary Quarterly 1st. ser., 21[July 1912]: 106-11, and McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]:319. )

[89.7] Harry Quarry, an indentured servant, had taken a canoe and run away for three days in 1725. The court sentenced him to serve "six days for his sd three days absence and Ten calendar months and a half for his offence in takeing away the canoe" plus the cost of capturing him. (Jones, Orders Book Entries . . . Referring to "Robert Carter. . . ." abstracting Lancaster County Court Orders Book 7, 1721-1725, p. 165, for January 13, 1725/26. p. 119.

[89.8] As a medical term, pleurisy was "in early use: an abscess of the ribs or inner surface of the chest (obs.); pain in the chest or the side, esp. when stabbing in nature and exacerbated by inspiration or coughing; an instance of this; any disease resulting in such pain. In later use: spec. inflammation of the pleura; pleuritis; an instance of this." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online )

[90] Thomas Pelham-Holles, the 1st Duke of Newcastle, was Secretary of State in the Walpole government; Richard L. Morton notes that the duke carried on a policy of "`saluatory neglect' of the colonies which lasted until the Seven Years' War." (Morton. Colonial Virginia. p. 506. )

[90.5] Established in 1696 as successor to a similar body, the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations was "an advisory group, subordinate to king and Privy Council, and with no executive, financial, or penalizing powers, the Board of Trade was nevertheless able . . . to exert a far reaching and often determining influence in colonial matters. . . . It prepared the royal instructions for the governors overseas. . . ." ( Henry Hartwell, James Blair, and Edward Chilton. Hunter Dickinson Farish, ed. The Present State of Virginia, and the College. [First published, 1940, by Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., and reprinted Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1964.] pp. xvi-xvii. )

[90.6] Richard Hickman (d. 1732) had been deputy clerk of Middlesex County in 1709. His name appears a number of times in the Council minutes as he was the doorkeeper, and as he took out land patents. From Carter's letter to William Robertson July 15, 1727, in which he complains that "Mr. Hickman is very dilatory with his probatted Administrations," it seems that Hickman must have done other work for the colonial government. (Edward W. James. "Libraries in Colonial Virginia." William and Mary Quarterly. 3[1,#4, Apr. 1895]:248-51 for Hickman's inventory recorded May 15, 1732, listing many books; "Notes from the Journal of the House of Burgesses, 1712-1726." William and Mary Quarterly. 21[1,#4, April 1913]:257 refers to his being Council doorkeeper; "Notes from the Journal of the House of Burgesses, 1727-1734, William and Mary Quarterly. 22[1, #1, July 1913]:54,56-58, mentions his being clerk of the Committee of Propositions and Grievances; and McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]:114. )

[91] Carter refers to his sons Landon and George who were students at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.

[92] Reverend William Le Neve (d. 1743?) had been the minister of James City Parish since 1722, and would serve there until 1743. ( John K. Nelson. A Blessed Company: Parishes, Parsons, and Parishoners in Anglican Virginia, 1690-1776. [Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 2001]. p. 314. )

[93] Alexander Spotswood (1646-1740) had been the governor from 1710 to 1722.

[94] Horace Walpole was the brother of Robert Walpole, the chief minister of England. He held the posts of "auditor general and surveyor general of the royal revenue in the colonies." (Billings. et al. Colonial Virginia: A History. )

[95] Peter Leheup, an English Treasury clerk, was Virginia's and other colonies' agent in England for some years. He was related by marriage to the Prime Minister's brother who was secretary of the Treasury. His influence would be greater near the end of Carter's life. (Price. Perry of London. . . . pp. 75-77, 80, 83. )

[96] Reverend John Richards (d. 1735) had been born in England where he was rector of various parishes. After coming to Virginia, he was rector of Ware Parish, Gloucester County. ( William Meade, Bishop. Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia. [Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1900]. 2 vols. 1:328, 354. )

[96.5] The louis d'or was "a [French] gold coin issued in the reign of Louis XIII and subsequently till the time of XVI. When first coined in 1640 its weight was 103.273 grains. In 1717 its legal value in England was fixed at 17s." See the illustration on page 4 of John J. McCusker. Money & Exchange in Europe & America 1600-1775 A Handbook. [Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1978.], and pages 6 and 11. ( Oxford English Dictionary Online ).

[97] Carter had testified in court on January 27, 1726, that John Cook(e) had died intestate, and he had been appointed administrator of the estate as Cook's "greatest creditor." The diary entry reads "Lin" with a horizontal stroke over it indicating that it should be expanded, but what Carter meant is not clear. (Jones, Orders Book Entries . . . Referring to "Robert Carter. . . ." pp. 210, 215 abstracting Lancaster County Court Orders Book 7 1721-1729, page 194. )

[97.5] Whey is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary Online, "the serum or watery part of milk which remains after the separation of the curd by coagulation, esp. in the manufacture of cheese." It also was mixed as a "wine whey" which was a " medicinal drink. . . ."

[97.6] This may have been John Robins of Accomack County. ( "Arthur Robins." http://petersrow.com/focus/archives/arthur_robins.htm. Examined 11/1/2010. )

[97.65] A Thomas Winder was a justice in Northumberland County in 1699. ("Public Officers in Virginia." Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 1(Jan. 1894), 227.)

[97.7] An ague is "a malarial fever, marked by successive fits or paroxysms, consisting of a cold, hot, and sweating stage. The name ague was apparently at first given to the burning or feverish stage, but afterwards more usually to the cold or shivering stage, as being the most striking external character of the disease." ( Oxford English Dictionary )

[97.8] "The bark of various species of the Cinchona tree, from which quinine is procured, formerly ground into powder and taken as a febrifuge [fever reducing agent]." ( Oxford English Dictionary )

[97.9] Laudanum was the name used for medicinal various preparations in which opium was the main ingredient. (Oxford English Dictionary. )

[98] Anne (Harrison) Randolph (ca. 1722-1745) was Carter's granddaughter by his daughter Anne and her husband, Benjamin Harrison IV. She would marry William Randolph of "Wilton," Henrico County in 1735. ( "Harrison of James River," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 32(1924): 97; and Carleton. A Genealogy. . . of Robert Carter. . . . p. 254. )

[99] Enseint means pregnant. ( Oxford English Dictionary Online )

[5] In this instance, Carter is using the word "gripes" to mean "an intermittent spasmodic pain in the bowels. Usually pl., colic pains." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online )

[100] According to the Oxford English Dictionary Online hierapicra is "a purgative drug composed of aloes and canella bark, sometimes mixed with honey and other ingredients."

[101] The Oxford English Dictionary defines manna as a "sweet pale yellow or whitish concrete juice obtained from incisions in the bark of the Manna-ash, Fraxinus Ornus, chiefly in Calabria and Sicily; used in medicine as a gentle laxative. Also, a similar exudation obtained from other plants."

[101.5] Benjamin Grayson was, according to Fairfax Harrison, "one of the earliest of the Scots merchants to be established on Quantico, where Dumfries was to arise." He was appointed a justice of Prince William County in November 1731. (Harrison. Landmarks. . . . pp. 156 and McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]: 256. )

[102] Carter means the French coins, louis d'ors. See note 99.5.

[103] Robert Jones was the son of William Jones of Northumberland County but he moved to Prince William County where he was a justice and sheriff, 1731-32. He was a head overseer for Carter in the upper country between 1727 and 1729. (Harrison. Landmarks. . . . p. 339; and Berkeley. "Robert Carter as Agricultural Administrator: . . .", 273-295. )

[104] A William Threalkill was the overseer at Poplar Quarter in Stafford County in the 1732 inventory of Carter's estates.("Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." )

[105] Dick's Quarter was located in Westmoreland County; John Walker was the overseer of 23 slaves, 2 horses, 19 hogs, and 41 cattle in the 1733 inventory. . ("Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." )

[106] Metcalfs was a farm in Westmoreland County. In the 1733 inventory, John Ordra was the overseer of 5 slaves, 3 horses, 10 sheep, 40 hogs, and 47 cattle. The property descended to Robert Carter III together with Brents Quarter. The two properties comprised 1932 acres. (Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." and Morton. Robert Robert Carter of Nomini Hall. p. 70. )

[107] Brents Quarter lay in Westmoreland County. In the 1733 inventory. of Carter's property, the overseer was Murphy Brand who worked 23 slaves and had 49 hogs and 56 cattle on the place. The property descended to Robert Carter III together with Metcalfs Quarter. The two properties comprised 1932 acres. (Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." and Morton. Robert Robert Carter of Nomini Hall. p. 70. )

[107.5] This probably was John Bagge (1682?-1726), rector of St. Anne's Parish, Essex County, 1709-1711 and 1718-1726. He had served Sittenburne Parish in Richmond County, 1711-1716. ( John K. Nelson. A Blessed Company: Parishes, Parsons, and Parishoners in Anglican Virginia, 1690-1776. [Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 2001]. p. 304. )

[108] Halls was a farm near the falls of the Rappahannock.

[109] Carter Burwell (1716-1756) was Robert Carter's grandson by his daughter Elizabeth (Carter) Burwell and her first husband, Nathaniel Burwell (1680-1721). Carter Burwell would live at "Carter's Grove," and would marry Lucy Grymes in 1738. (Carleton. A Genealogy. . . of Robert Carter. . . . p. 128. )

[110] The handwriting in the diary changes at this point; it is no longer Carter's but that of one of his clerks. All the text not in Carter's hand is indicated by the use of italic lettering.

[111] Rippon Hall was Edmund Jening's estate in York County which he had acquired in 1687 from John and Unity West when it was named "Poplar Neck." Jenings's bad financial circumstances forced him to mortgage the property to Carter who eventually acquired title to it. ( "Notes and Queries." William and Mary Quarterly. 2[Apr. 1894]: 270-278. )

[111.5] A joiner is "a craftsman whose occupation it is to construct things by joining pieces of wood; a worker in wood who does lighter and more ornamental work than that of a carpenter, as the construction of the furniture and fittings of a house, ship, etc." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online )

[112] Roger Oxford was the overseer at Norman's Ford.

[113] This farm lay either in Richmond or Westmoreland County. Mary R. Miller attributes it to Richmond. In Carter's 1733 inventory. , William Crane was its overseer, supervising 12 slaves, 2 horses, 18 hogs, and 29 cattle. (Miller. Place-Names . . . . p. 67; and "Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." )

[114] According to the 1733 inventory. of Carter's estate, John Walker was the overseer at Dick's Quarter of 23 slaves, 2 horses, 19 hogs, and 41 cattle. ("Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." )

[115] The Princess Amelia was a Weymouth ship that may have been owned by Edward Tucker. She had been commanded by a Captain Lawrence who, as Carter notes, had been drowned. A John Brett was her captain as of November 10. 1726. ( Weymouth Port Books described in Survey Report 9729, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia. )

[116] Bridge House Quarter was located in Richmond County and lay close to Hickory Thicket "northeast of Warsaw." In Carter's 1733 inventory. Charles Campbell was the overseer of 9 slaves, 8 horses, 41 hogs, and 31 cattle. (Miller. Place-Names . . . . p. 16; and "Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." )

[117] This may be Francis Conway of Essex County who would be one of the first justices of Caroline County when it was formed in 1728. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . . . , 4[1721-1739]:172. )

This text, originally posted in Jan. 2003, was revised between August 5 and November 11, 2010, to add footnotes, and to strengthen the modern language version text.