Original lengthy 1845 handwritten letter from Petersburg, Virginia, addressed to the writer's sister in Gloucester County, Virginia.
Dated September 22, 1845, this fascinating antebellum letter contains unusually candid discussion of a bitter family and financial dispute involving property, money, unpaid interest, rumors and accusations of dishonesty.
The writer is clearly angered by reports circulating among family and acquaintances. He strongly denies a story that he intended to purchase “Curry's place,” complaining that “malicious busybodies” have been perverting what he said and spreading things he “never dreamed of.”
In one particularly colorful passage, he describes another individual as:
“a wolf in sheep's clothing.”
The writer also vigorously disputes a story that he had sold a $2,500 claim for only $100, insisting that he would never repay his sister's kindness with “deception & ingratitude.”
Additional financial content concerns unpaid/back interest, payments and notes, including references to amounts of $2,500, $200, $100, $42, $22 and $6.39, providing an interesting glimpse into personal financial dealings in antebellum Virginia.
The letter also contains a substantial account of the writer's health. He reports becoming extremely ill after “Robin” left and describes suffering a:
“violent attack of ague & fever”
which left him confined to his room and extremely weak. He nevertheless hopes to recover sufficiently to travel in October.
Other subjects include family relationships, correspondence, property, servants, money, travel plans and local gossip.
The folded address panel appears to be addressed to a woman in Gloucester C.H. [Court House], Virginia, and bears a Petersburg, Virginia postal marking.
An evocative primary-source document from antebellum Virginia, written approximately 16 years before the Civil War.
Included: Original multi-page handwritten letter/address sheet. A modern working transcription is also available/included if shown with the listing.
Research note: Some names and individual words remain uncertain due to the difficult handwriting. Any uncertain identifications are intentionally not presented as established fact.
A strong research piece for collectors of Virginia history, Petersburg, Gloucester County, antebellum manuscripts, family correspondence, social history and 19th-century financial/legal material.