Peter Johnston, Jr., to Peter Carr, January 16, 1812

[Peter Johnston, Jr. at Abingdon, to Peter Carr [at Carrsbrook], Virginia, January 16, 1812. Gabriella Page Papers, Virginia Historical Society, Section 9. This is my rough transcription. Added paragraph breaks for easier reading. "Long s" modernized.]

My Dear Carr

It was not possible to obtain a conveyance from this place for Charles and Edward sooner than today and not withstanding the severity of the cold I have determined that they shall not postpone their departure for Carr's brook a moment longer.

You have relieved us from a most anxious difficulty & have confirmed a weight of obligation consenting to supply the boys with a bid. Mrs. Carr's friendly offers with respect to Edward, too, demand our warmest thanks.

I consign him to you & her with the confidence which renders me perfectly tranquil as to every thing which concerns his improvement and comfort. It is not for me to prescribe the course of instruction which you are to pursue with him. He is a son of whom my parental fondness (& perhaps folly) has made me vain. I have flattered myself that he possesses parts which if advantageously cultivated will render him the pride & happiness of my reclining years, and therefore it is that I commit him wholly to you.

He is at that age when the mind is most directable. This is probably the crisis of his life, and character. For so young a boy, he has a sufficient fondness, and even taste, for reading: but I fear he wants a disposition to study. The plan of his last tutor was certainly injudicious, and I am sure you will not find him competent to Horace. I heartily consent that you shall determine the point from whence he shall start. A recess of five or six months has probably lost to him much of the Latin he had acquired.   

The French language is a favorite part, with me, of that system of education which you have adopted, & I am extremely anxious that all my sons shall acquire it. But, upon that, & every other subject connected with Edward's literary course, I leave all to your judgement. 

It will not be amiss to give Charles much employment in composition, and I am sure she will be benefited by your lessons in elocution. His principal object, however, is the French tongue.

I trust in God I shall aid in the destruction of many dishes of bacon & eggs at your board when their relief will be possibly a little heightened by the presence of a part of my family. On some of those visits which Mrs. J. intends to make her mother, I hope too you will have an opportunity of standing sponsor for our only daughter, with respect to whom your monetary caution will not I flatter myself be lost. Our past experience on that subject has taught us to hold a watch over our affections. We have suffered bereavements to which even the hand of time has not reconciled our feelings. 

I orchestrate the warmest joy on the confirmation of Cabell's appointment. My chagrin would have been bitter indeed if he had been rejected by the Legislature: because I love him, & besides, I advised him most earnestly to accept the Executive proffer.

Gracious God! What an effecting scene must Richmond exhibit! The dreadful catastrophe of the 26th of December had produced the strongest impressions even at this distance, and amongst men who are entire strangers to the sufferers. I heartily congratulate you, that none of your relations, or special friends, were amongst the victims of the conflagration.

I shall call upon you in June as I go to the General Court. By that time you will have formed an estimate of the talents of your new pupils, and I shall expect a fair & candid opinion from you on the subject of my hopes and fears.

Charles sets out with $100 which I presume will leave him enough, after defraying expenses on the road, to make you the customary advances, and to afford him & Edward a little pocket money. The boys will come to you indifferently provided with books. If you should find it necessary to purchase any for them, draw on me, immediately, for whatever sum you may lay out, on their account.

                          Yrs truly and warmly
                             Peter Johnston 

[Peter Johnston, Jr. (1763-1831)
Peter Carr (1770-1815)
Not only does this letter stress the importance of education in the Johnston family, it also underlines the importance Judge Johnston gave to French. His high hopes for Edward are also made clear. 
Charles Clement Johnston (1795-1832), sixteen going on seventeen.
Edward William Johnston (1799-1867), twelve. 
Two older sons were John Warfield Johnston, twenty-one, then living in Philadelphia and attending the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and Peter Carr Johnston (1793-1877), eighteen going on nineteen. The latter may have been studying law with his father; he also joined the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. The four living younger sons, all ten and under, were undoubtedly being taught by their mother at home. 
Mrs. Carr = Esther "Hetty" Smith Stevenson Carr (1767-1834)
Mrs. J = Mary Valentine Wood Johnston (1769-1825)
Her mother = Lucy Henry Wood (1745-1826)
Only daughter = Jane Mary Wood Johnston (1811-1892)
Bereavements =Martha Maria Johnston (1789-1789) and Valentine Johnston (1797-1797)
Cabell = William Henry Cabell (1772-1853), former Virginia governor and then judge serving on the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
Glorious God! = Richmond Theatre Fire
$100 in 1812 = about $1750 in 2017.] 

[Many thanks to Sue Davis, William Myers, Mary Davy and Sally Young for their ongoing research collaboration.]