Frances Steptoe Johnston to Sarah Tate Steptoe Massie, September 2, 1823

[Frances Steptoe Johnston at Botetourt Springs, Virginia, to Sarah Tate Steptoe Massie near Rosemills, Nelson County, Virginia, September 2, 1823. Massie Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society. This is my rough, annotated transcription from a copy graciously provided by William Myers. Extra paragraph breaks inserted for easier reading.]

                                                                    Botetourt  Sept. 2d 1823

My dear Aunt

I am sorry that I was obliged to postpone the answer to your letter after you had been so god as to write first but my reasons are good. When you wrote I was very busily employed in preparing myself for an examination which took place a fortnight ago and as soon as it was over I was taken ill with a dreadful pain in my face and swelling which is not yet thoroughly well and you know that I could not write under such circumstances.

There has been very little company here already but we expect a great deal as they return from the other Springs; there has been two deaths here; one, lately, a child of Mrs. Judge Daniel and the other a S. Carolinian which has deterred a great number from coming here because they reported that they died with the Lick fever and that no person would stay here on account of it.

We have had a great deal of pleasure for the last week and we set up sometimes till after midnight there were some men here that had a great exhibition of slight [sleight] of hand which lasted two nights and each night untill [until] eleven o’clock and we danced a long time afterwards. I wish you could have seen some of their experiments they were so amusing that we were never tired.

We were at Mrs. Watts. Last Sunday for the first time since last summer. Mrs. Watts is very well.

I believe I have never written you since we got another music mistress we like her very well as a teacher but in other respects she is just another as Eliza Krauth. She is a gay widow of 25 and is the greatest flirt you ever saw. We have a schoolmate with whom we are very pleased she is a little girl of our own age Miss Bowyer who takes music lessons with us also.

James lives here now altogether. I expect he will go to college this fall. Grandpa will miss him very much.

Aunt Frances was coming to see us this summer but she had given it out as she generally does.

Cousin Nancy talks of going to Petersburg in October and papa had promised that we should go with her but I do not like the thought of it much I think we had better not take such trips untill [until] we are educated.

I believe I have told you all the news that I can scrape [together]. I will write to you again before long and in the mean-time accept the love of your affectionate niece.

                                                                           Frances S. Johnston

Excuse this bad writing for I can’t get any person to mend my pen.

[My dear Aunt = Sarah Tate Steptoe Massie (1796-1828), who was married to William Massie (1795-1862) and was the daughter of James Steptoe (1750-1826). There is a massive Massie collection at the University of Texas here.

Frances Steptoe Johnston (1807-after 1850), making her about sixteen when she wrote this letter.’

Mrs. Judge Daniel = probably Margaret Baldwin Daniel (1786-1824), married to Judge William Pride Daniel, Sr. (1770-1839) of Lynchburg. The child may have been Martha Bouldin Daniel (born 1818). For a letter written by Margaret in 1817, see this link (Spared and Shared 6 blog: “Saving history, one letter at a time . . .”)

Mrs. Watts = Elizabeth Breckenridge Watts (1794-1862), married to General Edward Watts (1779-1859) of “Oaklands.” 

Watts family correspondence can be found at the University of Virginia Special Collections here. Additional primary sources, such as "Deed between Henry S. Langhorne and Frances, his wife, and Edward Watts for the sale of a tract of land in Botetourt County" (April 1828) can be found here.

Eliza Krauth = possibly Eliza Ann Krauth (born 1803)

Miss Bowyer = one of the Bowyer clan.

James = probably James Steptoe Johnston (1808-1895)

Grandpa = James Steptoe (1750-1826), who had been married to Frances Callaway (1760-1807).

Aunt Frances = possibly Frances Callaway Steptoe Langhorne (1798-1832), married to Henry Scarsbrook Langhorne (1790-1854).

Cousin Nancy = Not sure who this is.

Papa = Charles Johnston (1768-1833).

Lick fever = probably typhoid or malaria. An interesting article about the localized name: "Passing Along the Lick: The Buried History of Downtown Roanoke" by Olchar E. Lindsann, The Roanoke Rover (June 6, 2015) here.]

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