William Carlton Radford to William Mosely Radford, May 26, 1830

[William Carlton Radford at Poplar Forest to William Mosely Radford, Student at the University of Virginia, Albermarle, Virginia, c/o Mr. Gilmer, May 26, 1830. Box 29, folder 10, Robert Morton Hughes Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529. This is my rough transcription. Instances of the "long s" in the original have been modernized and paragraph breaks added for easier reading.]

My dear William

Mr. Gilmer being on his way to Albermarle I take the opportunity of writing to you a few lines.

I find by your answer to John's letter, that he has been very indiscreet in writing to you on an important subject, and one calculated to give you some uneasiness from the communication itself.

It is the object of this letter to remove any uneasiness you may feel upon the subject, by telling you that the tale has made no impression upon any person whatever. In fact the gossipers, being entirely at fault upon the matter, have ascribed it first to one at fault and then to another, until they have no person to go upon. Under this state of affairs it will be entirely useless to challenge Miss H. A. on your return.

Your cousin Susan arrived in Lynchburg on Saturday evening last, came by here on Sunday, and went the same evening to New London on her way to Botetourt. Her anxiety on account of Sarah Bowyer's health prevented her from staying any time with us. She will probably return during the course of the summer.

She talks of Presidents, secretaries, members of Congress as her every day acquaintances. When I see her again I shall insist on her writing her travels. She was attended by her cousin a daughter of Gen'l Frank Preston (who has been going to school with Anne in Richmond) and by his son & young Mr. Trigg.

Susan left our friends in Richmond all week. She seems to think John will be let off. She states that William S. Archer member from Virginia will visit Miss Smith in the [?] of the Summer. He is very nearly as old as I am. 

Having written you so lately I will conclude by presenting you the love of all the family.

                                        your affectionate father
                                                         Wm. Radford

P.S. If you have not already stop'd the Museum do so immediately for me as the year is about to expire. I am heartily sick of it and would not pay the postage for it. 

[William Carlton Radford (1781-1861)
Poplar Forest = Thomas Jefferson estate, connected to the Radfords. One area with a house was later called "Ashwood."
William Mosely Radford (1810-1873)
Mr. Gilmer = [?]
John = John Blair Radford (1813-1872)
Miss H. A. = [?]
Susan = Susanna (Susan) Smith Preston (1805-1857) would marry the recipient of this letter at Greenfield on August 31, 1831. 
Sarah Bowyer = Sarah Radford Preston Bowyer (1801-1848), married to Henry Morton Bowyer (1802-1893) since September 8, 1827.
Her cousin = most likely Margaret Buchanan Frances Preston (1818-1852), who would marry Wade Hampton III (1818-1902) of Columbia, South Carolina, in Washington County, Virginia, on October 10, 1838. 
General Frank Preston = Francis Smith Preston (1765-1836)
Anne = Anne Rebecca Radford (1816-1841), who would marry Charles Trigg Beale on April 17, 1837 or 1838. 
His son = probably Charles Henry Campbell Preston (1807-1832) or Thomas Lewis Preston (1812-1903); his two other sons were living in South Carolina at the time. 
Young Mr. Trigg = could be any number of Triggs. 
William S. Archer = William Segar Archer (1789-1855), a nephew of Joseph Eggleston (1754-1811).
Miss Smith = [?]
The Museum = periodical.]

Note: Radford University, Radford, Virginia, has a digitized set of Radford Family Letters (transcripts) available online. Looks like a goldmine of material. Link here.

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

Andrew Jackson Visits Botetourt Springs, Virginia, September 18, 1830

From catalog record: Andrew Jackson [1767-1845] at Botetourt Springs, Virginia, to Major William B. [Berkeley] Lewis [1784-1866] at Washington City, September 18, 1830: "Informing him of his arrival at Botetourt Springs and telling him that he hopes to reach Washington in six or seven days." Collection of autograph letters signed from Andrew Jackson to William B. Lewis (MA 811) item 37 unbound. Pierpont Morgan Library Dept. of Literary and Historical Manuscripts. Also published in Daniel Feller, Thomas Coens, and Laura-Eve Moss, eds., The Papers of Andrew Jackson, volume VIII, 1830 (Knoxville: Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2010), p. 525. The Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, (212) 685-0008.

Jackson was President of the United States at the time. John Caldwell Calhoun (1782-1850) of South Carolina was Vice President. Important for documenting the fact that Jackson stayed at Botetourt Springs, operated by Charles Johnston (1769-1833).

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

Algernon Sidney Johnston Begins Drafting 'Memoirs of a Nullifier,' July 3, 1831

[Algernon Sidney Johnston at Columbia, South Carolina, to "My dear sister" (Louisa Smith Bowen Johnston) at Abingdon, Virginia, July 3, 1831, Box 1, John Warfield Johnston Papers, 1778-1890, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University].

It's been a year since they've exchanged letters. He has written a long letter to Jane. In between the lines, it's obvious that his earlier attempts at running a fashion shop or bookstore with his brother Edward William Johnston has been a failure, and they still owe money. Instead, Algernon tells a couple of stories poking fun at "Oui Cheri," Edward's wife Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (ca. 1802-1848), and a busybody neighbor, "Mrs. Bay" (probably Ann Davis Bay, 1757-1847).  

'The most remarkable event is that we have gone to housekeeping again, finding it pleasanter and cheaper than the other method of living. We are resolved not to exceed 500$ a year, and in order that this be enforced I keep the cash, and when Monday morning comes give Oui Cheri five dollars for the week,* and whether it lasts the seven days, or only two, it’s all the same, nothing can get any more money out of me that week.

This far we have got along quite prosperously; indeed last week we had one and nine[?] pence left. I have found it necessary, however, to prohibit the use of butter. For two reasons: firstly, it excites bilious fever: secondly, it is expensive, much beyond the mere cost of itself, for it is the nature of butter to lubricate and make slippery the throat, and thus greatly to facilitate the descent there through. It is evident therefore that the use of it occasions a much greater consumption of bread and other viands than takes place when they are allowed to remain in their natural dry state.

Our next neighbour is a certain Mrs. Bay, an old lady of no great character for veracity or magnanimity. The first morning after we moved here she sent two cucumbers; the next, something which she called a cabbage; and the next a plate of four biscuit[s]. Oui Cheri, without thinking these presents very significant, was nevertheless delighted with Mrs. Bay’s goodness, and praised her to the skies. I, however, advised her not to accept them, and predicted that they would soon have a falling out, and sure enough it soon appeared that no sooner had the old lady dispatched the plate of biscuit[s] than she seized her bonnet pushed off to Mrs. Chappell and told her (which you know was more than equivalent to putting it in the newspaper) that she supported Oui Cheri’s family entirely, that without her they would go to pot, and nothing else about the house would – Oui Cheri has been ever since in deep distress about it. I advised her to bake a cake of bread, send it as a present to Mrs. Bay, and then go and tell Mrs. Cooper (Mrs. Chappell’s rival in enlightening the town,) that she supported Mrs. Bay, but she has not the spirit to follow my advice.

Having given Jane a piece of poetry, I will send you a most sentimental piece also – here it is.'

"Sweet Laura" poem [subsequently published as "To Laura" in Memoirs of a Nullifier; Written by Himself. By a Native of the South. Columbia, S.C.: Printed and Published at the Telescope Office, 1832, pages 32-33].

'Ben talks about returning to Virga. Soon. When he does, Edward and [blank] will write to father and Charles. As for myself, I don’t expect this summer to stir a hundred yards from where I now am. For the present I’m now turned author. The other day I sold a parcel of manuscripts for 200$. What do you think of that? I confess, that it was to a fellow in whose debt I was, and who probably calculated that he’d never get anything better. I do this because I have little else to employ me this summer. In the fall I will go at something more serious. I have much else to say, but, as you see, no more room.'

Again solicits a letter – asks about John also, and "father."

And so the letter ends. 

Taking a look at the Federal Census of 1830 for Columbia under "E. W. Johns[t]on," there are listed two white males under 30, one white female under 30, one black female slave aged 10-23 and one black female slave under 10. The enslaved members of the household are never directly mentioned in this letter. Mrs. Bay, listed on the same pages of the 1830 census, includes fourteen enslaved members in her household (all but one, female) and one white female 20-30. 

*Five dollars in 1831 roughly equals $140.00 in 2016. 

[Algernon Sidney Johnston (October 17, 1801-September 22, 1852)
Louisa Smith Bowen Johnston (February 16, 1800-March 17, 1873)
Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (ca. 1802-December 15, 1848)
Edward William Johnston (October 17, 1799-December 9, 1867)
Jane Wood Johnston (November 26, 1811-January 6, 1892)
Charles Clement Johnston (April 30-1795-June 17, 1832)
Benjamin Franklin Johnston (November 18, 1808-November 5, 1834
John Warfield Johnston II (September 9, 1818-February 27, 1889)
Peter Johnston, Jr. (January 6, 1763-December 8, 1831)]

For their help and assistance, many thanks to the staff of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. For more information about the John Warfield Johnston Papers, here's a link to the guide.