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Aunt Anne (Blair) Banister to "niece" (Eliza (Braxton) Whiting), 1803 October 25

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 5
Identifier: id113363

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents Blushed at her gentle reproof; throws herself on her mercy for pardon; passes last winter with her friend Mrs. Hamilton, the British Consul's Lady, in Norfolk; Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have been very good to both her and her son [Theodorick Bland] in Scotland; promised to stay this winter with them [the Hamiltons]; would like to have been excused because going prevented her from seeing her (EW) , and she has to spend too much money on clothers "to keep up the Lady"; has a plausible excuse to offer when she gets "down" [to Norfolk] which will be in the middle of next month; Munro [Banister] expects to get a license for practicing law when he becomes of age in May; he (MB) is bent on going to the "new countries," Kentucky being one where there will be a dividend of land in which he and his brother [TB] are sharers"; he (MB) then plans on going to Louisiana; asks how she can absent herself from him (MB) when he is leaving so soon; finds fault with the Hamiltons for being too perservering in their wishes; must try to hold her place and quit too; before leaving Norfolk last spring Niece [Mary (Blair)] Andrews and family came down; about that time Mr. H-ort [?] set out for Mr. Wormley's, by whom she and Mary [Anrews] wrote her; Monro George, who met Mr. James Wormley in Alex[andri]a, Virginia went to Richmond and was discarded by Miss Jane Wormley to whom he was engaged, was so bewildered he brought the letters back here without delivering them; he failed to give them back until now; she and Mrs. A[ndrews] thought the letters so old they were not worth postage; wishing to prove they weren't neglectful of her, Mrs. A[ndrews] has taken them with her on a trip to Wilton, hoping she can find some private conveyance from Richmond; enclosed are four profiles sent to her from Mary Andrews, Mr. [James] Henderson, Son Munro [Banister] and herself, Mr. H[enderson]'s is a good likeness of Thomas; Mary A[ndrews], Mr. [Henderson] and Charlotte Balfour are resolved to write her (EW) soon; Charlotte Balfour and Jane Cary send greetings; they are all well although Charlotte B[alfour] is recovering the "second most sever attack this fall"; Polly Peachy is in Petersburg, Virginia with her daughters attending weddings, races, and plays; Mr. Cary and Lady are not yet returned from Fluvanna, Sally [Cary] went with them, she and Jane [Cary] are very pretty; Wilson [Cary, Jr.] is reading law in Rich[mon]d with Mr. Edm[un]d Randolph; thinks Wilson [Cary] "a sweet youth", she wishes was not so many Democrats; "he [WC, Jr.] has been drawn in one scrape by them [Democrats], for w[hi]ch he has been a true penitent"; the Peyton Randolph she (EW) saw in the papers was Edmund R[andolph's] son, not Nancy Innes' lover who is son to Peyton Randolph of Wilton; Nancy Innes and Peyton Randolph have plighted their troths; has not seen Mrs. Innes since her late affliction as when she retuned to the "old city" Williamsburg she was gone to her sister in Cumberland where her daughter was married; fears she will not see Mrs. I[nnes] again as when she returns she [AB] will be in Norfolk, and Mrs. I[nnes] will be packing so that she can move in with her daughter; the Tuckers are at Sir Peyton Skipwith's on a visit to the Corbins in King and Queen [County, Virginia]; had letters in June from her son [TB] and her sister [ET] who were then well; Theo[doric]k has not yet seen his Aunt but plans to visit her at Titchfield England after he takes his degrees in the spring; he [Tb] then plans to go to London and maybe Paris if she can afford it; Mr. Rose lies at deaths door in Stannton [sic] on his return from the Springs; Theo[doric]k speaks highly of Robert Wilson and of his Aunt Chisholm's attention to him; he [TB] never fails to mention her (EW) and her family, particularly his friends [Dr. Robert H.] Little and George [Whiting]; her [AB] sister [ET] and her family were all well; two of her [ET] daughters, Sarah and Alishen, married men of fortune, while the eldest, Mary, married a poor man who is the captain of a ship of war that is fighting the French; they [Mary (Thompson) and husband] have two children, maybe three; Mary [(Thompson)] and her children live with her mother and father while her husband is gone; hopes Mary's [(Thompson)] husband and Norborne [Thompson?] capture some rich prizes; Alfred Thompson was in the artillery and expected to be promoted as war has been declared; Helen is sixteen years old and taller than either of her sisters though not so handsome; she [ET] expresses affection for her (EW) and her family; congratulates her on the recovery of Mary [(Whiting) Little] and "her darling pet"; "Increase and multiply seems to be the text perfectly understood by the former [ML]"; asks to be presented with affection to her family; asks her to kiss "little Bet" [EL] for "Aunt Ban" which is what most of the children call her; heard Francis [Whiting] joined the Navy; heard of Mr. George's [Whiting] courtship which she thinks he is too young to be involved in; is at Mr. Henderson's where Mrs. Cocke has come to spend the day with Charlotte Balfour and herself; Mrs. Cocke sends love and good wishes; thinks Mr. Henderson might marry again, hopes the woman is good to Thomas. 4pp. ALS.

Dates

  • Creation: 1803 October 25

Creator

Language of Materials

From the Collection:

English

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Extent

From the Collection: 1 Linear Feet

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Research Center Repository

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