Scope and Contents

No one is sure whether the Persia  went to sea of is it still in the lower bay; William, Sarah, Matthew, Mary, and he stood on the wharf to see her off; looked for her on the deck, but did not see her; Sarah and William saw Joseph Weed and Mytton on the deck; Mr. Duncan Kennedy apologized for not coming to the wharf, he was ill; Mary enjoyed seeing the departure; Walker came late to dinner and breakfast; the weather is very cool; he was very tired last night and slept for 9 hours; went over all the entries in the DAy Book and Ledger from January to April trying to find the source of an error; finally did find it; encloses two letters that she received yesterday [not present]; also encloses Harriet's letters to Mytton [not present] which gives a much better account of her baby; forwarded letters for her and Mytton; wrote to Mrs. Cox about Mytton's ordination; enclosed a copy of this letter to Rutson and James; WIlliam asked him what the price of gold was; he [WM] was disappointed to find that it had failed; had heard nothing more about Hooker's [Union] army after hearing yesterday that Lee's forces had taken back the Heights at Fredericksburg; then read in the "World" newspaper that Hooker had retreated north of the Rappahannock [River]; gold prices went up and William made money; fears William will become a gambler; WIlliam admitted he did not want to be drawn in the business too deeply; thinks William should goo visit Cousin Jody now; mentioned William's interest in the stock market in a letter to Jody, as he hopes Jody will get him to do something else; William showed him an article about some people in St Louis being banished and sent to "Dixie" for being souther sympathizers; Ann Nugent has a toothache, and Sarah is doctoring it his photograph is ready, but they were not; received a letter from Mrs. F.H. Lewis, which enclosed a letter for Mrs. Cox; sent them both to Rutsonl write to Mrs. Carrington and told her the rules for flag of truce correspondence; found that there was another error in his ledger books, but could not find its source; the weather is still cool; [(9 May]) encloses Mrs. Lewis's letter to him [not present]; the coal he ordered arrived today; Hooker's actions are now seen only as a retreat, not a defeat; thinks Hooker is a bad stragegist; sends regards. 12pp ALS