Scope and Contents

Encloses a copy of a note to her from Miss Morrill, a copy of his reply, a note to him fom Mrs. King, a letter from Harriet saying that arrived safely in St. Louis, and a letter from Major Mordecai giving them recent news of Nan [none of these is present]; rceived a letter from Sam Pollard in S[an] Francisco and a letter enclosing a check to be given to Mrs. Pollard to pay for her father's tombstone; he planned to make money selling sheep's wool, but the market was ruined by C[onfederate] S[tates] privateers; Sam Pollard enclosed two letters, one to be forwarded to his mother and the other for his sister; the letter for his sister in Richmond cannot be sent by Flag of Truce, so he will send it to Mrs. pollard as well; wishes he had been as patient as his father had been about doing things like this; he may be able to own some property in a good location in San Francisco; Walker said that he, William and Sarah planned to go to Dunnington and stay there till Friday morning; expected them to leave and not participate in the Thanksgiving activities; Mr. G[ardener] said that he had planned to go back to her today, but not if they were going to visit; Sarah was still planning to go but W[alker] decided he was too busy; then Walker decided to go to Orange, [N.J.] instead; this upset William's plans, because he and Walker had planned to go fishing; William and Sarah planned to go to Staten Island, but he suggested that they go to Dunnington after all since Mr. Gardener changed his plans because of them; they agreed, and left this morning; there were only about 60 people at the church service this morning; was happy to get her letter by the Arabia; is sorry she did not find record [of Rutson's marriage] at Salisbury Cathedral; thinks they must have been married, maybe at the Cathedral in Hereford; does not think she should worry anymore about it; thinks that the marriage ceritficate Walker forwarded to Rutson must be a forgery; he was surprised when Sarah asked she had found in Salisbury; did not know she had been told about the affair; told her what her [AM] letter said, and William probably overheard; has to tell James what she found out, and he will let her know when James has talked to Rutson about it; (7 August) Matthew came to town today and left again in the afternoon; encloses a letter he brought from James [Matthew's son?]; to Tobin; Sarah and William came back late because of engine trouble; Mr. Gardner invited him to come visit his home, which he does not have time to do right now; asked Walker if he knew where the marriage certificate he forwarded to Rutson had come from; he did not; they had a long talk about the young people's behavior and attitudes toward him and her [AM]; thinks they may get along better now; got into an arguement with William on Tuesday about his [RM] role as master of the household; is not sure what to do about Fontaine; he must know that there will not be peace by late October; when he had planned to return to New O[rleans]; Fontaine has spoken of poisoning himself, but he is not worried since she told him he often speaks that way; Matthew has an appointment with the vaultbuilder on Monday. 13 pp. ALS