Scope and Contents Thomas Mead, of Lynchburg, Virginia, writes to his brother-in-law Frederick Carper, of Fairfax City, Virginia. The letter mentions their political differences and discusses laborers from Pennsylvania coming to work on the James River Canal (which was never completed). Mead describes these white laborers as a "motley crew" and mentions "Lynches law" as a method to deal with them. Enslaved "hands" were hired from $100 to $150 per year to work on the project. Mead mentions prices for enslaved...