Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

I wrote you & intended it p[er] Capt. Wilkinson he told
Me on Change he was goi^g to Grave^send himself that Afternoon that
Mr. Athawes's Youngest son w^d follow him y^e Evening after
With all his Letters & if mine were sent any time in y^e Fore=
=noon they w^d be soon enough but instead thereof when I went
With them to M^r . Athawes's house in y^e Morn^g I found he went
Down y^e Night Tide so they were left & those sent p[er] post to Rams=
=gate it being a bye Post did not get there till Monday Noon & they
were left also as I expected & have been since ret^d to me you have them
by this Opport^y which is M^r Ballard passenger in Cap^t Littell
bound to Ja^s River. In look^g over Matters since the Ship sailed
I find by M^r . Barwick's neglect^g to make out 2 Bills Pp[ar]'cells 1 for
Col^o Edw^d Digges y^e other M^r . John Perrin for each a p^s Silk which
your Mother bo^t for her own wear^g but substituted them instead
of those they orderd neither of them have been cha^d in their Invoices
I have wrote them of it & must charge them accord^g ly, also Mr.
Barwick has added his Bill of P[]cells for Mr. Prentis's Goods
£10-short at least Mr Prentis is charg'd £10-too little
for the same in his Invoice, have since cha^d him with y^e Error
& by this Opport^y advis'd him of it. We are all much as you
left us, your Mother has been to Whitfield's Tabernacle & satisfied
her curiousity she seem'd much disappointed his Oratory fell greatly
short of her Expectations. I have done little in y^e Tob^o way since I
wrote have sold only 10 hh'ds of Sticky Stript Leaf to [Grote] & C^o a
3^d y^e 36 hh'ds sold [Lyde] of Stript Leaf prov'd in gen^l very rotten on
delivery old Mr. Hodgkin took 900 to Allow^ce & w^d hardly agree to
take them at that many hh'ds turned out rotten quite thro' they
belonged to M^r Benj: Herndon, Geo: Holloway, H^y Hill, Geo: Brooke
& W^m Thomson. I have got off y^e Leaf of that Stamp to Andrews
& C^o . & Sayer on pretty good terms except y^e hh'd DVN which was
so bad I let him have it at 2 1/8 witho^t allow^ce I have only 37 hh'ds
Leaf & 18 hh'ds Stript of Anderson's Cargo & 80 of Lilly's &10 P[er] odd ships
unsold many of them by Lilly being new I fear will stick on hand
but y^e old Tob^o I am not much afraid of as most of the Merch^ts
have cleared their Warehouses. Lilly has put up his Ship at y^e coffee
house to sail this m^o p[er] him probably you'll hear from me again
at p[re]sent remain with all our good wishes to you & Fr^ds in Virg^a

PS. I have p^d y^e greatest part of}
the Tradesmen & hope y^e remain^g
will be so before y^e Week expires

Capt Littell being detained longer than he expected gives
me an Opport^y of add^g a few more Lines just to advise you we are all
well M^c Nabb & Fox are just arriv'd but have no Letters of any
Conseq^a by them. The Market is rather stiffned for good Tob^o
but y^e Arriv^l of these 2 Ships will not I suppose help it much
I have lately sold Clarke & Leake 6 hh'ds Stript Leaf [3 a^t 10/4d & 3 at]
[torn]0 also 5 hh'ds at R^q . Vaux 4 Stem'd 2 J:Baylo'rs / EWD
& 1 M^r . Nelson Berkeley's a^t 3 ½d y^e other a hh'd of Leaf PP
at 3 also Fonblanque & C^o . 30 odd hh'ds p^t out of Anderson's
Ship at 2 7/8d & p^t out of Lilly at 2 5/8d also 8 hh'ds Shag tob^o to
Croger I hope to get a 2 ¾ d for y^e remain^r of the Shippers in Anderson
thô have not been offer^d as yet more than [@] 2 5/8 for them they are
neither dry nor Stout. Mr. Baylor has 1 hh'd unsold 'tis as grey as a Badger & great part of it ^{appears by ye Sample to be} perish'd. M^r . Peter Lyons &
some others are in same State. I must endeavor to get them off
before warm Weather comes on, very little appear^ce of Sumer as
yet We have not been at Putney but have tho^ts of goe:^g soon. I shall
be prepare:^g To get y^e Acco^t Sales made out & expect shall send
them all or near it in a M^o . or 6 Weeks if any oppor^ty Abo^t
that time, to be sure they are far from being equal to my Wishes
but still I think they will at least be as good as my Neighb^rs
for Tob^o of y^e same Quality. I believe y^e Crop will come to a pretty
dear Market there being very little old on hand. W^m . Hill has
not yet rec'd M^r Nelson's Tob^o which is abominable tho it can't be
helped M^r . Maxwell has not p^d M^r . Page's Bill remitt^g p[er]
Mr. Prentis thô the days are expired he tells me if there is Effects when
the Leeds Anderson arrives he will let me know whether he will pay
it or not & desires me to keep it 'till that time, 'tis noted properly.
When y^e [n^t .] P[ro]ceeds of the Tob^o are ent^d to y^e Credit of those to whom
they belong shall make out a List of D^rs . & send you there has
been abo^t 4000 hh'ds Virg^a & Maryl^d Tob^o sold y^e French at this
Port at 2 1/8d am inform'd y^e Glasgow People are now sell^g them a 1 15/16
which is a despicable Price. Mr. Jn^o Frere is just come to Town &
has a Lodg^gs in y^e Strand, his Flame is expected soon from Bath
Our best Wishes attend you & all Fr'ds. in Virg^a .

Capt. Lilly talks of sailg. in abo^t
10 days shall probably write you
again by him-

There is this Moment present^d to me for
Accept^ce a Bill drawn by M^r Smith dat^g 20^th
Aug^st last for £305.1.6 pay^a to M^r Pride there is no Letter of advice
neither did M^r Smith in all the conversation we had together ever
mention a word abo^t it or propose any provision for Paym^t of it by its being kept back so long I cant think but M^r Smith may have
agreed with M^r Pride that y^e Bill sh^d not be sent home & that
he was to pay it at his Return in Virg^a I am at a Loss to guess &
therefore M^r Smith cant blame me for its being ret^d -when y^e
days are out There has been a Man in y^e Minories call'd on
me & demanded Paym^t for a Matrass near £3-but y^r Mother
& M^r Withers think they heard Mr. Smith say he had paid for it
Shou'd be glad you w^d enquire & let me know. The Leeds Anderson
is just arriv'd-

London 10^th & 19^th May
John Norton
Rec^d the Sep^r 1767
Answered fully p
Cap^t . Lilly Nov^r 1767
This has been answer'd
[In] part some time --