- Dear John,
- A few days since I arrived at home and am pleased to inform you that my health continued good & that I found all my Relations & frds. well.
- I sho' have been pleased to have returned thro' NoC & have spent some time with you, but found when I go to N York that my business compelled my immediate return. I suppose that friend Patterson gave you a History of our trip to Petrsbg & also during our stay there. I enjoyed myself as you might suppose in the superlative degree & what is still more pleasing I made my expenses at your game. New York was quite dull except in the way of business.
- It wo' give me great pleasure to be in Raleigh at this time.
- I know I sho' be highly interested. I hope you are figuring largely, both as a Legislator & a decent man. Northampton you know requires the best kind of Representation. Your health I know was good when at home and your passions moderate. I hope you will not endanger the former by suffering the latter to be excited. Sho' you occupy the Room I was recommending at Dunns the temptation will be so great that you will have to use Philosophy and christian fortitude. The above advice coming from one of experience I hope will not be taken amiss-- I expect to return to Georgia in the spring if I sho' receive flattering news from Miss __________ There is no news in this section except a total failure of our Cotton Crops. & an alarm about Insurrections. Nothing else talked about.
- Jackson is quite dull. I [torn] you will not forget to give [torn] immediate reply with a long [torn] Tell me all about every thing.
- Yours Sincerely & truly
- [Unfortunately the signature is torn off]
- John M. Moody Esq
- Raleigh
- No Carolina
- Postmarked: JACKSON TEN DEC 8
- Postage: 25
- VLR (Virginia Leigh Refo)
- Letter to John Mason Moody. He served in the North Carolina General Assembly 1831-32, representing Northampton Co. and later in the Senate 1844-47. He married in 1832 Martha William Wright, and it appears for a time after their marriage they lived on her property in Greensville Co. VA, before moving back to NC after John's father, Capt. William Moody died in 1839. Friend Patterson refers to John Hamilton Patterson, a former legislator from Northampton County, and husband of Alice W. (Crump) Patterson, uncle and aunt of John's future wife. Too bad we don't know who the sender is. The Miss in Georgia from whom he was awaiting flattering news was not named, just a blank line, as above.
- At first, I thought this might be from one of Daniel Mason's sons, but this man appears to have served in North Carolina politics, and I can find no Mason from that family that served in NorthCarolina. There was a Lewis P. Williamson who served in the NC Legislature 1822-24 from Northampton Co., and who settled in the Western District (Fayette County) of Tennessee. That's a possibility, but pure speculation. Also Francis Dancy, Jr., John's uncle, served in the North Carolina Senate from Northampton Co. in 1813, but I don't believe he ever lived in Tennessee, and this letter seems to have been written by a younger man.
Acknowledgement
- Many thanks to cousin Virginia Leigh Refo whose research and transcriptions added to this profile. The originals were donated to the Library of Virginia in 2004 by Liz Edens Vermillion with the help of Virginia Refo Moody Family Papers, 1750-1881. Accession 40535, Personal Papers Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.