This letter by John Williams instructs a Mr. T. Brady to deliver salt to
Mrs. M. D. Wofford. The delivery relates to an arrangement Williams has made
with Wofford and a Mr. McKeller concerning the hired labor of slaves named
Aleck, Tyler (or Tyla),…
Writing from Mansfield to Weeks (in Houston), Moore reports of news that the federal troops sent to Berwick Bay are destined for Texas on the Red River. "Col. Offutt & the Prescotts are in the Parish of Sabine near Mary looking out for places for…
Moore, writing from near Mansfield, asks Lourd on his next visit to the Magill plantation to "bring away all the slaves that you may think worth saving, leaving such only as you may think will stay and take care of the property."
Moore writes from Starrville, Smith County, Texas, about a recent letter received from W. F. Weeks about opportunities for hiring out slaves to do railroad and other work in the Houston area.
Leigh reports to his father-in-law about an upcoming trip to visit some
refugee friends living in Millican, a railroad depot on the Central in
Grimes County. He also describes the corn crop in Texas as one of the best
he has ever seen, and is…
Leigh reports to Moore that he has rented 140 acres of "the best of Brazos bottom land," planted with corn, in Sterling, Robinson County, Texas, for which he paid one third of his yield. He had also hired out all of he hands at $25 per month for men…
Leigh talks of a recent three-week trip he has made to Texas (Crockett?) and the illnesses that his wife, Addy, and others suffered on the way. He "did not succeed in any of my enterprises," finding that there were no hogs good enough to be driven…
Moore writes to Weeks about his intention to keep most of his "hand" in
Desoto Parish, sending a few back to the Teche to raise a crop if possible
there and on the Magill plantation. He is confident that Weeks's "reasoning
in relation to the detail…
Moore begins with a lengthy discussion of the accounts of W. F. Weeks &
Co., and then shares his plans to go to Shreveport soon to "settle with C.
S. officers for the hire & loss of slaves working on the Public Works."
While some of the officers he…