Lochwinnioch 6th Sept 1761 Mr. Pain Sr.,

I1 Take this opportunity of writing you pr. the Jenny Capt Orr To Cause You Look a little into my affairs How they Goe one att Taunton I have my uncle John Adams2 obligation for £300 Strll. Befor Two wittneses Signed and Both in his own house viz John Dounie & Mathew Ritche and when I left N England I had my uncle and Mr. Thomas Rumreil3 of Newpt. their orders for Goods which I have sent them To the amount of near £400 Stl. and one Mr John Melvill4 Mercht in Boston has money of mine which I Left in his hand To value of Betwine 40£ & 50£ Strll. for which I have his Receipt and I have not had a Scrape of a Letter from one of them Since I left New Englang and my Intent of writting att this Time is To Cause Yow in Case need Be To up lift of Said Debts for To the amount of £200 Strll. and Remite me that Sum in a Bill of exchange and if Bills of ex Cannot Be Ready Gott live your money with one Mr. James Anderson5 Mercht. on the Dock Boston But if Yow find that my uncle has Remmitted me or Be Going Soon To Remite me Their in that Case I would not have Yow To medle with it nor to put him To any Trowble abt. it whatsomeever But in Case need Be I Empowr. Yow To lift Said Sume as Beformentioned To the Amount of £200 Strll. and Give Disscharges for the Same which Shall Be as good and valid as if I were on the Spote my self to Do it I Have Rec'd no letters from N England Since I Came Home. I Do not Know how Matters may be going one wt. yow But I Dessire that yow woud Show my uncle this letter and Consult with him what he has Done or is Going To Do about my Remittances it is neccessity that makes me write so pressingly for money Yowl act according as you find need To Do for it is in Case of a failure in my uncle That I empowre yow to uplift Said Sume So that I may not Be Dissapointed any longer and whatever Trouble or pains yow are att Yow Shall Be Sattissfied for it. I Beg Youl Se that I Be not Dissapointed Betwixt Yow. I hope to Be in Edinburgh Soon at which Time I Expect to See Your Freind6 their Your Droping me a Letter pr. the Jenny as she returns straight Back To Glasgow will favour me much210Dirreck for me att Lockwinioch By Paisley N. Brittain. Sr. I am with the utmost Respect Yr. most Huble. Srvnt.

ROBERT CALDWELL

PS Excuse my Bad write & incorrecness for I am Just now in Great hast and in Case it Shoud hapen that yow Have To Remite me it must be here Before February 1762 or Soner

RC ; addressed: "To Mr. Robt. Trait Pain attorney in Law att Taunton or Elswer To the Care of Mr Anthony Bracket Inholder in Scool house lane Boston. pr. the Jenny Capt Orr. QDC"; endorsed. The ellipses indicate missing text due to holes in the paper.

1.

Robert Caldwell (d. ca. 1790), a Taunton merchant, was in Scotland at this time but was back in Boston by 1771. Letters from various West Indies ports in 1772 and from Philadelphia in 1781 are at the MHS. By 1788 he called himself an innholder of Taunton (Charles R. Atwood, Reminiscences of Taunton [Taunton, 1880], 24; Bristol Co. Deeds, 67:13).

2.

John Adam (1714–1802) of Taunton, a trader, not to be confused with the future president. Originally from Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, Scotland, Adam came to New England in 1737 and settled at Easton, Mass., as a blacksmith. In 1749 he moved to Taunton, where he became involved in merchant trade and established a rolling and slitting mill as part of the active iron industry in the region. He married Sarah Leonard in 1749 and in 1794 moved to Salisbury, Conn. (Kenneth T. Howell and Einar W. Carlson, Men of Iron: Forbes & Adam [Lakeville, Conn., 1980], 13–22).

3.

Thomas Rumreill of Newport, R.I., an import merchant.

4.

The Boston Gazette of Nov. 12, 1759 carries an advertisement by Allen and John Melvil for imported dry goods which they had for sale from their "newly improved" warehouse on Dyer's Wharf.

5.

James Anderson, Boston merchant, was a member of the Society for Encouraging Trade and Commerce and in 1768 was a subscriber to the Boston Duck Manufacturing Scheme.

6.

Not identified.

Barnstable Novbr. 4th 1761 Mr. Paine Sr.,

There is a Case Depending at our Inferiour Court In December wherein Eben. Gorham Junr.1 is plant. and Elisha Thacher Deft. for Defemation and If you will Come In Behalf of The Plant.2 I3 will Give you Ten Dollars And Gett you as Much more Buissiness as I posibly Can. Mr. Ephraim Berry who Gave you a Small Fee Last Court Depends Upon your Comeing at The Next Court & will Give you what Further Is Reasonable I would not have you fail of Comeing. In hast I am yr. Humble Servt.

CORNS. CROCKER 211

P.S pray Send me word as Soon as possible wheither you will Ingage to Come or Not yrs. C:C

RC ; addressed: "To Mr Robert Treat Paine In Taunton with Care & Speed"; endorsed. Several sums are tallied on the verso.

1.

Ebenezer Gorham, Jr. (1729–ca. 1772), a Barnstable mariner, later lost at sea (C. W. Swift, ed., Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, 2 vols. [Barnstable, 1888], 1:431).

2.

This action is not further identified. The Barnstable County court records were largely destroyed in an 1827 fire.

3.

Cornelius Crocker (1704–1784) operated the grist mill and a public tavern in Barnstable (Swift, ed., Barnstable Families, 1:224).