1840 Montgomery, Alabama stampless - AWESOME SOUTHERN TRAVEL LETTER, Content !!

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POSTAL HISTORY / LETTERThis remarkable Montgomery, Alabama stampless folded letter was written in 1840 by Thomas Masters (1781-1844) of the mercantile house, Masters & Markoe which operated throughout the early nineteenth century. Thomas Masters came to the United States from Great Britain to establish himself as a merchant about 1803. By 1807 he was a clerk in the mercantile house of Pratt & Kintzing. The next year he left to establish his own mercantile house. During the spring of 1807 he married Isabella Caldwell (1783-1841), the daughter of Samuel Caldwell (1736-1798) and Martha Rownd Caldwell (1747-1824), and by 1810 established a commission business with his brother-in-law Frands Markoe (1774-1848), who was married to Sarah "Sally" Caldwell (1781-1862), another daughter of Samuel Caldwell and Martha Caldwell.Much of Markoe & Master's business involved the West Indian trade. Severe losses caused by the War of 1812 caused the dissolution of the firm on November 14, 1814. Thomas Masters then associated himself with the New York merchant Divie Bethune (1771-1824). Though Markoe continued to reside in Philadelphia, the firm operated from New York under Masters' direction. Masters & Markoe then operated in New York from about 1825 until 1836, when the firm became Masters, Markoe & Co. Thomas Masters and Francis Markoe were joined, at different times, by their sons, Samuel Caldwell Masters (1814-1838) and Francis Markoe, Jr. (1801-1871), and by Jeremiah Wilbur (1804-1876), a son-in-law of Masters. The firm of Masters, Markoe & Co. continued until 1846, when it became Markoe, Wilbur & Scott.Thomas wrote this letter to his youngest child, 16 year-old Anna Aucinclose Masters (1824-1881). The letter was penned in December 1840, just after the election of William Henry Harrison. If Thomas had arrived in Montgomery a few weeks earlier, he would have found the city in an uproar as it was reported in the papers that the "negro population of this city" could not "repress their feelings and are evidencing in the strongest and most unequivocal manner the anxiety with which they look forward to the election of General Harrison in whom they recognize a liberator." It was reported that some of the assembled negroes "had firearms which were not taken from them until after a hard scuffle." [Loco-foco, 3 November 1840]TranscriptionAddressed to Miss Anna A. Masters, Masters, Markoe & Co., New YorkMontgomery, Alabama19 December 1840My Dearest Anna,I dispatched a long letter to your dear mother last evening just before leaving Columbus [Georgia] for this place. You can trace our course on a map and now I have a thought I would address this letter to you in recognition of the few pleasant but mean lines in point of number which you wrote in your mother's letter of the 6th of December.I left Columbus immediately after supper last evening in the stage accompanied by Mr. Crane and Mr. Plummer. Mr. P. has traveled with me nearly all the way from Baltimore, and an old gentleman--a South Carolina planter. Only four of us, which was very pleasant, but it was cold. I froze considerably. It was dark--the moon not rising before three in the morning--and the roads were rough and we were jolted very much so I could not sleep--my usual happy resource on such occasions.When about 20 miles out, while changing horses, we went into the house and made up a large fire and warmed ourselves comfortably. There were two bedsteads and beds in the room, but those were empty, whilst on the floor near the fire in bed was a man fast asleep whom I took to be the landlord. And on his bed was a large lady dog with two of her pups--big things too. The lady dog roused herself and favored us with her company during our stay but the pups and the men slept in and took no notice of us.At this place the driver put onto the coach with us the biggest negro fellow I ever saw and he rode with us to our place of breakfast. What think you of this, dearest? But our colored brother--although so big--was civil and good-tempered and quite intel... read more

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