Four page letter addressed to Cousin Sarah from Richmond, Va. Watson describes the abundance of food and goes into great detail of the description of their cook. His choice of words are a gross exaggeration of her appearance and quite offensive. He also mentions attending an auction selling enslaved individuals. He writes that all of the ladies for sale were dressed quite elegantly and fetched a large sum. In his closing comments he mentions that he feels well suited to the area like it far better than Connecticut, and that while he has not contracted Yellow Fever yet, he expects it to hit him any day.
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John H. Watrous Letter, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries.
Gift of James K. Gardner, September 2018.