Abigaill Franks to Naphtali Franks, June 7, 1743
Dear HeartSey
My Wishes for your Felicity Are As great as the Joy I have to hear You Are happyly Married. May the Smiles of Providence Waite allways on y[ou]r Inclinations And your Dear Phila’s, whome I Salute
with Tender affections, pray[in]g kind Heaven to be propitious to Your wishes in makeing her a happy mother. I Shall think the time Teadious Untill I Shall have that happy Information, for I dont Expect to hear it by the return of these Ships and, therefore, must Injoyn Your care in Writting by the first Opportunity (after the birth of wathever it shall please god to bless you with) Either by Via Carrolina, barbadoz or any other. I am now retired from Town and would from my Self (if it Where Possiable to have Some peace of mind) from the Severe Affliction I am Under on the Conduct of that Unhappy Girle. Good God,Wath a Shock it was when they Acquainted me She had Left the House and Had bin Married Six months. I can hardly hold my Pen whilst I am a writting it. Itts wath I Never could have Imagined, Especialy Affter wath I heard her Soe often Say, that noe Consideration in Life should Ever Induce her to Disoblige Such good parents. I had heard the report of her goeing to be married to Oliver delancey, but As Such Reports had offten bin of Either of your Sisters, I gave noe heed to it further than a Generall Caution of her Conduct, wich has allways bin Unblemish[e]d, And is Soe Still in the Eye of the Christians, whoe allow She has DisObliged Us but has in noe way bin Dishonorable, being married to a man of worth and Charector. My Spirits Was for Some time Soe Depresst that it was a pain to me to Speak or See Any one. I have Over come it Soe far as not to make My Concern Soe Conspicuous, but I Shall Never have that Serenity nor Peace within I have Soe happyly had hittherto. My house has bin my prisson Ever Since. I had not heart Enough to Goe Near the Street door. Its a pain to me to think off goeing again to Town, And If your Fathers buissness would Premit him to Live out of it, I never would Goe Near it Again. I wish it was in my Power to Leave this part of the world. I would come away in the first man of war that went to London. Oliver has Sent Many times to beg Leave to See me, but I never would, tho’ now he Sent word that he will come here. I dread Seeing him and how to Avoid I know noe way. Neither if he comes can I Use him rudly. I May Make him Some reproaches, but I know My Self soe well that I Shall at Last be Civill, tho’ I never will give him Leave to Come to my house in Town. And as for his wife, I am Determined I never will See nor Lett none of ye Family Goe near her. He intends to write to You and My brother Isaac to Endeavour a reconcilation. I would have You Answer his Letter, if you dont hers, for I must be Soe Ingenious [as] to conffess nature is Very Strong, and It would give me a Great Concern if She Should Live Un happy, tho’ its a Concern she does not Meritt. As to the Other Affair you wrote me Abouth, You may be Very Eassy on that head. The Person Concern’d will give You All the Sattisfaction you desire.Wath you say abouth y[ou]r Sisters comeing to England, I shall Very readly agree to it and the Sooner the better, if it was only a Means of her not Seeing the Other, wich She will hardly be able to avoid Unless She intirely Excludes her Self from all Company, wich She has don for this three months past, tho’ Phila has not bin in Town Since she Left Us, but has (wathever I have forbid) found means to Send Messages, for as they Lived Very Affectionately. It Subsists Still, And I am Sure She will find all the means she can to See Richa. I thank you and your Dear Phila in the behalf of your Sisters & My Self for the Profussion of Preas[en]ts sent Uss. I Shall make mine Up but cant Tell when I Shall Wear it, for in the mind I am in now I have noe Inclination for dress or Visiting. Ye Girles will Make theres Up as Soon as they goe to Town, wich will be ye Latter end of the Summer. They was Just in mourning for my aunt Isaacs whoe had bin Just Dead when they received them. The reasson why I did not Write to Mr. Aaron Franks was not from [lack of ] a Due Sence of Obligations and Gratitude, but from an Apprehensiveness of being Trouble Some. You may Assure him I am Sensiable of the many kindnesses and Favours rec[eiv]ed from him, And it gives me pain to Express my Gratitude, because wathever I Can Say falls Short of wath is his due from my Family and my Self, tho’ If I can bring my mind into any State of Ease, I Shall write him by this. I wish I could find Any thing Agreeable to send to my Dear Phila. Moses Sends her a pott of Sweet meets and mordechay Gomez’s wife has Given me a Small pot for You, wich I dare Say is Exceeding Good, And I hope You may Use it with pleassure. All Friends Say many kind things to You And wish you a great deall of Joy. I shall take Care and Send Some quaills next faull and secure them better than ye Last. Make my Compliments to Uncle Abraham Franks with thanks for his kind Letters, wich I Shall not Answer by his And, therefore, Desire you would make an Excuse for me. Your brother david I hope will doe Very well. The Ship is not yet Arrived at Phil[ade]l[phia]. As to w[a]th you Say Concerning My brother Nathans Marrying, your reassons are perfectly Just, but then on the Other hand it is a great Disadvantage for a man to keep house without a good Mistress, Soe that a Wife to him is a Nesscessary Evill. My brother mich[a]ell keeps his health And Good Charector, wich is to me a great Satisfaction. Sol[omon] Hart is absconded in Very Unhappy Circumstance. His wife and child is with [about two words made illegible by the fold], wich is all they’ve got for the honor of being Allyed to M H[ar]t. Its Commonly Said the rich man is gods Steward. M H[ar]t is a Very Saveing one whoe will Lett a brother Perish when Such a Truffle as £200 might make him happy.10 The married Sister wrote him She had some Tickets in the Lottery, and if She got a good Prise, she would Send him a pr[e]s[en]t. If the prayers of the poor Prevaill, She may have Success if Sol[omon] Hart puts Up prayers for her, being he is Realy Poor & Needy.
Now Lett me Say Something for the Distress wee are more nearly Concern’d in, and that is poor good moses Solomons. Is that Unhappy Youth to Spend the best part of his Life, as it Where, in a
Goall? For Such may be Termed the Confin[e]d Life he is in att pr[e]s[en]t.Wee rec[eiv]ed Letters from him Last week, wherin he Complains Pittyously of the Ill Treatm[en]t he meets with from his friends, whoe he hardly hears from, and when he does, never Lett him know wath will be the Consequence of his Detention or wich way he may be cleared. Its Very Severe that he Must be the Victim of anothers Villiany. The manner in wich he Committed his Error was wath a person of Greater penatration in buissness might have fell into. His Letting Mr. [Sam] Levy come off was noe fault, because Mr. Levys pretence was to Come here in order to make Up his Own Affairs that he might the better be inable’d to assist in Dischargeing there Joynt Debts: wich I am affraid he has not much in his power to per form.
Your Father will Give You a farther Acc[oun]t of this Mellancholy affair, wich I wish may in some Meassure be Happly Terminated. My Compliments to Mrs. Compton & Capt[ain] Riggs. I beg they will be Soe good to forgive me that I dont Answer there agreeable Favour by this: my Spirets is too Depresst to write. It is with reluctancy I doe write to Any one at pr[e]s[en]t. Therefore whoever I Omit, You must Excuse me to them. I think I’ve Spun this to a Considerable Lenght and shall Conclude with the Repetition of my prayers for Your Health and Happyness. I am,
My Dear Son,
Your Affectionate Mother,
Abigaill Franks