My dear Sir,¹

My dear sir, in answering your letter of the 6th inst. which I received this morning, permit me to afsure ² you it affords me great pleasure in being able to comply with your request. You are quite welcome to your 60 acres on the terms you propose, namely "allowing me 20[Eng. Pds.] on the year's rent, and paying for the ploughing already done"; provided there is no legal objection on the part of Capt. Sadlier. I do not anticipate any. I will however write him; and should you not hear from him you may infer there is none.

I am as you suppose highly pleased with the country around Paris--the scenery is beautiful--the land fertile--farms well cultivated: it is superior to all I have seen since I left England. The air I also think salubrious as my health has been improving since I left Kingston.

Wishing you the enjoyment of health and every mindful blessing.

I am dear sir, yours very respectfully

Thomas Baker.
[Note at bottom] To John S. cartwright, Esq., Kingston

[Note on front of letter envelope]: Thomas Baker, Paris April 4, 1840

¹ Following are the historical notes that were sent by Jon Cable along with this letter and Box 14-113 letter to Whitehern Archives. We are grateful to Mr. Cable for the donation of these letters.

Rate: The letter was written in Paris, cancelled Brantford on the front and sent to Kingston. Paris in Brant County did have a post office from 1832 so this letter was probably posted in Brantford despite being written in Paris. Paris was only 6 miles from Brantford and Brantford was 250 miles from Kingston (Smith's Gazetteer 1846). The letter has been rated 11d collect which is the correct rate for a single letter travelling between 201 and 300 miles at this time (rate was 10d Sterling which was equivalent to 11d currency between 1 Jun 1792 and 21 Oct 1843--Robson Lowe). Other Postal Markings: Brantford UC type B2S in black. New ERD of APL 14 1840 as OBC has period of use between MAY 28 1841 and JU 26 1855.

Historical Context: This letter was sent from Thomas Baker in Paris on April 14 1840 to John Solomon Cartwright in Kingston. Cartwright was a lawyer, militia officer, author, judge, jp, businessman, politician, farmer, and architectural patron; b. 17 Sept. 1804 in Kingston, Upper Canada and died of consumption aged 41, 15 Jan. 1845 at Rockwood, his estate near Kingston. Cartwright in addition to his various offices was also engaged in far-ranging personal business activities including land dealing to which this letter refers. In 1832 he sold a large tract of land outside Hamilton to Allan Napier MacNab, on which the latter built Dundurn Castle. In the years 1832 to 33 he was involved, along with John Macaulay, in a town-planning scheme at Niagara Falls. The land developments in which Cartwright took the most personal interest were those in and around Kingston and in Napanee. [Cable's Transcription follows, to which we have made minor changes]

² The writer used the archaic "fs" construction for the current "ss" sound which we have transcribed using the "ss" for ease of reading.

For more information on Rev. Baker, see his Bio by clicking on "Family" on the Home page, and then on his photo.