 W2928 TO REV. THOMAS BAKER from Robert Wardlaw Nov 1 1857 [approximate date]1 To: Rev. Thomas Baker, Newmarket, [Canada West] From: Mankato, Minnesota, U.S.A. Rev. Thos. Baker, Sir, Your Letter of May last was duly read & contents noted [.]2 [A]s I had already taken out Letters of Administration upon your Son's affairs [,]3 agreeable to your request I allowed Mr. John N. Dodgson to be Administrator while my own acts would be merely Nominal yet all in my Name [.] Mr. D. executed a bond to me for the faithful performance of his Duties &c. but I cannot get him to act to any extent as is proper [.] [H]e has settled for his Funeral charges upon my specialy [sic] insisting upon it & also made out an act against the Sioux Indians for Damages amounting to the amount of Five Hundred & fifty dollars [.] [Y]our Son has a claim Filed against the Winebago Indians for about Eighteen Hundred dollars as I learn [.] [T]heir matters of Estate which
was spared by the Indians was carried off by a Scamp with which Dodgson had been associating with for sometime [.] [B]y this Robbery Dodgson is left with almost Nothing [;] he also appears to have become to some extent abandoned & has taken to drinking to some extent. So I learn from report [.] [I]t leaves me in a bad situation in the matter because if I had administered strictly I would have secured a considerable part of the amt. due me which is now lost by the rascality of Dodgson's would be Friend [.] [T]he amt. of Indebtedness [sic] from your Son to me is [refunds?] of One Thousand Dollars, they also owe some other Debts but not of any great amt. [;] this in time would all come around if Dodgson was disposed to make the proper Efforts but as I have to some extent complied with your request and allowed him to control matters it leaves me but a poor show for my claims. I will take it as a favor if you will at least write to Dodgson & especially insist upon his doing his duty as a man in the Promises [.] [Y]our son was the man to whom I extended the credits & had he lived all would have been well both principal & interest as it is I fear for both [.] [I]n writing to Dodgson don't intimate that you are aware of these short comings upon his past as it would implicate me & give him an apology for breaking off with me which I think he rather wishes than otherwise. [A]dvise him as the Father of his Friend (& a true one he was to him) [.] [H]e has been & still is in the same wild speculations which will amount to nothing as he has neither the means or the ability to carry any of them out [.] [Y]our Son was entirely the visionary but Dodgson is now beyond the search of Mail facilities [.] I will attend to providing anything you may send to my care. As Ever yours Robt. Wardlaw
1 The date is difficult to read, but the day is likely November 1. 2 Although the letter writer left spaces to indicate a new sentence, he did not usually add signs of punctuation or capitalize. Changes made during transcription are indicated by [ ]. 3 David Bogue Baker died on April 11, 1857, of consumption (tuberculosis) (W2925). |
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