Name/Title
Letter from Ebenezer Irving to William IrvingEntry/Object ID
HHV 003.568Description
Letter from Ebenezer Irving to William IrvingSubject
Financial concerns, William to find new job, business in general excellent in United States, family mattersSubject Person/Organization
Ebenezer Irving (1776-1868), William Irving (1811-1854), Theodore Irving (1809-1880), Daniel Low, Catharine Ann Irving (1816-1911), Sarah Sanders Paris Storrow (1813-1885), Edgar Irving (1808-1873), Amanda Tenant Irving (1814-1885), Emily Tenant, Sanders Irving (1813-1884), Lawrence E. Embree, Charlotte Van Wart Irving Grinnell (1824-1911), Pierre Paris Irving (1806-1878), Catherine Irving Paris (1774-1849)Subject Place
* Untyped Subject Place
New York, Manila, Philippines, Canton, China, Saugerties, NY, Long IslandCollection
Irving Manuscript CollectionTranscription
Transcription
Mr
William Irving
Canton or Manilla New York May 28. 1836
My dear Willie -
You will have been disappointed in not receiving / any letters by a ship which sailed a day or two since direct for Manilla / but we did not know of the opportunity until it had gone _
Now I write at a venture on the suggestion of our friend Mr./ [Durand] of Goodhue + Co. who has offered to forward any thing if sent / to them and advise to send at once as they occasionally hear of / opportunities at very short notice _ My last letters from you / are of Oct 13 and Nov. 14 Theodore had one I believe of an intermediate / date _ these letters gave us much satisfaction _ and as they spoke of your / determination to stick closely to your Canton business, it was not / without great surprise that we learnt from others that you had / suddenly left Canton for Manilla. We have had several reports of / the circumstances which occasioned the movement, and have of / course been anxiously looking for letters from you _ it almost seems / passing strange, that on taking so important a step, you should have / left no letters to be forwarded by ?? some of the vessels which were / about to said for New York _ I regret this breaking off with the / house in Canton exceedingly for I think your prospects of advancement / in it, though perhaps not immediate, were fair _ I confefs that / at times i had misgivings on the subject as by your letters / you appear to think but lightly of those composing the firm / on Canton. Still I hoped that as it was essentially necefsary / that you should stand well with them, you would be care - / ful to keep these sentiments locked up in your own bosom / and five your best attention to the interest of the concern. /
The change however may be for the better; and from the / accounts I have been able to gather, I indulge the hope that it /
[END OF PAGE 1]
Will be so _ We hear that Rufsell + [Sturgis] and [Peel Hubbell] + Co. two / of the first houses in Manilla, were both in want of afsistance, and that / it had been suggested to the former to engage your services _ I trust / you have succeeded with one or the other and that you will serve / their good will _ The situation of a clerk is no doubt irksome / to you, but a young mane without means cannot expect to / be a principal at once _ and though the duties and treatment / of clerks are sometimes annoying still those of decent understanding / must be aware that it will rarely do for principals to be on intimate / terms with their clerks. _ I hope you will appreciate my hints [properly] / and place them to account of my strong affection, and the deep / interest I feel in your welfare _ The want of letters from / you just now has deranged all my plans _ not knowing where / you may be I am at a loss as to making remittances. I have / appropriated the [proceeds] of the notes for the silks +c to the payment / of the note for $2500 [dolls?] which I have to the U.S. Bank for the / ₤ 500 I remitted to you a year since _ the note was paid on the 25th / instant _ and the Amount [adjusted] as follows.
Bill of Exchange _ ₤ 500 [??] [or]____ 222222.
Commifsion to Bank 2 ½ % ___ 55’55
____________ 227777
Exchange [new] [amount] 9 ¾ ___________ 22209
To your debt May 26, 1835 _______$2499.86
I will try to have the whole amount made up completely by the time / the next ship sails __ I have already sent you rough sketches by which / with the above you will be able to see the general result _
as soon as I can hear of your being settled, and have some [??] / from you as to the markets, and the next advantageous mades / of remitting _ whether by goods or coin _ I will do what I can / to help you _ I am told that business at Manilla is encreasing / and that prospects there are of course encouraging if you have fixed / yourself there, you will have found out that you did not properly /
[END OF PAGE 2]
Appreciate the opportunity you had at Middletown of acquiring the Spanish / Language _ it would be of much service to you at Manilla; still it is not too late / only determine to make yourself acquainted with it _ and you will not / find the task difficult, or much time necessary to acquire a tolerable / knowledge of it _
Business generally has been excellent throughout / the States _ had you been able to shop some silk goods by the late / vefsels _ such as our friend Mr. D. Low suggested to me of which I wrote / [page torn] a year since with [patterns] [illegible - faint] [illegible word] such as you sent to me, [? runs off page?] / would have done well _ better, I think, than teas _ the latter article / improved in price but I doubt if they did so sufficiently to pay / much, if any, profit. Of the articles shipped from Manilla I have / not much knowledge _ good coffee from that place you know is in good / repute _ it is worth now [^ ?? duty? - small and faint] 12 ½ to 13 ½ _ Coffee generally bears a better price this season / than for a long time past. Manilla Hemp is worth [faint - @175?] per ton [page torn] / [?-ly?] I sent by this opportunity a parcel of newspapers, another of [page torn] / of The Mirror (since my last of Apl 13) and Theodore’s book. 2 vols. And a third [parcel] / of letters. _ When I wrote last Catharine and Sarah Paris were / at Baltimore _ they returned shortly after highly delighted with their / visit _ Edgar Amanda and Emily came on soon after them and after / spending three or four weeks with us went up to Saugerties about a week / since _ I do not know whether Sanders has written for [??] [??] /
I applied to the Governor for a reappointment as an Auctioneer, with / the [??] of entering in to the land and real estate line _ [Bleeker] / [+] [??] you know have been long in it _ Franklin + Jenkins entered into / it about a year since _ both firms have had a great run for the / [amn’t?] of real estate sold at Auction within the last 9 or 12 months has / been immense and businefs of both has been heavy _ I have found / a partnership in the line with a Mr Lawrence [E. Embree] and we have taken Sanders / into the concern _ Mr. E & Sanders will attend to the businefs and I give what time / I can spare from my other concern _ We have two pretty good sales to begin / with on tomorrow 29th + another June 2d as you may see by the journal of [commerce?] / as well _ Charlie has gone up to Pierre’s Aunt Paris goes to Long Island on Monday.
Yours dear Willie affectionately Eben’r Irving
[ADDRESS]
Mr William Irving
Care of Mefs’r Russell + Co.
Canton
Or Mefs’r Russell + Sturgis
Manilla
[LABEL - REVERSE]
E Irving May 28. 35Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
EnglishOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Former NumberOther Number
W 3227General Notes
Note Type
DepartmentNote
Library
