November 7-8, 2018 Edged Weapons, Armor, & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/7/2018
Nichols, Nathaniel to General David Baldwin of Newtown, Connecticut, dated Natchez, Mississippi, 24 November 1808, ALS, 3 pp and franked cover page, quarto. Nichols informs Baldwin "of the sudden & unexpected death of your Son Boyle V. B. Baldwin Esqr.(1786-1808), he expired on the 9th Instant after an Illness of five days, his disorder was a flux, but a few days previous to his death he was at my house in Natchez in perfect health, & we were congratulating each other in the ingagement thereof & the prospect of succeeding well in business & pleasantly anticipating the day when we should return once more to our native land in circumstances easy and Affluent." Nichols proceeds to give accolades to Boyle's industry as a lawyer and businessmen and attested to his high moral character while in the Territory and noted that his funeral at Pinckneyville near Fort Adams was attended by close acquaintances and the "gentlemen of the Bar." In contrast, The Baldwin Genealogy (Cleveland: 1881) claims that Boyle "drowned in early life on the Mississippi river." General David Baldwin (1758-1811) was a merchant and was active in the Connecticut militia. From the Walter O'Connor collection.