Jones, Atlas, d. 1841
Page 1
Dear Brother,
I have rec
d yours of 6th inst.
2 I
cannot recollect any particular circumstances attending the purchase of
Simsons Algebra
3 (you
said
Euclid, but I
apprehend you
were mistook, for I never
owned an
Euclid)
only you were with me at Gales' Store
4 in the
time of the sitting of the Assembly before the last I believe you paid for it,
but am not positive. I also remember that
Miss
Gales deducted
[unrecovered] 25¢ from the
price
(which was 25/)
5 on
account of some injury which it had sustained. I dont remember of your
purchasing any other books at that time. I dont recollect of purchasing any
other books of
Gales
myself except a few days ago I sent to
Raleigh
to
Gales
for an
Helsham's
Philosophy
6 (the
price of which was 27/6.) and requested him to present the acc
t to you. My principal Studies this session have been
Euclid, Algebra
&
Virgil. I am
now studying
Horace,
Algebra, and
Page 2
Geography, privately, &
Mair's Introduction,
7 We have
nearly finished Algebra. After
which we
have finished it my Class will begin
Ewin's Synopsis,
8 but as I
have been examined upon it once, I shall not study it again, And shall have
more time to devote to those studies in which I am behind my Class. If I
continue here I can graduate with ease with my Class. The April Examination was
finished about a week ago. I am among the number
of
those appointed to speak next July from my class
9
My Acc
t This Session is as Follows
10
|
D |
C |
Recd In
Smithfield |
53 |
50 |
of
Saunders
|
9 |
50 |
In Letters |
30 |
00 |
|
$93 |
00 |
Paid Mairs |
1 |
75 |
Pd Taylor 40/ respecting that
suspected mony refreshment for myself Horses & Vol 15/ |
5 |
5011
|
Do Vol 10/ Pd the
[t]aylor 40/ |
5 |
50 |
Pd Steward 34$
Bingham for tuition & Room 13$ |
47 |
0012
|
2 Ld wood 2$ 2tl Candles 5/ |
2 |
50 |
Can 25 Cents Servant Hire 10/ |
1 |
25 |
Cd over |
$63 |
00 |
Page 3
Amt Brot over |
63 |
00 |
Pd Kirkland 20$ |
22 |
00 |
Letters from
Allen
Davie
(N.York)
A.
Foster,
Dancy,
Burges, &
Smithfield
|
1 |
0013
|
Bt of pedlar to line Vests 3 1/2 yd Hum 4/6 |
1 |
60 |
Pd
Daniel for making fires 8/ paper
3/6 |
1 |
1514
|
Chair 5/ Shoes 20/ |
2 |
50 |
Pd for mending shoes & boots |
1 |
00 |
|
$90 |
25 |
Trifles not acct for |
|
75 |
you see by this statement that I have 2 Dolls on hand, & have
p
d
Henderson
nothing. I was
[unrecovered] to pay down for those things which I bot.
[unrecovered] as the goods are not to be had in the vi[llage.]
I am indebted to
Henderson
nearly 15$. I have spent more money than
I expected to spend when I left
Smithfield, but have endeavourd to be as frugal as
possible, & you can judge from the Statement whether I have been too
prodigal. It is rumoured here that you are going to
St.
Mary's.
15 And
that you are to be the Author of the Literary History. The Caucus & the
Races, Are often the topicks of conversation at this place, And my vanity has
often been nigh overruling my prudence
Envelope page
Endnotes:
2. "inst.": instant; the present month.
3.
Thomas
Simpson,
A Treatise of Algebra
(London: J. Nourse,
1745).
4. A bookstore in
Raleigh,
NC, belonging to
Joseph
Gales
(1761-1841), editor of the
Raleigh
Register.
Gales'
son,
Joseph
Gales, Jr., had been expelled from the
University in 1801;
Gales'
oldest daughter
Sarah
probably helped run the bookstore (
Dictionary of North Carolina Biography 2:265-67).
5. "/": throughout the letter the slash indicates
shillings, each worth one-tenth of a dollar. The price of the book, then, was
$2.50.
6.
Richard
Helsham,
A Course of Lectures
in Natural Philosophy
(Dublin: Bryan Robinson, 1739).
7.
John
Mair,
An Introduction to Latin
Syntax
(Edinburgh, 1767).
8.
Alexander Ewing,
A Synopsis of Practical
Mathematics
(Edinburgh: W. Smellie, 1771).
9. All classes participated in commencement, but being chosen as
one of the junior speakers was indicative of
Jones'
excellent academic record. The following year,
Jones
finished second in his class and delivered the commencement oration in history
on the morning of July 12, 1804 (
Battle 1:172).
10. Abbreviations appearing in the account are as follows: Recd (received), Pd (paid), Do (ditto, meaning "the same"), Ld
(load), tl (tallow), Can (candles), Cd (carried), Amt (amount), Bt (bought), yd (yard), Acct (account,
accounted).
11. The money probably was paid to
John "Buck" Taylor
, who
owned an inn and tavern in
Chapel
Hill, presumably with a stable.
Vol is doubtless a slave who accompanied
Jones
to
Chapel
Hill and returned to
Smithfield with the horse(s) and buggy
12. The
University steward from 1801 until 1805 was
Maj. Samuel
Love
(Battle 1:193).
William
Bingham
(1754-1826) was professor of languages from 1801 to 1805.
Bingham
, together with one tutor and President
Caldwell
, who taught mathematics, made up the
entire University faculty.
13. Typically, the recipient, not the sender, of a letter paid the
postage.
Smithfield,
NC, is where
Atlas
and
Calvin
Jones
lived.
14. Students paid servants to bring water and light fires in the
fireplaces before daylight;
Daniel was probably a slave.
15. A township in east central
Wake
County, NC.
Calvin
Jones
did move to
Wake
County in about 1803 and for several years edited and published the
Raleigh
Star.
He also served as mayor of
Raleigh.