Letter, Richard Peters to Bushrod Washington

Containers:
Box 48, Folder 1822.05.24
Creator:
Peters, Richard, 1744-1828 and Washington, Bushrod, 1762-1829
Scope and content:

A.L.S. 2 pages. Belmont. Discussion of slavery: "Some Legalized Kidnappers might be usefully employed in scouring our State of all your fugitive slaves; and if you could colonize all the sooty race, nothing better could be done." Peters is angered at the abolitionists, those "antiflagellating benevolents". Finally, Peters hopes Washington regains his health, "so that you may be strong, and work hard on your colonization Scheme; so that all [the slaves] may be returned to the happy regions of their forefathers..." Mentions Bushrod's "malady," lamenting that "your appetite was often your worst enemy; and its indulgence in improper gratifications has often nourished, in place of destroying your disease... I once knew a hardy Scotchman killed, when convalescent and recovering from a bilious complaint, by gratifying his appetitite in the treat of a boiled scotch herring." Autograph letter signed, integral cover, docketed.

Access and use

Location of collection:
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon
The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon
3600 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway
Mount Vernon, VA 22121
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Reference services
Phone: (703) 780-3600
Parent restrictions:
This collection is open for research during scheduled appointments. Researchers must complete the Washington Library's Special Collections and Archives Registration Form before access is provided. The library reserves the right to restrict access to certain items for preservation purposes.