Polk Family Papers Box 9 Document 06

[?] day written to [?] wain wright who has land charfe of him

Thibodeaux

June 9th

1843

My dear Mother:

I am in receipt of your letter as well as Mr. Payner's in reply to my own on the subject of the loan of $10,000. It is all right I have no doubt. My impression was that there could be no difficulty in obtaining a loan in the amt. of the Stock pledged & I had no idea Mr. R had any immediate use for the money otherwise I would not have made the application. I should like still to have the use for a year or so of that amt. but presume I can get on without it. I was when I wrote, as you will have seen by the tone of my letter, in want of that [underscore] rather badly, [close underscore] but a few days after I obtained an advance of $25,000 on my present growing crop which gave me relief, the amt. of that advance I do no talk a great deal about however, in as much as it is hardly worth while for these affairs to be much before the public. But I may say so to you. My crop is by dint of the most extraordinary exercise on my part a very decidedly good one. THe stand of cane is remarkably fine & the whole is in excellent condition & growing well. Should the season be as good as it has been heretofore & I can take it off successfully I ought to make from seven to eight hundred hogsheads. For this if I can get as there is reason to hope 50 $ per hogshead or 5 cts per 1lb, it will give me a lift. The next year I shall pitch a still larger crop as I shall have more open land & shall hope & I think with reason to 1000.

Thibodeaux June 9th 1843

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Now if Brother Payner will manage to keep the tariff where it is, for a few years I will not only not wish to borrow his change but will have some to lend him. But as I say this is all in the family. It will not do for the world to know every thing.

By the way, I was this Spring in New Orleans & in just such as situation as I pray never to be again, viz, at the [underscore] very end of my wits, [underscore closed] for $1000. My want was [underscore] inexpressibly acute, [underscore closed] & I knew not where to turn for the amt. all at once, as the children used to say, I thought of you, as I have often done in my troubles before & it occurred to me you might have that amt in Dick's hands. I found it there & I am sure, if ever in all my life, I acted on the principle, of doing unto others as I would wish them to do unto me* it was on that occasion. In other words I helped myself. And I am sure if you could know the amt of [underscore] true happiness [underscore closed] the use of that money gave me you would feel grateful for the privilege of extending relief to [underscore] suffering humanity, [underscore closed] I have all along told you that i should want assistance until I could get under way here. I have thus far done a good year's work, & am now getting in to a position to turn out some thing, with good management & God's blessing. The former we have secured & will probably continue to secure, the latter we may hope, & do pray, for. This was the heaviest year with me so far as Louisiana is concerned. I have this year paid my Louisiana installments, & sank my Tennessee debt $16000. I mean of course all of my last years crop & the advance on this. I shall

Thibodeaux June 9th 1843

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with God's blessing in a few years be able to pay Harris debts & my own too I trust, & not be forced to sacrifice property. All this provided those Tennessee creditors can be made to see their interest. I presume you have heard fromn Lucius recently. He informs me he has made an assignment of his property viz so far as the house he lives in & the land on that side the road is concerned to secure you in the debt due you. And the land on the opposite side the road is secure Mr. Badger for the money due him. It seems he found this necessary to protect you his own individual creditors agains the security debts done by him to the Banks on Harris' account. The Banks have mae a property arrangement with each of the endorsers of that house except Lucius & myself. We have offered them property & they have declined taking it, and have wished to force us to pay money. This has ruined, & I fear will him, Lucius, unless they still make a property arrangement. Of this he seems, in his letter to me, to entertain some hope, & I trust it may be consummated. We will see what can be done when I go up to Tennessee this Summer. Lucius has means enough to pay his debts if they are rightly applied. But enough of this.

Mrs. Devereaux in a letter to Fanny some time since said she and you had talked over the matter of Hamilton's going to Raleigh to spend the vacation next ensuing & that as you thought it might be convenient to me to have his expenses to & from paid by some body else (a very rational conclusion) you had agreed between you to do so if he could go. To this I beg you to know I have not the slightest objection whatever. On the