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{[Vicksburg, Miss.]}
Louisville Ky Oct the 22 1854 Master I take this liberty to ask you Pleas to bye henry and let him com hom and live with me pleas over look my not writing you to beg him when he was here but I thought that you wer angry with him becaus he did not agree to com to you when you offerd to bye him Master. You no the nature of a man when he is got a family it is to make all he can for them henry only objection of living with you is becaus he could not make any thing in A private house. I did not no that Mr Miller had boght him in tel the morning All that he a left me and then I thought it was to late to say nathin to you for [capt steargen?] promsed me he wold not sell him out of the place when he found that he was forced to leave me it was lik taking his life And I supose he be com desprit and thought if he could Make his excap Master pleas over look his fault & bye my houseband if you pleas. You no how hard it is to leave your famly when you no there are all well proved for I hope you will think for a moment how hard it is my housband is take away from me & never expect to see him agen in this world no Master pleas bye him I have don all tha I can if you dont bye him pleas get som body to bye him that will let him com & see me Miss [lewiser?] has promist me that she would ask you to bye him Your resecby humble servent delia
Mail New Orleans 21 Oct 54
Col R.C. Ballard Vicksburg Miss Dr Sir The sample of 100 bales Elcho were brought in yesterday evg & on examination we are not at all surprised at the discharge of your overseer, for it is about as badly mixed in the bale as any we ever saw Even in the same samples we find "Good Midg" mixed with very "low ordinary" - so that all the advantage of the good cotton is totally lost. We have no doubt the storm did very great injury to the cotton that was open - but we have seen none as yet that shows the injury so plainly as the Elcho crop & we cannot but conclude that it is as much the result of neglect as any thing else, & we are gratified to find that you have discharged the "unfaithful steward." The Africa news this morning has thrown a damper on our cotton market which is very full to day & we fear prices may droop a little. Please let us know if our letters directed to Vicksburg reach you. We send papers frequently. The weather is delightful & the fever nearly gone. Yr. Obt Sts Cox, Gillis & Boge
Louisville Ky Octr 23d 1834
Coln Ballard Dear Sir I wrote you a short time since inclosing you two bills of exchange for $5000 each for your name but I do not know I shall use them for times are still growing tight here it is true Negroes are falling and the Banks doing nothing there was a failure here yesterday of a Banking House Monserrat & Co their bills came back protested for non-payment all of the Ind. Stock banks are stoping payment and their notes are 20 to 25 pr ct discount hard times have for market money it is supposed here by Some that all the Banks will stop the life trust Co of Covington Broke and made an assignment the Commercial bank of discredited here yesterday wont buy marketing this moving those are all except some Bankers at Cincinnati failed and are run off in fact a general panic pervades the community at this time - if I should use the bills it will not be done untill the last of Novr I think by that time matters will be more settled. Steele can tell you about the Family I am well and hope this will find you well and a fair prospects for cotton crop - Since
sends you by Lucile two Jars of brandy peaches. Austin came back he is very sick. I cannot tell how it came he had last night three very hard fits - pure epilepsy. I would be glad to hear from you frequently Respectfully yours C M Rutherford
P.S. Mack is still here doing nothing will go down shortly to Miss to attend to his money matters then dont be astonished if Mrs. Ballard would come down to see you when I come down for she has been fretting ever since you left here Yrs &c R
New Orleans 27th Oct '54
Col R. C. Ballard Vicksburg Miss
Dr Sir Yours of 25th inst is just to hand The draft to Crandell will have due attention. It is pretty little tax bill for one Plan. I yesterday recd a letter from Genl Spanow with a commission for taking my deposition, which I immediately attended to. I dont think Albert G Nalles testimony will cover any information other than I have given, but you know best. His address is Orange Ct House Va. I will write Mr Gilles by first oppy but I hear he is now up in Union Parish & will not return before 10th Nov. I remember to have heard Barr say that he once made advance to Lillard on some cotton which was shipped to us under a fictitious mark & sold for his (Buns) a/c. No doubt Gilles knows all about it. In my testimony I confine myself to facts & state very explicitly that I never regarded Lillard otherwise than your overseer & a dependent on your liberal bounty. The Wright brought in yesterday 37 bales Lepine & 59 Magnolia. We presume you have not recd our letter about the Elcho cotton as you dont mention it. We wrote Mr Knott about the mixture of the Lepine. Even some of the Forest Hill is mixt - so the D---l must have got hold of the overseers this season. Our market is rather depressed of late. Dont you think the fine weather will bring the crop out considerably? Yr Obt Svt W. Cox
50 bales Karnac recd 23d pr Swamp Fox - show a great falling off in quality from the last