368 T. C. ELLIOTT
A LETTER BY DR. LETTSOM. Mr. Gravener:
During Mrs. Carver's life, I saw a paper of half a sheet, with two marks said to be those of Indian chiefs at the foot, of a grant of land, and, after Mrs. Carver's death, I searched every lodging where she had been and the place where she died, without being able to find the least vestige of paper or cloaths, not even any certificate of her having been married to Captain Carver. Unfortunately I rarely saw her out of a state of intoxication. All these facts Mrs. Pope knows very well. Mr. Knox, the late American secretary, wrote me a letter with one from Dr. Belknap, the late historian of America, that no such grant of land existed by tradition or otherwise among the Indians. Captain Carver, by his first wife, left several sons and daughters who have made the same application to me for any documents. So that, if any property could be dis- covered, these children who are legitimate would precede any title that could be claimed by Mrs. Pope. I once advertised to find out whether Captain Carver was married to Mrs. Pope's mother, but without success. I presume that Mrs. Pope pos- sesses certificate of marriage. I never saw Captain Carver but on his deathbed, nor did I know of any real or supposed conveyance until after his death, when the widow showed me the paper I mentioned above. Mr. Fisher, the secretary of the American board here, told me that no such document ever could be traced in his office. Mrs. Pope has given me a good deal of trouble and knows how anxious I always was to serve her could I have done it. But I am of opinion that no legal instrument, intimated in your letter, exists, and that if it did Captain Carver's issue, by his first wife, would alone be entitled to possession, but your professional knowledge must enable you to determine upon these matters superior to that of
J. C. Lettsom. London Jany 15 1805 [Copy of transcript of letter in State Historical Society of
Wisconsin.]
Joseph Schafer, Sttpt.
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