David K. Roach wrote this letter to his mother, Polly Roach of Craven County, from Macon, Georgia, on June 10, 1825, about six months after his December 1824 letter. (See also his July 1822 letter from Fort Hawkins.)
His situation had changed. He tells her to keep the money she sent and invest it, says he is “out of povertys reach” with his own horse, sulky and watch, and regrets only his lack of education. He urges her to keep Samuel, Madison and Nancy in school. He also describes the alarm over the Creek Indians, Governor G. M. Troup calling out the militia companies, and the party fighting in the Georgia legislature.
Letter from David K. Roach to his mother, Polly Roach – Macon, Georgia, 1825
Transcription notes: spelling, capitalization and punctuation follow the original. Words in [square brackets] are editorial notes; [?] marks an uncertain reading and [illegible] marks words that could not be read.
Macon Ga June 10th 1825
Dear Mother
Your letter came to hand a few days since, the perrusal of which gave me entire sattisfaction, the money it contained I do not want, for I stand in no want of any at present more than I earn by labor, neither have I saving [?] the time I made the request, therefore I ask a second time to keep your cash untill I am in want, & lay it out in the purchase of property that will pay the interest, with respect to the insult that James [struck through: illegible] passed on me I had entirely forgot. but I acknoledge I felt A little warm at the time, on account of his being so verry sorry for my poverty, And I here take the liberty of saying I should not have made a secon request only to know if you wer possitive in your denial [?]
I am now out of povertys reach, as much respected as any man in macon, & wear as good sunday sermon clothes as my neigh-bors, can rid my own horse, drive my own sulkey, & wear my own watch, but the devil a wife of my own can I get, althoug I pay every nessesary attentoin to the ladies
there is still something wanting that is not in every fools pocket, Education is the thing I lack, therefore I reccommend you to send Samuel Madison and Nancy to school without intermition untill their education be complete, and I further reccom-mend them to bend their minds to their several studies with unremitting aplication that they may at length gain A sumitt wher A Roach never before stood,
The Creek indians have caused considerable alarm among the white inhabitants of the frontier settlements, for which Governor G M Troup of this state has ordered out all the independant companies of this division to rendezvous at the agency 30 miles from this place on tuesday next likewise a regiment of regulars from Pens-acola to protect the friendly indians in the nation in case of war within their own limits, among themselvs, the rulers and subjects of this section of the state is enga-ged in a pollitical war at present among themselves, and the legislator now in session has carried party spirit to such a hight that they are almost totally unable to transact bussiness with form or regular-ity, so I think on the hole tis best for me not to stay her mutch longer
David K Roach
About the original
Address panel (page 3): Mrs Polly Roach / Craven County / N.C. Postage “25” written over the address. A red circular postmark, too faint to read in the scan. A short note written along the left edge in another orientation is not legible in the scan [illegible].
Source: David K. Roach to Polly Roach, Macon GA, 1825. Roach Family Papers (#346), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, Box 1, Folder a (Correspondence, 1820–1897). Collection guide. Digitized folder: ECU Digital Collections, 0346-b1-fa.
Part of the Roach Family Papers collection on East Carolina Roots.
