X

    Judge Thacher

    june 1801–march 1824

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    211

    To Sarah Savage Thatcher

    “at Mr. [Silas] Lees.” Wiscassett        14 June 1801

    My dear

    Tho you have had no letter since I left home, dont think I have forgot you—I intended to have wrote by brother [Prentiss] Mellen, & also by brother [Dudley] Hubbard, but they both went from Augusta before I was informed of their time of departure—And the mail from that place to Portland is but once a week—

    Mr. Hubbard gave me a pleasing account of your recovery—he said he never saw you look better; & I hope you were really as well in fact as you appeared to him, tho I fear it might be otherwise—I hope to hear from you by the mail tomorrow—or perhaps Judge Dawes may call on his journey,1 & see you—Could I but hear of your perfect recovery & that our dear little Nancy, with the rest of the family are well it would contribut[e] very much to my health—I am better than when I left home & hope the Journey to Penobscott will restore me to my former health—You may recollect that these eastern Journeys always were healthy to me—Perhaps if we were to live farther east we should all enjoy better health—

    Should I fully gain my health, & on my return home find you & all the family with Phillips’s leg in health, I shall think our troubles may yet have an end And we again be happy—

    As to the loss of property—I have forgot the whole of that, & am determined to think no more about it—I dont know yet what our Creditors intend to do—whether they will accept of my offer to pay them two thousand dollars in eighteen months—or take the house, land, & every thing else into their own hands & make the most of them2—if they do not compound but take all; I have pretty much made up my mind, subject only to your objections to leave Saco—and remove to some part of Kennebeck—Mr. & Mrs. [Silas] Lee advise to this measure—A situation near Hallowell Academy3 will be a great convenience on account of our numerous family—at Saco, we cannot afford them the means of ordinary education otherwise than by sending them from home which must be attended with very great expence—And I know of nothing better for us in our situation than to endeavor to settle down on a good piece of Land, say one hundred & fifty acres, & try to make it a profitable farm—We have many agreeable friends & acquaintances at Hallowell—

    Mrs. Vaughan desired me to be very particular in her love & respects to you4—She frequently expressed her wishes that she may soon see us settled so near her, that she can run in & see you two or three times a day—But this must be a subject for future adjustment—All your acquaintance at Augusta & Hallowell send their Love to you & to use their own words, hope that what we now look upon as a misfortune my may turn out to be our best interest, & eventually be the means of placing us in their neighbourhood—Sally is very well—she has spent her time most happily at Augusta & at Hallowell—

    Mrs. [Temperance Hedge] Lee was affected almost to destraction on first hearing of our misfortune—And when I came here, & to this moment, she can hardly look at me, or speak of you & the children without weeping—When the unwellcome news were told her; in an agony of distress, she cried out—“Oh heavens why could not this misfortune have fallen upon us, no children would then have suffered.”

    Tell Jotham & the children to be careful of my Trees—for let the place come into whose hands it may, I would not have them hurt—If we remove to Kennebeck, we will set down where there are trees enough—

    The duties of my new office are perfectly agreeable, & I find myself even more happy in it, than I expected—if we can all regain our health, & once more be free from debt, I trust we shall be as happy as ever—this now bounds my wishes—

    Pray let me hear from you by the first mail

    Remember me to Fanny & kiss all the dear children—for their Father—yours most affectionately

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    ALS, TFP