James Rawlings to Thomas Jefferson, 9 July 1817
From James Rawlings
Richmond 9 July 1817.
Dear Sir,
On the Records of the Mutual Assurance Society against Fire on Buildings of the state of Virginia I find entered for Assurance a Mill House near to the Town of Milton, in the name of, John Henderson for the legatees of Bennett Henderson decsd which mill has been Transferred to you. Several quotas have been assessed on this building, the amount of which it will become my duty to demand of you, unless, as I am inclined to think, the House was removed or demolished at a date anterior to the assessment of the quotas.
As I am not in possession of any evidence of the time when this mill was pulled down and as the charges for Insurance necessarily cease with the destruction of the subject Insured, you will greatly oblige me by stating at what time the mill was demolished, in order that I may release the charges made subsequent thereto.
| James Rawlings |
| P. Agt M A Sy |
RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as a letter from James “Rawlins” received 15 July 1817 and so recorded in SJL; with additional notation by TJ beneath endorsement relating to his response of 31 July 1817: “1795. Bill in Chancery for abating Henderson’s dam 1799. Oct. 1. Decree 1804. May 1. I bought the millstones.” RC (DLC); address cover only; with PoC of TJ to Benjamin Henry Latrobe, 16 July 1817, on recto and verso; addressed: “Thomas Jefferson Esqr near Milton”; stamp canceled; franked; postmarked.
James Rawlings (ca. 1788–1838) was promoted from clerk of accounts to principal agent for the Mutual Assurance Society following the death of Samuel Greenhow in 1815. In 1829 and 1833 he served as a senior alderman for the city of Richmond. Rawlings resigned from the Mutual Assurance Society in 1837 on being named president of the Farmers’ Bank of Virginia, and he held the latter position until his death at his home in Richmond (John B. Danforth and Herbert A. Claiborne, Historical Sketch of the Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia [1879], 44, 58–9; , 2:1344, 1393; , 11:264–5, 12:575–6; A. Böhmer Rudd, comp., Shockoe Hill Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia: Register of Interments, April 10, 1822–December 31, 1950 [1960–62], 1:15; Richmond Enquirer, 7 Apr. 1829, 9 Apr. 1833, 15, 17 Feb. 1838).
p. agt m a sy: Principal Agent Mutual Assurance Society.
Index Entries
- Henderson, Bennett; mill of search
- Henderson, John; and Milton mill search
- mills; Henderson family’s search
- mills; stones for search
- Milton, Va.; Henderson mill at search
- Mutual Assurance Society; and TJ’s insurance search
- Rawlings, James; and Mutual Assurance Society search
- Rawlings, James; identified search
- Rawlings, James; letters from search