William W. Clayton to Thomas Jefferson, 28 December 1811
From William W. Clayton
28th Decr 1811—
I have been Very unfortunate Coming from Frederricksbg on my way near to your Place in Bedford I lost my Horse died on the Road
I was Taken sick and Compelled to stay on The Road untill my money Is nearly Exausted I wish To Get to Mr Clays near To your Possessions in Bedford a few shillings woud aid me
W, W, Clayton
RC (MHi); at foot of text: “Col Thos Jefferson”; endorsed by TJ: “Clayton W. W.”
William Willis Clayton was a cousin of Editha Landon Davies Clay. She and her husband, Charles Clay, were TJ’s near neighbors at Poplar Forest (Mary Denham Ackerly and Lula Eastman Jeter Parker, “Our Kin”: The Genealogies of Some of the Early Families who Made History in the Founding and Development of Bedford County Virginia [1930], 347–8, 350, 354).