William Gay Butler letter to Jonathan Butler, 1820 December 17

Letter addressed from Philadelphia, with a stamped postmark including the date. The thick deckle-edged paper is stained with red wax residue where it was sealed. William Gay Butler writes to his father Jonathan Butler in West Hartford about his business in Philadelphia. He writes that they got in to the city with no trouble on Saturday afternoon, and spent 11 days there buying goods and obtaining licenses for peddling wares. He and Hiram Roberts plan to head west on this excursion, over the Susequehanna River. William writes that he had a load of $500 before, but will have a larger load of $700 or $800 worth of goods this time. Recounting his first excursion, William writes that they set out on Thursday, October 9, and were out for just five weeks. He returned to the city on Thursday, November 14, one day after Hiram and Lemuel Roberts. William and Hiram Roberts traveled from Philadelphia through Chester, Bucks, Berks, Lebanon, Lancaster, and Dauphin Counties. They then parted ways and William went up to Reading on Saturday night and stayed through Sunday. He had dinner with Elisha Wells and met his wife and boy, and saw Hiram Wells and Orrin Cadwell before they headed for home. William writes that he has met a great many other Connecticut peddlers since leaving home, who hailed from Bristol, Harwinton, Burlington, Canton, Simsbury, and Suffield, as well as a number from Massachusetts, going on to the south and over the mountains. H. Cornish and W. Cadwell headed out to Jersey the day before. William and Hiram Roberts met again in Harrisburg, and William notes he sent his father a newspaper from there. He says he will send newspapers often, as the postage is only 1/2 ct and he can write whatever he wishes on them. He adds that if the postmaster should open the newspaper and see the writing, he might try to charge Jonathan full postage, in which case he could leave it at the office. William writes that he has enjoyed peddling so far and has been living well. Money is scarce and there is a great deal of counterfeit and noncurrent currency in circulation, though he says he has not been taken in by it. He writes that he made out as well as could be expected for his first time, given the bad weather and bad luck he experienced. The narrow skeins on his wagon broke and the strings came loose, but he has got wider skeins now and thinks they will hold. William provides an accounting of his excursion and asks his father not to share it with anyone else. He writes that he cleared $50, having made $90, spent $35 on goods, and spent $5 repairing his wagon, although the broken wagon also cost him about $10 in lost business. William writes that he hopes to travel up with Hiram and Lemuel Roberts next time, but will have to double his capacity to travel with them. He hopes to clear $20 monthly. William has not heard from his brother Epaphras Butler, except what he learned from a letter from Charles Hopkins Wells to Harvey Filley and Co., dated August 10, which said Epaphras headed into the country with a load of goods from there the day before. He wrote Epaphras a letter from Womelsdorf, which was as close as he came to Wilkes Barre, and forwarded him a letter from Captain Flagg. William writes that he enclosed in this letter the $10 he owed George, and would have included what he owed to Jonathan as well but that Hiram Roberts was disappointed of $300 and needed the money. William writes that he hopes to have enough to cover his expenses and pay his father when he gets home. He expects to set out again on Monday, December 25, and be out for five or six weeks. William asks his father to write to him in Philadelphia so the letter will be there by February 10, and to direct it care of Harvey Filley, Market Street. He asks his father to tell his sisters Eliza and Maria to write to him, and that he wishes to hear how Jonathan gets along with his work and how much cider he has made. William writes that all the people from 30 or 40 miles west of the city and westward from there are Dutch, though he finds little difficulty as all the merchants and tavernkeepers speak English tolerably. He has some difficulty in determining the routes. He has hired several girls who barely speak English to work for him in mending clothing, adding pockets, etc. William writes that superfine flour near the Susquehanna goes for $3 per bushel, and plaster for $15 to $16 per ton. He has run into several people from Hartford, including Samuel Whiting, Edward B. Wells, and Mr. Skinner and Mr. Goodwin of East Hartford. He asks his father to write to him if Elizur Cadwell is in town, and to ask him to write to William. In a postscript, William directs Jonathan to take the enclosed note to Hartford Bank to collect, as it is as good as U. S. notes. Next to this note, someone has written the name Maria Butler in a different hand, likely that of Jonathan or Maria Butler in West Hartford.