William Gay Butler letter to Jonathan Butler 2nd, 1824 March 29

Letter addressed from Philadelphia and sent by the hand of Mr. A. Griswold. Visible watermarks of a dove and "AMIES PHILAD" indicates the paper was made by Thomas Amies [Amies, Thomas, 1762 or 1763-1839] of Dove Mill. The 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 excursion as an itinerant peddler. William writes that they carried out $3500 worth of goods, were out for nine weeks, and sold $2850 worth. His expenses since leaving home amounted to $250. He cleared a $400 profit on his goods in eight weeks, plus $50 on beeswax and horses brought in to be sold, leaving him with $200 in profit at the moment. William writes that he had the pleasure of selling more goods than Hiram Roberts, although his expenses were $50 more. He collected $650, all the money due on accounts from the last year, and paid Hiram Roberts his share. He credited $875 on this trip. William writes that he paid all the demands due on his previous credit and had no difficulty purchasing as many goods as he wanted this time. He writes that he may have bought too much, but expects to take a trip over the mountains and for Hiram Roberts to make a long trip on his way home. William expects to take two more trips and be home as soon as September 10. He will be in Philadelphia June 10 through June 20, and asks Jonathan to write in time for him to receive the letter when he is in the city, and write about how he gets along and his farming. William adds that he had the misfortune to lose the horse he bought of Mr. Batterson. He "gave him away Saturday to take out of the City to kill for his Skin he had the glanders so bad that the matter run out of his ears". William paid $60 cash for the horse and was only able to work him 8 days. His old bay continues to perform well and has grown fat, and he has bought two young horses on his recent trip.