Letter of Hugh Darby, Huntingdon, Tenn., to John F. Darby, St. Louis, Mo. Writes of their moving from Virginia to a place within ten miles of Huntingdon, which took a long time because of an accident. States that his wife wanted to visit her parents so she and some of her children drove in a gig the hundred miles. From there she went to visit an aunt, but on the way the horse took fright and started to run. He jumped a fence, upturned the gig and left his (Hugh’s) wife lying with her hip out of place and three ribs broken. The doctor was sent for right away, but bid not get there until Saturday. (The accident occurred Thursday.) After eight or nine weeks they brought her home in a wagon, but the doctor said that it was too late to do anything for her as she could never walk again. Asks where various of their relatives are and what they are doing. States that he has had bad luck with his negroes. Persons mentioned include Homer, Martha, Doctor Whit [White], Uncle George, Anaball Rise, Nelson (enslaved man), Sam (enslaved man), and Uncle John. Places mentioned include Tennessee, Western District, Carrel County, 10 miles from Huntting [Huntingdon]; Suningburg, and Caswell County., 1829 May 10

Item — Box: 1, Folder: 10

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

This collection consists largely of the papers of John F. Darby and his wife Mary F. Darby, and relates mostly to the political, social, and business history of St. Louis. The papers also include family correspondence with relatives in North Carolina, Kentucky, and Missouri, and correspondence regarding legal and business matters. Of special note are the minute books of the Jefferson Society and the St. Louis Debating Club (1827-1828), both regional debating societies of which Darby was a member; letters of Mary F. Darby; correspondence with Montgomery Blair, William T. Sherman, and George Caleb Bingham; and fragments of a history of the Mormons by John Corrill, dated 1839.