Letter signed Fred. Kretschmar, St. Louis, to John F. Darby. States, “I must once more briefly trespass upon your time, respecting your claim against me. That the sum, I owe you, was not expended for my personal benefit, but in a cause in which we all feel interested. . . .I have not the means at this time to settle your claim. I have not, and should I be compelled to go to jail for it. I have nothing but my industry and a family of five little children. . . .Had I known at the time you favored me with that loan, that the project of raising a sum sufficient to keep the printing establishment going would have failed, I much rather would have closed that business. . . .” Asks that Darby withdraw the suit coming up tomorrow before Justice Hyde. Kretschmar will pay all the costs thus far incurred., 1839 Dec 6

Item — Box: 2, Folder: 9

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.