Rough draft of letter signed John F. Darby, 222 Pine Street, St. Louis, Missouri, to Messrs. Baker & Stoddard, Norfok, Virginia. Asks Baker & Stoddard if they are interested in corresponding with him regarding the possible recovery of treasure from the steamship Central America, sunk off Cape Hatteras in September 1857. Recounts his long interest and research on the subject, his contract with Capt. Carpenter, his efforts to interest James Eads in the project, and his dealings with Quigley, whom Eads said was a great diver. Darby would want an agreed-to share of a recovery, but could not contribute to expenses. He had an estate of a million dollars at the beginning of the war, yielding $60,000 in rents annually, but it has all been swept away by that national calamity. Darby also knows of wrecks with treasure in the Mississippi River. [filed in 1877 Aug-Dec], 1877 Oct 17

Item — Box: 4, Folder: 12

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.