Letter signed Ed. J. Castello, Custom House, Natchez, Miss., to J.F. Darby, St. Louis, Mo. Darby was among the first of his boyhood acquaintances. St. Louis was but a small village at that time, and every person and even the dogs were known to them. All the inhabitants of old French Town and the happy French girls are all passed away. He recollects the grand balls in French Town. Mentions friends and lawyers he knew. The first paper he remembers serving was a summons on Peter Lindell at his residence, and Lindell tried to chase him away. “When I read your name as Mayor he became furious…” Recounts his military service and marriage. He had various appointments under Grant. Grant appointed him Postmaster at Natchez after the war. His present position of Collector of the Port is full of honors but very little pay. [filed in 1880 July-Nov], 1880 Aug 27

Item — Box: 5, Folder: 3

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.