Littleton Waller Tazewell letter to Francis Jerdone, 1809 January 26

Littleton Waller Tazewell letter to Francis Jerdone (1756-1841) addressed to Mitchils Store in Louisa County. Tazewell writes to learn if he may draw $100 from Jerdone in favor of Daniel McClaren. Jerdone had already written that he would not honor a draft of $100 in favor of McClaren and Tazewell threatens to sue if he does not. Tazewell had been hired by McClaren to defend him against the charge of murder in the Williamsburg District Court.

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Sometime in the month of September last, an
application was made to me by one Daniel M^c.Claren, to
go from this place to Williamsburg, for the purpose of
defending him under an Indictment for Murder, whe[torn, illegible]
to be tried at the next ensuing session of the district Cou[rt] [torn,illegible]
be held in that place. Not practising in that Court the [torn, illegible]
at that particular time being a long and incon[venience] [torn, illegible]
me, and M^r. M^c.Claren being a perfect stranger, I declin[torn, illegible]
under his first application, & stated to him, that [torn, illegible]
under such circumstances the fee which I should [illegible]
would be much larger than that which woud be require[d] [torn, illegible]
other Counsel more conveniently to be obtain, and therefore
recommended him to employ some other Advocate. M^r. M^c.Claren however
still persisted in is application, and being seconded by the
solicitations of some of my friends in that quarter of the Country,
I finally agreed to go up, provided he would pay me an adequate
fee. To this demand of mine he replied, that he had no money
then, but that you were indebted to him, and had authorized him
to draw upon you for $100, for which sum he would draw in my
favour, upon you, if I would go up To prove these facts, he sent
me an original letter from you to him, dated Sept^r: 4^th: 1808, in
which you say to him, that altho' his accounts with you are yet
unsettled, and therefore that you cannot say how the balance
stands, or how large it may be, yet you would have complied with
his request in sending him an hundred dollars, provided you
could have done so safely - But that if you had complied with

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his request, and have sent him the money, you would have had
no voucher to shew that you had made such a payment - "If"
[how]ever you can contrive to draw an order upon me by some one
[torn, illegible] [su]fficiently authorized, I will pay that much ^{(that is $100)} in part of what "
[torn, illegible] be due you on a settlement" - These are the very words of your
[torn, illegible] You then go on to state to him, in the following workds - "If
[torn, illegible] proper to draw upon one as above advised, I have
[torn, illegible] annexed the form of an order" - This form is then stated, &
[torn, illegible] cording to which the draft which I have upon you
[torn, illegible] - Seing this letter, altho' not personally acquinted with you,
[torn, illegible] frequently heard you spoken of as a gentleman of
[torn,illegible] operty, of strict integrity, and of punctuality, I did not
[torn, illegible] to to accept of an order from M^r. M^c.Claren upon you,
[torn, illegible] the very sum ^{which in your letter you} stated you were willing to pay, and drawn after
the very form which in that letter you yourself had prescribed. To
guard against accident myself, and to prevent you from being
aggrieved, or any other stranger injured by M^c.Clarens drawing more
orders than one, I took the original letter from you to him, which
I have ever since kept, and still have.

Confident in the exact conformity of my order to your own
letter, confident too of yur willingness and ability to perform
that which therein you had undertaken to perform, and knowing
from the same letter that M^r. James Innes of Richmond was your
friend and correspondent there, I supposed that he would probably
pay this draft for your honor, & therefore remitted it to my friend
in Richmond, to be presented to him for that purpose - M^r.
Nivison made this application, but M^r. Innes refusing to have
any thing to due, to the draft, M^r. Nivison wrote to you upon

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the subject on the 10^th. of October last, and immediately informed
me of what he had done - From the circumstances I have
stated ^{I could not doubt,} that you who had directed this draft to be drawn, who
had actually presented its very form, and who had pledged
your solemn promist that "you would pay that much in pa
"what might be due to him", would ^not have hesitated to have [torn, illegible]
honor'd an order which I may litterally call your own - [torn, illegible]
then Sir what was my surprize, when i received from M^r. Niv[ison] [torn, illegible]
few days since, your letter to him of the 17^th Ult^o., [torn, illegible]
merely inform him that M^cClaren and you have [torn, illegible]
your accounts, but that when you do, you think it probab[torn, illegible]
will be a balance due him - What concern have I sir with [torn, illegible]
and his accounts? You have said to the world by your Letter [torn, illegible]
the 4^th: Sept^r: 1808, that if any one would take his order when [torn, illegible]
you for $100, drawn in a particular form, "you would pay that
"much in part of what might be due to him" - Upon the faith of
this [torn, illegible] and acceptance of yours, I have agreed to [torn, illegible]
[torn, illegible] our order from him upon you - And now you tell me [torn, illegible]
have not settled with him yet - Surely Sir you musth have [torn, illegible]
the letter you had written to him of the 4^th. of Sept^r, when [torn, illegible]
wrote that to M^r. Nivison of the 17^th. Dec^r: last - But I [torn, illegible]
press this subject no further; the object of the present is mere[ly]
to inform you, that I have your positive ^{& unconditional} acceptance of this
draft - that it was upon the faith of this acceptance I agreed
to recieve the draft itself - that posessed of such evidence I hold
ample means of enforcing its payment from you, whether you
may be indebted to M^c.Claren upon a settlement or not - but
that I am unwilling to resort to these means, until I recieve your
final answer whether you will at once pay the draft or not -

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I shall wait for this answer a reasonable period, before I thak any
measures which will be scarcely less disagreeable to me than to
[yo]urself ; and I sincerely hope that this answer will make such
[mea]sures unnecessary.

I am very respectfully
your mo: obe^t. serv^t.
Litt^ton W Tazewell

[torn, illegible] Norfolk.
[torn, illegible] Jan^y. 26. 1809.

M^r. Francis Jerdone
Mitchils Store
Louisa County.

Ink on paper