Leonard Stephens Letter, 13 Feb 1840

Beech Woods, Campbell County, 13th Feb., 1840

My Dear Brother William,

I have once more seated myself for the purpose of writing to you & it is due to myself to explain to you the cause of not having done some sometime ago. When I received your letter by Hueston Perry I then had an immediate interview with Mr. Respess who stated to me that there could be no doubt but that the amount of twenty five hundred dollars bwhich he had previously informed me would be paid at Christmas would be paid . That nothing could as he believed transpire to prevent the payment of the money, that Clay the purchaser of the Bourbon land would certainly meet the payment promptly . I did believe that the money would be paid, & as it was about the 1st of December when Hueston Perry arrived I considered it unnecessary to write back to you untill I could communicate something definite as to your business. Well the 25th of Dec. came & our neighbor Respess dined with us & before he left I inquired if he had heard anything within the last two weeks about the money he replied that Mrs. Corlis had received a letter a few days previously & that the money would be paid without doubt & that he expected it within the course of a day or two.

I was kept in suspense untill about the 6th of January when I again saw Mr. Respess about the matter who informed me that Doct. John Corliss had started to Bourbon the day before & would bring down the money on his return. When he did return the statement was that Clay the purchaser of the Bourbon land had sold his cattle to Bedford & had not received the pay but that he was to have the money within the course of three or four days at most & I might certainly expect it within a week from that time.
Covington in the 1840s
I am thus explicit Brother William in order that you may know precisely how this thing has worked. Well that is the last account from Bourbon concerning this matter. So far as statements could be relied upon I have had a right to expect that money ever since Christmas & I have had a conversation with Respess every few days since. On the day before yesterday we went & returned from Covington together & he declared to me in the most positive manner that he could not account for the money not having been sent on. I asked him again as I had frequently done before whether he believed any thing could have occured or would turn up to prevent the money from being paid & he declared that so far as he knew or believed nothing had or could & that he ascribed the cause so far entirely to the failure of Clay & believed that he had not yet received the money for his cattle.

I requested him some three weeks ago to write, which he states he has done & that Mrs. Corlis has also written but have received no answer to their letters. If there is duplicity in all this (& I am constrained to say I have my fears) it cannot be of any service to them much longer, because something definite must be determined upon. Respess so far as I can judge is a clever man & I do not think that if the course that has been taken is all deception that he is instrumental in it, for I cannot believe he would have knowingly undertook to practice so palpable a deception, & it may be that there is nothing wrong about it except the failure to get the money tho it is certain that Clay the purchaser of the land is as good for his contracts as any man in Bourbon County & the money may yet be paid in a few days which I cincerely hope may be the case. At all events I shall endeavor to ascertain correctly whether the money is to be had or not. The times My Brother are harder in relation to money matters than I ever knew them in this country. There is scarcely any man that comes entirely up to his contracts & individuals that are sued manage to work along by property being advertized & no bidders consequently no sales & in that way no money collected upon judgments. If it is possible to collect without suit it is far better to do it.

About two weeks ago Fountain Riddell paid a hundred & seventy dollars of the amount he owed you & on this day I have received the debt due you by Rice of Bourbon which amounts to twelve hundred & twenty one dollars & ten cents including the interest upon the payment made January before the last. This amount added to the sum paid by Fountain Riddell makes $1391.10 cents which I have received for you. Of this amount I have this day paid Hueston Perry five hundred dollars & taken his receipt which I enclose you. Col. McDowel has been for some time dunning for his money & I have promised to pay it. The balance I shall either procure a check for & send you, or send the money by Hueston Perry who expects to start to Mo. as he told me to day about the 1st of March. You had directed me to pay a note of Col. Nelson's due to Collumbus next April which I intended to have done but upon inquiry ascertained that Collumbus had transferred the notes to a man that has removed to St. Louis so that arrangement cannot be made. There was some difficulty occuring about the interest upon the money due from —[tear]— who at first refused to pay any part of it but —[tear]— now all paid as stated above. Hueston Perry shewed me a letter to day that he had received from Lunsford stating that you had sent me an order to pay Hueston five hundred dollars for Lunsford, but no such letter has as yet reached me & consequently you know I have no authority to do it. If however I get it before I send you the money I have, of course I shall pay it over. If I had authority to do it.

I think it is probable if the money that is promised from Bourbon is not paid before Hueston leaves, I could make an arrangement that would suit for a portion of it. Hueston states that he could use Respess’s note or notes in purchasing goods & he and Lunsford pay you. Will you write to me so soon as you get this & let me know whether it would suit as I think a letter would get here before Hueston leaves as I have no idea he will get off before the 15th of March. Indeed I am strongly inclined to take the responsibility of doing it if I do not hear from you in time as I am confident it would be better for you. Brother John wished me to state to you that he believed he could sell your brushy fork land for ten dollars per acre, one thousand dollars paid in hand & the ballance in one & two years & that he wished you to write whether it would suit you. Our family thank God enjoys moderate health at present & sincerely hope this may find you all in the enjoyment of good health. The friends in this country are generally well. Napoleon's wife however is I fear dangerously ill & he is yet at Frankfort. The legislature however will adjourn on Monday next . Our best love to yourself, sister Elizabeth & all your children.

Your affectionate brother till death,
Leonard Stephens

[Side note on third page: I shall write you again by Hueston Perry and sooner if I send you a check.]

No. 13

[Address] Mr. William Stephens
Middle Grove
Monroe County
Missouri

Mail

Notes:

Aside from the shortage of currency (mentioned above), business transactions were hindered by a lack of modern financial institutions and procedures, such as the self-amortizing mortgage, through which the home buyer borrows most of the purchase price from a bank or savings and loan, paying a fixed monthly sum for a long period, up to thirty years. At the time of this letter, property sales between individuals typically were made with a third to a half of the total purchase price tendered as a down payment, and the balance due in one or two lump-sum payments a year or two later. Return.

On 7 Sep 1838, the elder John Corlis had sold for love, etc. and one dollar to his daughter, Harriet Haley Corlis (1808- —), 92 acres on Coopers Run in Bourbon. On 9 Oct 1839, not long after her father's death, she sold this land to Joseph H. Clay for $7,235.35, “paid and secured to be paid.” Bourbon Deeds 37: 300; 432. Aparently the heirs of John Corlis were relying on this money to pay William Stephens for the land in Boone and Campbell. Return.

Probably Major Respess’ sister, Evalina A. C. Respess (1815?-1847), who had married the widowed John Corlis, Sr., in Bourbon County in 1836; see above. Return.

Mr Bedford not identified. The family were among the early settlers of Bourbon County. Return.

Mr Rice not identified. Return.

Col McDowell not identified. Return.

Thomas Nelson, see above. Return.

Lewis Lunsford Stephens (1813-1843), William’s son. Return.

John Stephens (1785-1856) lived near Leonard. Return.

The Brushy Fork is a branch of Banklick Creek in Kenton County, just west of Independence. Return.

Rebecca Patterson Hughes Stephens. See above. Return.

The Kentucky Legislature met only for a short period each year, during the winter when there was little work to be done on the farms. The elegant Capitol building on Main Street in old Frankfort, designed in Greek Revival style by Gideon Shryock, where Leonard (and later Napoleon) came to represent Campbell County, has been restored by the Kentucky Historical Society. I have not been able to locate the desks in the legislative chambers where either would have been seated. Return.

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This page updated 10 October 2002.