Robert E. Lee to Charles Carter Lee

Your letter arrived in due course of mail and I am sorry to find that it is not convenient for you to come on. Our business with Uncle Williams I suppose can be settled as well by letter as otherwise. But unless one of us could attend to the Patrick land I fear it will never be of any advantage, as Smith says he can not; & appears to be willing to do nothing but saunter about the District untill ordered to sea. Couldn’t an arrangement be made with Middleton for resurveying it, driving off the Squatters, uniting it & C. he being indemnified for his trouble by a fourth of the proceeds? If we can do nothing with it but pay the taxes yearly, we had better give it up. What you said about paying the taxes in one of your preceding letters I did not understand; Write me more fully on the subject. I do not know whether Uncles Wms has any money of mine or not & if he has I wanted to reserve it till next Spring, as I find that my pay is barely sufficient for one, much less for two. However until ever I can do, I will, for the benefit of all parties -

Uncle Wms did not come up with his daughters, so I wrote to him the day after I received your letter on the business you mentioned & also to ask him if he had any money of yours in his hands. As yet I have received no answer and will inform you when I do -

I went over to Washington the same morning on your business. Collins Lee says that the lot was sold early in August & bought in by Mr Cosce agent for Mrs. Meade, & that a deed is now required from you to Mrs. M. as trustee. He also says that he wrote to you some time since by young Mr Cosce and sent you by him Blackstone’s & Peter’s reports, but has received no answer - He was to write again that morning informing you of the terms of Sale. I called on Mr. Hepburn but he was out of town & did not return till yesterday. He informed me that he had just been to Maryland on that business & had obtained a little more testimony on the case, which business had not yet been submitted to the Chancellor but was to be soon, he promised to write to you fully on the subject that morning & send it on franked by Genl. Jones. This is all that I could do but should you think that any thing more could be done by me, let me know & I will attend to it with the greatest -

Cousin Marice is still here, is improving in health & spirits. Miss Mary G. & Mildred returned from Baltimore with her. Anne is now fixed in B. where Mr. Marshall is going to practice law. I received a letter from him a few days ago, in which he mentioned that Anne had the Ague & fever. Miss Branch, the Secretary’s daughter is to be married on Thursday to Paul Donaldson brother to the Maj. Miss Selina Lloyd is to be married on the 28th. to Mr. Powell a young lawyer in Leesburgh, Sweet Charles is here in a great bother between Miss C. & a threatening of an attack of Bilious f<ever> Smith talks of taking Mildred back to B. to m<mutilate>, though I believe it will end there. Mrs. C. Miss M. Mrs. F. Mildred & C. all send their love to you & regret that you could not come on - I intend to leave this letter open till the servant returns from the P. Office in hopes that I may hear from Uncle Wms. & must therefore leave room to tell you the contents.

I remain yours as ever.

R. E. Lee