Braxton, Carter, Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Virginia

Autograph letter signed ("Carter Braxton"), 3 pages (12 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.; 315 x 210 mm), n.p. [?Newington Plantation, Virginia], 21 September 1778, to an uncle, regarding a contract with his uncle for shipping investments and trade in "necessities" and tobacco in the Caribbean, advice on the prices of  wine "a most delicious & wholesome ... Liquor"; closed tears affecting 13 lines of text, second leaf inlaid on another sheet for mounting in an album. Tan linen folding case, brown morocco spine lettered gilt.

In this letter to his uncle, Braxton discusses his thriving shipping business and tobacco trade. In the course of the war, the British destroyed his shipping investments and several of plantations. Braxton never recovered from these reversals of fortune and was forced to sell his estate in 1786 and move to a smaller residence in Richmond.