This collection (59 items) contains letters received by Roger Quarles of Fayette County, Kentucky, regarding financial affairs and real property; correspondence related to Quarles's grandson, Patrick Henry Thomson, and to Thomson's wife, Julia Maria Farnsworth; and financial documents and receipts pertaining to Roger Quarles.
Roger Quarles received the first 13 items in the Correspondence series (34 items) between 1805 and 1838. Most of the letters concern his financial and business interests, often related to land in Fayette County, Kentucky, and to Kentucky turnpikes. Some correspondents wrote from Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg, Virginia. Quarles also received a personal letter from his nephew, David Thomson. Most items dated after 1838 pertain to the Thomson family, who discussed family news, health, and their social lives. Julia Maria Thomson and Patrick Henry Thomson corresponded with their siblings in Louisville, Kentucky, and Memphis, Tennessee; Julia's sister, Sarah, wrote about her experiences at the Female Eclectic Institute in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and mentioned that the school's founder, Dr. Philip Slater Fall, had officiated the wedding of a free black couple (1840). Later items in the series include letters to Roger Quarles, particularly concerning financial difficulties and family news.
The Accounts and Receipts series (11 items) contains receipts addressed to Roger Quarles. Some concern taxes; on one occasion, Quarles paid for an official to record a deed. Two items relate to legacy payments to Elizabeth Winslow Hutchinson.
Legal Documents (14 items) mainly relate to land in Virginia and Kentucky; one includes a surveyor's map (April 11, 1796). Many items are partially printed indentures or manuscript copies of similar documents, and most refer to Roger Quarles. The series also contains 2 printed items concerning legislation about Kentucky turnpikes.
Roger Quarles was born in Virginia in the 1770s; around 1801, he moved to Fayette County, Kentucky, where he acquired a large estate, handled land transactions, and invested in the Georgetown and Lexington Turnpike Road Company. He and his wife Jane had one daughter, Anna Eliza.
Patrick Henry Thomson, the son of Anna Eliza Quarles and William Z. Thomson, was born on August 31, 1819, and studied medicine before returning to his grandfather's estate in Fayette County, where he became a farmer. He served as a clerk for the Cane Run Church, ran a private school, and was involved in the affairs of the Georgetown and Lexington Turnpike Road Company. On May 9, 1839, he married Julia Maria Farnsworth (1821-1916), the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Farnsworth. They had nine surviving children: Anna Eliza, Rodes, Franklin, William, Sarah, Roger Quarles, Nellie Stevenson, Amelia, and Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry Thomson, Sr., died in 1901.
