A Guide to the Letter of John Randolph of Roanoke, November 20, 1806 Randolph, John, of Roanoke, Letter, November 20, 1806 10937-a

A Guide to the Letter of John Randolph of Roanoke, November 20, 1806

A Collection in
The Special Collections Department
Accession Number 10937-a

Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
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USA
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Funding: Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Processed by: Special Collections Department

Repository

Special Collections, University of Virginia Library

Accession number

10937-a

Title

Letter of John Randolph of Roanoke November 20, 1806

Physical Characteristics

This collection consists of one letter.

Language

English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Letter of John Randolph of Roanoke, November 20, 1806, Accession # 10937-a, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This letter was purchased by the Library from Seaport Autographs of Mystic, Connecticut, on September 10, 1990.

Scope and Content Information

John Randolph of Roanoke, Bizarre, Virginia, writes this two page letter, November 20, 1806, to former member of the House of Representatives, Caesar Augustus Rodney (1772-1824), Farmville, expressing his distrust of the United States postal service in maintaining the confidentiality of private letters. He inquires as to whether [Henry ?] Clay received his last letter dated about the twenty second of October and voices his suspicions that it has been waylaid along with several predecessors at the Washington post office.

Randolph also uses his distrust of the United States Post Office to avoid discussing his opinions in his letter, "neither do I conceive it safe for any man to trust himself on paper which is to pass thro the General post office; - unless so far as he is willing to commune with the chaste characters who preside over that department."