Thomas Rotch Letter to Matthew Macy Regarding Payment of Debt

Thomas Rotch wrote this letter to Matthew Macy, a Quaker who followed the Rotch to Kendal (now Massillon) from Nantucket after 1812. He worked in Rotch's store and assumed the position of post master of Kendal after Rotch. Macy also gave refuge to slaves who were passing through Kendal en route to Canada. In this letter, Thomas Rotch entrusts Matthew Macy with $1600 to pay Rotch's creditors in Pittsburgh and instructs him to make apologies for delays in payment and any inconvenience incurred. The letter is one page and measures 7.75" x 12.5" (19.69 x 31.75 cm). Thomas Rotch (1767-1823), a Quaker and early settler of Kendal, was active in the abolition movement and conducted slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad. He also served as a correspondent for the Committee on Indian Concerns. The Rotch-Wales Collection comprises several thousand items, including Quaker and abolitionist materials, household remedies and recipes, weather reports and machinery plans, and personal letters of Thomas and Charity Rotch and their family. It contains personal and business correspondence, diaries, documents, accounts, ledgers, and daybooks. A large portion of the collection consists of the personal and business correspondence, documents, and business papers of Arvine Wales I (1785-1854), who accompanied Rotch from Hartford to Ohio in 1811, worked for him, and carried on Rotch's business interests after his death. The papers of his son, Arvine C. Wales (1827-1882), a lawyer and civic leader in Massillon, are also part of the collection