Writing on this Saturday morning in mid-March, Henry prepares to finalize his father’s estate.¹ Jean died on May 31, 1747, just three days before Henry arrived from England.² This letter is Henry’s second to Prince William’s Parish planter, Hugh Bryan, a warm friend and ardent supporter of The Reverend George Whitefield. Interestingly, Bryan had been taken by the Native Americans when a child.³

“Your Note for One hundred & Eighty Pounds Payable to Laurens & Addison [the mercantile firm of Henry’s uncle, Peter, and Benjamin Addison]. is assign’d to me,” Laurens wrote in December 1747, “for the use of the Estate of [my father] Mr. John Laurens.” Furthermore, Henry asks that payment be remitted in three weeks.⁴

Nearly twelve weeks later, on that Saturday morning, Henry tactfully observed, “as I have receiv’d no Answer I imagine my Letter has not reach’d you which occasions my writing to you again on the same Business.” Henry expresses a sense of urgency as he desires to return to London “early in May next if I can [settle] my Fathers affairs.” Therefore, he declares, “I shall esteem it a favour if you will furnish me with the Amount of your said Note.”⁵

After nearly sixteen months of settling his father’s estate and making business arrangements, Henry sailed for London on September 21, 1748, aboard the Charming Nancy, captained by William White.⁶ The debt remained unsettled at the time of Henry’s departure.⁷

1. Henry Laurens to Hugh Bryan, Charles Town, March 19, 1748, Papers of Henry Laurens, 1:123. ↩︎
2. For Jean’s death see, South Carolina Gazette, June 8, 1747. For Henry’s arrival see, South Carolina Gazette, June 1, 1747. ↩︎
3. For the first letter see, Henry Laurens to Hugh Bryan, Charles Town, December 29, 1747, Papers of Henry Laurens, 1:98-99. For George Whitefield see, Jessica M. Parr, Inventing George Whitefield: Race, Revivalism, and the Making of a Religious Icon (Jackson, 2015). ↩︎
4. Henry Laurens to Hugh Bryan, Charles Town, December 29, 1747, Papers of Henry Laurens, 1:98-99. For his uncle’s firm see, Henry Laurens to George Jackson, Charles Town, September 7, 1747, Papers of Henry Laurens, 1:54. ↩︎
5. All quotes in this paragraph from Henry Laurens to Hugh Bryan, Charles Town, March 19, 1748, Papers of Henry Laurens, 1:123. ↩︎
6. South Carolina Gazette, September 21, 1748. ↩︎
7. Henry Laurens to Hugh Bryan, Charles Town, July 15, 1748, Papers of Henry Laurens, 1:156-157. ↩︎