The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1881-03-17
AARON BURR.

, Ihurlow Weed recently about his recol
lections of Aaron Burr. Weed said tina
among many well-known families ther.
was an agony Of fear when the duel was
fought lest the guilty gallant should fall
and their secrets be betrayed; and this
fear deepened into CONSERVATION when be
died. Many of the Oldest families OF
/ New York, Pennsylvania end New Eng
land trembled then; and well they might.
'What could they have feared then, so
many years afterl"
'Why, you see, it had been rumored
around that Burr had never destroyed
any letters from ladies. And this shows,
better than anything else, his lack of any
moral sense whatever, for he refused to
protect those whom he had grievously
injured when they could have been pro-
teeted without moments thought"
"Did he actually keep all of those let
tere2"
HE did; probably every one. He
used to boast that he had never DESTROY
ed one. And with devilish method. he
had folded them all carefully, and had
filed them regularly in packages, each
lady's letters by themselves. When he
died at last, Matthew l.. Davis, about his
only friend, who became his administra-
tor, sent for me. There was nothing to
administer but the expressions of tender
ness which the scoundrel had cajoled
| from respectable women and filed away.
There Was the will which he made the
day before his duel with Hamilton. In
that he said to his daughter, Theodosia,
his only legitimate child, then at sea, In
blue trunk in the attic you will find
| something to amuse, more to instruct
and still more to regret That blue
trunk which he cody bequeathed to his
only child, and that child lovely daugh-
ter, contained the carefully treasured
| love-letters, from dozen women at q
time, proofs of her fathers depravity.-
Does that not show that Burr was with
out any moral sense whatever? Theodo-
sia was swallowed up by the waves, and
| never saw the blue trunk"
''Did you see these letters?"
'I was just about to say: We opened
the blue trunk, which Davis had partly
examined, and [ shall never forget my
establishment and disgust at what I saw.
1t was nearly full of letters from women,
filed in packages. We looked at the in
dividual letters. Most of them had or
iginally been signed with initials only, or
oftener without any name, or with some
pet name; but Bnrr,o with a malignitY
stand, had written out each name in full.
He seemed resolved that others should
share his infamy. Some of the names
belonged to the most honored families in
the land-to have revealed them would
have been to cause terrible anguish, and
in several cases, probably the breaking
up OF families"
"Did you read many of theml'
"Not very many. l used to go over
and look at them when 1 had a spare
hour. They were strictly guarded by
Davis. Why, Mordecia NJ. Noah offered
Davis 500, 900 for that blue trunk and it's
contents, but of course the offer was
spurned and the insult resented"
$50 the blue trunks dangerous con-
tents were burnt, suppose" said.
'tWhy, no; not ali of them, by any
means. Matthew Davis, too, had his
eccentricities, and one of his queer no.
tions in regard to these captured letters
was that they should all be returned to
the writers! That seemed to me to in
hict needless pain, and l argued with
him about it; but he said the writer's
would be better satisfied if they had a
chance to destroy them Themselves
Some of them were old ladies then
mothers and grandmothers-but Davis
undertook the grim task of returning all
the packages Of letters by the hands of
trusty friends. A good many he gave
| paSh hihoch. 11O 6a'O hiO ohO oA eACoO
delicate packages to deliver, when was
going to Providence one day, but told
him would see him hanged first. But
L know that Gen. Scott did accept one of
these packages from Matthew Davis and
returned it with his own hand to lady
high in society in Richmond. He told
me so. always wondered whether she
thanked him or not, but 1 forgot to ask
him. But think of the moral nature of
a man capable of deliberately leaving ali
those letters to his own daughter as a
legacy!'
We may add that these letters have not
been destroyed. but large number are
now packed away in house in village
On Long Island.
| THE FENIAN CHIEF,-Mr Michael