Lot 270
(Besallion, Peter) 1702 Child's Heartbreaking Letter to Her Indian-Trader Father. A one-page, folded letter, 8¼x6½", dated New York, 27 Aug. 1701 and written to Peter Besallion, a French Canadian who was a licensed Indian trader, trapper, and interpreter, by a 12-year-old girl who claims to be his daughter and who begs for acknowledgment from him. The letter was carried from New York to Pennsylvania, where Besallion moved around the time of William Penn's first arrival in 1682. Good condition; age toned and soiled with multiple folds, but entirely legible; part of the address leaf is missing.
The young girl, Jahanna Beselion, makes her mark at the end of the following letter: "Beloved Father - My only Desier is that my dier father would be pleast to Remamber me, for I understand that you are my only father, my mother Jahanna Sioute Shee take noe care of me for Shee gave me away hwen I was a Little Child to Anna Couvenowen, whar I have bin these 12 yeare and a halfe and have bin well brought up….Now My only Desier is that my beloved father would be pleas to Remamber his Diere Child; and Send me few word back again that Should mak me glad and Satisfigd in my mine that I hav a father in Life; My hombey Respect to my Diere father for ever Petter Beselion. Jahanna Beselion." Ironically, Peter had no children with his wife Martha, and his substantial inheritance passed to Martha's nephews, Thomas and John Hartt, and eventually to the related Gardener family. Peter kept the letter, but we don't know if he sent any acknowledgment to his "dier Child." A real tear jerker.
Estimated Value $2,500 - 3,500.
Mary Gardner estate.
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| Realized $1,438 |
