TITLE: Letter from John Todd in Barbados and "Friends all over" to John Bowne
DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.02-08
DATE: 19 March 1665/6 (Old Style) / 29 March 1666 (New Style)
John Todd of Barbados salutes the Bownes and "all faithful lambs in ye sheepfold of those parts," expressing his desire for "communion and fellowship" and decrying sectarian strife. He offers to ship ginger to Rhode Island, and in return requests cranberries and "very good pooke" (tobacco.) Also signed by John and Elizabeth Deare; sent via William Borden.
Notes:
"Pooke" is a word for tobacco borrowed from the Native Americans of Connecticut.
John Todd (died c.1689): prominent Quaker who hosted meetings in his home on his plantation in St. John's Parish, Barbados.
Joseph Borden (1643-1693): Quaker of Rhode Island and Barbados, designated to transport the letter
William Reape (1628-1670), Rhode Island Quaker and signer of the Monmouth Patent, NJ., designated to receive the letter
Lewis Morris (1601-1691): Welsh-born Quaker and Barbadian merchant. Morris later purchased vast tracts of land in New York and New Jersey. In 1675, he bought a controlling interest in an iron works from Monmouth Patentee James Grover and named his share "Tintern Manor."