French and Indian War veteran writes from prison, 1766

Description

Important letter regarding debts owed between two French and Indian War patriots. Alexander Finnie was a lieutenant in the 2nd Virginia Regiment under Colonel William Byrd in the 1750s. In 1758 Finnie, a slave owner, purchased Porto Bello Plantation in Virginia which he owned until 1770; following this purchase until his death he was largely in financial ruin and had debts with Byrd and several others. This letter is dated from York Prison, October 10, 1766 and addressed to The Honorable William Byrd, Esq. it is docketed in Byrd's hand. Finnie was likely in prison for not fulfilling several court ordered payment plans. "Mr. Alex. Finnie Oct 10 1766" he writes [sic], "Nothing but my Present unhappy Circumstance Could Prevale with on to give you trouble [.] I am here Confined by means of my Good nature in trusting too much to Peples Honnor & have got there debts to Pay as there security as well as my own [.]" In this letter he outlines a plan on how to pay back the money owed Byrd. He mentions several other soldiers, Captain Stirling, Colonel Halday and Colonel Hunter. William Byrd III (September 6, 1728 - January 1 or January 2, 1777) was the son of William Byrd II and the grandson of William Byrd I. He inherited his family's estate of approximately 179,000 acres of land in Virginia and continued their planter prestige as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He chose to fight in the French and Indian War rather than spend much time in Richmond. In 1756 he was colonel of the Second Virginia Regiment. Byrd had a reputation as a notorious gambler. He initiated what was said to have been the first major horse race in the New World, involving other planters Samuel Ogle, John Tayloe II, Francis Thornton, and Benjamin Tasker Jr. After he squandered the Byrd fortune on building a magnificent mansion at Westover Plantation, gambling, and bad investments, Byrd III parceled up much of the land he had inherited from his father and sold it off to raise money to pay his debts. He also sold the enslaved African laborers who had worked on his estate. Although his sale of land and slaves generated a huge sum it still was not enough to pay off his creditors. Later, Byrd resorted to a lottery, the prizes of which would come from his estate, Belvidere, at the falls of the James River. However the lottery failed to generate sufficient revenue. Despondent and nearly broke, Byrd III committed suicide on January 1 or 2, 1777.