Cavailhez, Baptist, Abbeville, Louisiana, to Father Stephen Rousselon, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1854 May 30

It has been 25 days since Father Stephen Jules Foltier gave Cavailhez 150 piastres to give Rousselon. He sent this sum to a friend of New Iberia to give it into the proper hands. For several days it has been at Rousselon's disposal at Albert and Tricou' s, deposited by Pierre Cabrol of New Iberia. The prolonged silence about the estate of the late Father Anthony Désiré Mégret is disconcerting to the people of Abbeville. The plans for construction or speculation? are going to ruin. The rumor is that the Archbishop will not accept this estate and if this is so, the church could become a granary and the cemetery the enclosure to enlarge it. It would be good to relieve these good people of this anxiety and to convince them that Abbeville will continue to be the Archbishop's property and not that of a speculator who could later make it a place for Jews or Protestants. Foltier is very impatient to receive letters from Rousselon; he continues to be well loved by the parishioners. The rent of the pews went over 1000 piastres; the framework of his church is almost finished and it would be under cover except for an accident to his workman who fell from a scaffold. He expects to resume work soon. This letter is somewhat difficult to follow and the above may not represent it exactly. :: VI-1-g A.L.S. French 2pp. 4to.