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Williams asks Hough to recommend a candidate for a teaching position at Sligo. He mentions that J. J. Hough (the recipient's brother) has already accepted a similar position at the Bennetts' plantation, "Retirement."

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Williams offers Anderson a teaching position at Sligo.

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Williams writes Anderson about travel plans and seasonal contagion.

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Hough writes to his former Yale classmate describing his journey to Natchez and the setting of the plantation itself. He notes the elegance of the plantation houses, saying "we live at Retirement like kings." He goes on to describe the students he is teaching and the mildness of the climate.

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Williams writes to Anderson to detail travel arrangements for Anderson's upcoming trip to Natchez.

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Hough writes to Anderson and passes on Williams' concerns about Anderson's travel schedule. The rest of the letter deals with personal matters; Hough mentions he was invited to officiate a "negro wedding."

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Williams writes to Anderson concerning a piece of Anderson's luggage which is being shipped from New Orleans to New York after Anderson left Natchez.

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Hough writes to Anderson to talk about his teaching and local affairs generally. He mentions an incident in which an overseer was killed by a slave "on one of Dr. Metcalf's places."

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Williams writes to Anderson about the plantation school and other personal matters. He mentions he is considering selling Sligo.

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Williams writes to Anderson about his impending travel plans in the North.

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More on the plantation school; Anderson has received another offer to teach for a Mr. Sepions.

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Williams continues to encourage Anderson to return to Natchez.

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Williams writes to Anderson with instructions on how to treat yellow fever (which Anderson had contracted in the South and seems not to have recovered from). Williams also expresses his desire to retain Anderson as a teacher if he decides not to sell Sligo.

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Hough writes in a humorous vein of his boredom at Retirement during the four-week August "vacation."

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More on the possibility of Anderson's returning South, given Williams' decision to retain Sligo.

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Williams sends a copy of MSN/EA 5038-15 to an unidentified recipient, to be forwarded to Anderson out of fear the original might miscarry.

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Williams regrets that Anderson has decided not to accept his job offer, due to poor health.

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Williams writes to Anderson to further express his sypmathies and to obtain Anderson's help in finding a new teacher. He emphasizes that the new teacher must ". . .either be sound upon that question [i.e., slavery] or have the good sense to hold his peace with both White and Blacks. This is no time for an Abolitionaist to go South and express his views."

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Hough relates a string of anecdotes conveying the region's increasing turmoil and anti-Northern sentiment: the danger of reading Northern papers; the hanging of a photographer who was found to be "tampering with slaves"; the burning of 125 bales of cotton by slaves at an upriver plantation.

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Williams writes to Anderson to solicit Anderson's recommendation in hiring a new teacher.

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Williams writes to Anderson to say that he has offered the job to J. Oscar Teil, an acquaintance of Anderson's.

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Williams writes to Anderson concerning the details of Teil's teaching position.

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Williams writes to Anderson about the teaching position for Teil. Williams also describes the somber mood of his family following the death of his daughter Susie.

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Williams writes to Anderson about his correspondence with Teil.

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Teil writes to Anderson to say he forwarded Anderson two of Williams' letters.

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Hough responds to a letter from Anderson with news of the presidential election. He celebrates Lincoln's victory in New York, describes local reactions, and insists that the Federal government must be aggressive in responding to acts of rebellion, in South Carolina and elsewhere.

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News from Sligo. Teil says that two Williams daughters, Jessie and Jennie, have fallen ill with diptheria. The rest of the letter talks of Teil's journey South.

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Hough writes to Anderson mostly of personal and social matters. He mentions Jessie Williams' death from diptheria and his first meeting with Teil. He also describes the political climate in New Orleans, describing it as "equal to Paris during the 'Reign of Terror.'"

Scope and Contents News from "Retirement," with much on the local political climate. Hough writes of the secession conventions in Louisiana and Mississippi, saying that "before this letter reaches you I shall be residing in a foreign county." He also speaks of the militarization of the South: "It may be that it will be a peaceful revolution, but it will be an anomaly if it is & I expect nothing else than a civil war yet. The South are not idle but are forming military companies & arming them in the...

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Williams writes to Anderson of personal and political matters. He describes the hardships his family is going through, having lost four children in 15 months to illness. The rest of the letter talks about the secession crisis and Williams states, "it is better to separate peacibly if we can, fighting if we must."