Letter from Merchant John F. Kennedy to Marcia Gray, 3 October 1814

Abstract

The letter mentions the siege of Baltimore by the British during the War of 1812. Kennedy was recovering from illness in Norfolk, Virginia, and writes to his wife that “Your two letters of the 21st came together last evening. Their receipt has eased my mind more than it is in my power to express. I thought you or some of the children sick or dead, not hearing from you. Knowing that you are all well I feel an unusual comfort and happiness…My God what a time my love you must have had during the siege. Altho the fortune of man might have put an end to me or deprived me of a leg or an arm and put an end to all my hopes in this world, I regret my not being in Fort McHenry as the greatest misfortune of my life”.