Incoming mercantile correspondence from Savannah, Georgia, 1817

All of letters in this file were addressed to Morris by George & Alex M. Ker of Savannah, Georgia. The Kers requested information on a recently dissolved partnership and the price of goods in the Philadelphia market. They provided information on commodity prices in Savannah, including the prices for upland and Sea Island cotton.

In an October 27, 1817, letter, the Kers reported that "Sickness and death are the sole counts[?] of that season in this deadful climate, and we have in a severe degree experienced its afflicting effects. Our City is still very unhealthy and the weather excessively warm, and we cannot calculate on any abatement of its violence until a frost, there have been a number of strangers recently arrived, and every day adds to the numbers of sick persons. The deaths from the first of this month to this day are 112 whites, a mortality so great never before known in the City, and indeed as immense from the smallness of the population--business in consequence is very dull."

In a December 12, 1817, letter, they informed Morris that "We derive information from advice[?] that cannot be doubted, that the Provence of E. Florida will very soon be in possession of the U. States. Under a Government which has checked the energies of its people, this tract of Country has for years past remained in a very partial state of improvement, and indeed, almost unknown. And the causes of the tardy advance toward agricultural improvement, instead of being enumerated, with the evils of Despotism, have always been attributed to the sterility of the soil. This province possesses many advantages, both for commerce & agriculture, and which this contemplated change will bring to light."