1828 HANDWRITTEN LETTER (ALS) FROM THIS ENGLISH BANKER, REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS, ADDRESSED TO N & WW BILLINGS AT NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT. DATELINED: LONDON, 21st JANUARY 1828

London, England, 1828. Original manuscript. Very Good. One page, quarto, integral address leaf, in sepia ink. In part: "Having received Mr. S. Williams's second dividend of One Shilling in the Pound on the amount of your proof, I gladly authorise your Draft on me at the shortest sight for the Net proceeds....I would not encourage you to calculate on more than 6p or a Shilling from future dividends--and even that not soon.... [signed] Timothy Wiggin." [Timothy Wiggin's name turns up several times in Ralph Waldo Emerson's diary for 1833. Wiggin was Longfellow's London banker, and it has been conjectured that he served a like purpose for Emerson. Wiggin's bank was also active in the China Trade, etc.] [N&WW Billings Company "was established in 1823 and ceased operations in 1851. During this period the company managed at least twelve whaling vessels which, by the end of business, had made it one of the most successful whaling agencies in New London....In addition, the company operated a soap and candle making business that used oil and spermaceti, etc. taken by their whale ships" (from Mystic Seaport records)].