FLORIAN - The Most Traveled Man on Earth

Letter 1. 2
[Letter translated, not original, in English, handwritten, in the Edward Ladd collection,
Mobile, Alabama; from Jean Baptiste to his wife, Marguerite Marie Le Det de Segray
(1770-1817)at their school in Essex. He is apparently in hiding from a lawsuit and
creditors, on the Isle of Wight or in Cornwall.]
“Gogo,” Marguerite Le Det de Segray, wife of Jean Baptiste Florian
To: Mrs. Florian, Assembly House, Laytonstone, Essex
August 4, 1808
I flatter myself, my dear Gogo [a term of endearment for his wife], that your interview
with Joseph [Marie Le Det de Segray, 1777—aft. 1827, brother of Marguerite] will
dissipate or at least soften the grief which my letter has caused you, and that your good
sense will overcome your sensibilities. A little reflection will convince you that,
2 Note that this numbering scheme was not in the original letters, but is used here for the convenience of
modern readers, to correspond to the Table of Contents.
15