FLORIAN - The Most Traveled Man on Earth

sorrow, my tender friend, that I can’t promise you any help and that it becomes necessary
for you to work for yourself and our children. I am heartbroken on realizing that I leave
you four daughters, or at least three, to support. Never doubt that I will dedicate myself
for you and give you all my care and industry, to gain everything possible for you to
make it come about. But what can I hope for, what can I promise you in the situation at
this time? I have nothing and am still in the dark as to whether I shall find a way to make
something. You must consult with your brothers about the possibility of realizing our old
projects and our re-uniting ourselves in New Orleans. It doesn’t seem that this depends
absolutely on what they will be making a year from now. Make it known to Joseph what
I am saying here and tell him that Mrs. Chariot is writing to him at Mrs. Powers’ address,
so he will be able to get her letters.
I must also warn you that the boat which Peter has bought is an old relic, all rotten; so
don’t take the risk of going on board it. As for him, the best thing that he can do is to get
rid of it as quickly as possible, if he doesn’t want to drink lavoue [?].
[ p 3] Notwithstanding all this, I feel better than I ever have. I met here Mr. Carau who
arrived from New Orleans and who is going to return by land. Emmanuel directed him to
make a barge to navigate on the Red River, where he has established a store. 9 We shall
leave together Friday, bound for Pittsburgh, and as soon as the barge is built, that
gentleman will load and outfit it and we will descend the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
This will take us two months, at least, but there I’ll profit by getting to see the interior
and learning something of the commerce of the country, a knowledge which may be
useful in New Orleans. Mr. Carau doesn’t speak a word of English, and I will serve as
his interpreter in all his dealings.
I wrote Laura a long letter, notably about what I have seen in this country. Tell her to do
likewise [write]. Since it will take a long time to get to New Orleans, I wrote to Mrs.
Kirkland by the mails, sending her Miss Ravencamp’s letter, and in that same boat mail,
under the cover of an envelope to Emmanuel, the letter which Mrs. Davidson entrusted
me for that country. I have high hopes that with these recommendations and Emmanuel’s
friends I will always find enough to live. But that is not enough. I would like to assure
you _______ ________ and for us to be re-united. Talents are extremely rare in this
country. I don’t know if they pay well in New Orleans. I’ll give you news when I have
news. In the meantime, consult well among you and see what is the most convenient for
you to do at the present time.
A thousand and a thousand kisses to my little dear ones. I hope that Virginia [Virginia
Jospehine Florian, later Russell (1793-1881), his second daughter] soon will be at a stage
to do as her sister, and will no longer be a burden to you. Take heart and have courage,
9 Although there is a Red River in eastern Kentucky, it seems very likely that this reference is to the large
Red River which rises in northern Texas and western Oklahoma, and which flows east to the Mississippi
and the Atchafalaya in central Louisiana. In 1806 the Freeman-Custis expedition found that much of the
Red River in Louisiana northwest of Natchitoches was un-navigable due to the “Great Raft”, a 100-milelong
log jam, probably over a thousand years old. This jam was not cleared until 1839, by which time it
had increased to 160 miles long! Probably the store referred to here was in the lower reaches of the river.
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