1843 ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT LETTER [ALS] REGARDING THE KILLING OF MRS. BACON 'AND THE WRETCHES THEY HAVE CAUGHT' HANDWRITTEN BY A HARVARD MAN TO A WASHINGTON COLLEGE FRIEND

On offer is a super 3-1/2 pp handwritten manuscript letter [ALS], dated Harvard University, Oct. 8th, 1843, having a stampless cover addressed to Sam. F. Jarvis at Washington College in Hartford, Conn., with a red Cambridge postal cancel, reading in part: "... Frequent the company of females, well informed & of your rank in society... pay some attention to married ladies, whose conversation is not only improving, but will also raise the sex in your estimation... My Aunt Clara writes me that they think in Middletown that they have caught the wretches [Hall, Roberts, & Bell were all implicated in this notorious 19th century crime] that killed Mrs. Bacon. May they be caught & hung. Capital punishment has been abolished in Connecticut, so that the ruffians will only be sentenced to the State Prison for life. If, when they are condemned, the mob would break into the jail, seize them & after pouring tar all over them should make a bonfire of them, I should think that the mob were right, & I feel as if I could almost join in such an act. It seems to be the most shocking that I ever heard of...[much more on his views of women, dating]." Signed Henry C. Chauncey. Folded 8 x 10 inch sheet with a small tear/ hole affects three words, paperclip stain, otherwise VG.