Cotton Tufts to John Adams, January 22, 1798

Weymouth Jan y. 22. 1798

Dear S r.

Yours of the 8 th. I received the 17 th. Ins t. and broke the Affair to
M r. Cranch, who has it under Consideration and expect he
will give me an Answer this Week— 1

A Day or two previous to the Receipt of yours, Solomon Thayer of
Braintree came to my House and offered me a piece of Pasture Land adjoyning to a
detached Piece of the Farm which You bought of Elkanah Thayer, the same Piece he had
offered me last Summer @ 18 Doll r. P r. Acre, I then refus’d the offer— D r. Fogg had now
made him an offer of his Pasture (@ 30 Doll r P r. Acre) the Money to be paid in 3 or 4 Days. this laying near
Thayers House, led him to renew his offer to me— Although I felt an Aversion to engage
without consulting you upon it—Yet several Considerations induced me to make him an
Offer with which He finally closed, it turnd out 11 Doll rs. & 47 Cents P r. Acrend by Admeasurement, about 13 Acres.
have paid him & received a Deed— In the Piece now purchased is a living spring which
Thayer assures me He never knew to be dry; in Your Land adjoyning the water fails in a
Dry Season— heretofore You could not get into Your Land without passing through his—
Thayer has also cleared up & cut off a greater part of the Bushes in the Fall 2 past— The Purchase of half an Acre (or an
Acre at most) of John Hobart, which I am told may be easily made, would bring You into
all Your Lands in that Quarter, without being dependant on any Body for a Passage— 3 These Considerations led me to think that
the Purchase would be agreable to You, if not You must rap my Knuckles & tell me to
do so no more— 4

For two Months past I have been upon the Enquiry for Barley in
Quincy, but without Success— I hope to collect some in Weymouth or Hull— I shall not
feel easy untill it is secured, as I foresee that it will be difficult to secure it in
the Spring—

Burrell is disposed to keep his Station another Year— French seems
to be undetermind— I settled Accounts with him about Ten Days past He appeared very
dull, He told me He had worked hard and should close the
Year with a Loss of (at least) 50 Doll rs. His Barley had
been lost his Crop of Corn greatly diminishd, on these Articles He had placed much
Dependance for his Profits, He askd me whether I could make him any Allowance, I declind
doing it without Advice, He wishd me to represent his Case to You, this I have now done,
and shall follow Your Directions—

The Subject Matter of Your Letter I shall carefully attend to, and
in my next give You information of my Proceedings—

Mine & m rs. Tufts’s best Regards to
M rs. Adams and accept of the best Wishes of / Your Friend
& H Serv t.

Cotton Tufts