AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED "J. BRECKINRIDGE," TO ARTHUR FOX, ESQUIRE, OF WASHINGTON, MASON COUNTY, KENTUCKY, CONCERNING THE "MILLER'S HEIRS" LITIGATION, 15 NOVEMBER 1793

[4] pp bifolium, folded. Letter written on recto of first leaf, inner pages blank, last page addressed to Fox. Old mailing folds, light margin spotting, paper loss on the blank leaf from a seal tear has been replaced with period paper. Very Good.

Kentucky Revolutionary War veteran Breckinridge became Attorney General under Thomas Jefferson but died of tuberculosis soon after his appointment. A prominent Virginia, and then Kentucky, lawyer and politician, he was the grandfather of future Vice President and Confederate general John C. Breckinridge. His Letter to Fox reads as follows:
"I am sorry you made an unsuccessful trip to the Scioto, but think you ought not to complain, since you have saved your Hair. I am pleased to hear so good an account from the 1000 acre survey you made for me; and expect it will not be long before you will visit this place, & detail your Journey & inform me what I had best do with my unlocated Warrants.
"The suit with Millers Heirs was argued last Court but not determined. The Court gave but one decision on land causes at the last term.
"Millers council however, in the argument yields all the claim but a slice which would be under 50 acres. But I have little doubt of their gaining one acre of it. | I am | Sir, Your mo. ObtS | J. Breckinridge."
Arthur Fox [1761-1794] was a Revolutionary War veteran of Virginia. He and William Wood founded Washington, Virginia, [later Kentucky] in 1786. Fox was a Deputy Sheriff of Fayette County, Virginia, and a respected surveyor. He was closely associated with pioneers Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton. He was an elected member of the Virginia Legislature from Mason County from 1790-1791. At the time of his death, he owned 34,000 acres of Kentucky land and about 60 slaves.
In the case discussed in the letter, Hannah and Mary Miller, infant co-heirs of Andrew Miller, deceased, sued Fox; it was later extended to Fox's heirs over a parcel of land; the case eventually went to the Supreme Court and did not conclude until about 1801.