Letter

The collection consists of a letter from H. Cox written on October 17, 1839, in Mt. Vernon, Alabama, his niece Elizabeth (Mrs. James P.) Whitson in Brooklyn, New York. In the letter, Cox describes how the yellow fever epidemic had emptied Mobile. He tells her about the devastation of Mobile - that of the population by the disease and that of city itself by fires, some which were probably set by accident but others which were most likely arson. He says, "The fever depopulated the place - the fire has laid it in ashes."