Letter from Benjamin Smith Lyman to J. Peter Lesley
Description:
Lyman details his intended course for the work he is beginning in Virginia, which is to involve surveying iron, lead, and coal lands. He worries about getting paid for the job, because his employers are "perfect strangers." Lyman describes the local geology, as well as the local African American population, and notes that the Virginians seem anxious about their transition away from an economy based on "agriculture (and slave breeding)."
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