Worthington June 30^th 1775

Sir,
Your Letter bearing Date the 26^th of this Instant Just came to Hand, am very sorry you
think me the cause of Spreading that Infectious Dicease of Small Pox, and that you cast such Reflections which are unbecoming the Gentⁿ It is very true when I went after my Coat I lodged at your House
who made my Bed I Know nothing about, But this Sir I must let you know in Justification of my
Conduct , I had been out of the Pest House a week before I went after my Coat & was Sufficiently Cleansed when I did come out as was that by the Inoculator, I came out on Thursday, the next
Week on Wednesday I shifted my cloaths again & washed y^e Second time after which M^rs Eager made
my Bed, on Friday after y^e Day on which I went to Belcher I shifted my Cloathss again, I went
from Belcher home to my Fathers my Sisters made the Bed on w^ch I lay ye Ensuing Evening
after I came from your House ; Do you suppose Sir I would give it to my Fathers family
if I would to yours as you have sufficiently hinted in your Letter , which I think is as cruel &
ungenerous as the Grave--- Sir from what is said above, do not you think M^rs Eager who made
my Bed three Nights before I was at your House as likely if not moreso to take ye Infection as
your Granddaughter, or my Sisters who made it after I came from your House, I am very
sorry your Granddaughter has taken the Disease & that you have been Exposed to it, my Conduct
in going to Belcher is not such a Wonderfull Strange thing as you Imagine & When I was
Inoculated it was this Motive of Self Preservation , not with a design of Spreading it as you in
your Christian Uncharitableness suppose; the Regard I have for my fellow Creatures is as great
as yours I must think unless you have some Passion more Operative than that of Charity,
Sir I am willing to leave it with M^rs Eager with whom I board, whether I was not as careful
as a person possibly could be after I came home; If I know my own Heart I would not give
y^e Small Pox willingly to any person for three Times fifty Pounds, no not to my worst Enemy

As to the Quality of my Coat whether Old or New I must be so Impudent as to tell
you it is none of your Business if I tho’t was proper to go after it; as to what you write about Doct^r Pynchon I do not agree with him, The Doct.r is a Gentⁿ I never had but little personal acquaintance with But ye Opinion I Entertain of him from ye Character he sustains is great, and y^e Gentⁿ I esteem
to whom I desire you to give my Compliments & let him know that I really think it
Impossible for me to have communicated the Disease at that Time or a Number of Days
Before_ As to the Coat I am sorry to see you so anxious, it looks as if you was too much
troubled about it; And as to my paying Part, I have only this to observe that there was once
a Wholesome Law that where a trepass was committed & it was proved upon y^e Person there the
Trepasser was to make good the Damage--You lastly observe & say that it would have been
as well for y^e World for me to have followed some other Profession, I cannot say but it would
for I am an Unexperienced Person in y^e Business ; But pray Sir how does that concern you
I can’t see unless your Benevolence extendth itself as far to y^e Western part of y^e World
as y^e Eastern__As to my giving you y^e Small Pox I am not troubled , for I cannot think I did
or was capable of doing it Do, think you keep a publick house & Exercise a little of that
Charity which is the fulfilling of the Law & you’ll Oblige
your Abused H Serv^t

Elihu Ashley

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This letter, dated June 30, 1775, was written by Elihu Ashley to an innkeeper, Capt. Nathaniel Dwight, in Belchertown, Massachusetts, regarding what Ashley believed to be a false accusation. Dr. Ashley has recently been inoculated for smallpox in a Worthington, Massachusetts, "pest house" and shortly thereafter has lodged in a public house in the town of Belchertown. The innkeeper has accused Ashley of spreading the disease and Ashley writes an indignant reply.

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