I am sure that I had lost, from 1821 to this time, more than one hundred thousand _dollars_, and felt very much discouraged in consequence.
Our company had a good deal of unsettled business in Virginia and South Carolina, and I started in the fall of 1837 for those places.

Arriving at Richmond, I had a strong notion of going into the marl business.

I had been down into Kent county, the summer before, where I saw great mountains of this white marl composed of shells of clams and oysters white as chalk.

I had sent one vessel load of this to New Haven the year before.

At Richmond I was looking after our old accounts, settling up, collecting notes and picking up some scattered clocks.
One night I took one of these clocks into my room and placing it on the table, left a light burning near it and went to bed.