I enquired of Mr. Holtzclaw about the sickness on the place in the early part of the spring and the cause of so many negroes dying. He told me that he thought the cholera had visited that neighborhood, and that some of your negroes had died of that disease, particularly Titus, whose death he seemed very much to regret as he was a fine hand and a most valuable servant. He did not seem, however, to be satisfied in his own mind that either the girl or the two Samsons died of that disease. He says Dr. McCorkle saw Titus on the Sunday evening before his death and said he was well again and would be able to go to work on Monday morning. At 11 o’clock Sunday night he was a corpse. Now, my dear sir. I doubt very much whether the cholera has ever been at the Hermitage or its neighborhood. I heard of its being nowhere else, except a reported case on Major Donelson’s farm. Mr. Donelson’s negro, who was supposed to be attacked with the cholera, recovered and is now well. I think Titus must have died of some other disease. I had heard at Nashville that Mr. Holtzclaw was very severe with the negroes, but from my own observation and what the negroes themselves told me while there I think probably he is not more so than is necessary. Where there are so many negroes there must be a pretty rigid police. I told him that I had heard of his severity, but I hoped he had given no foundation for such reports about him. I added that you knew the necessity of keeping order on the place and among the negroes, but that I was sure that you did not wish nor would you permit your negroes knowingly to be treated with cruelty. I hoped therefore that he would not use towards them an unnecessary severity. He assured me that he had not and would not. I told him if an overseer would be constantly himself with his hands very little whipping would be required. The best way of managing negroes, according to my experience, was to treat them kindly when they done well, and to punish them reasonably when they misbehaved; but that he might be assured that no negroes would conduct themselves well who were left too much to themselves—that someone for whom they had either respect or fear should always be near at hand. He concurred with me in this opinion and said that he scarcely ever was off the place unless obliged by business. Your negroes evidently are better clad than they were under Mr. Steele’s administration. They informed me that they all got their quantum of winter clothing, and most of them have already been furnished with their summer clothing. I did not see a single child even on the place that was not well clad, and Mr. Holtzclaw informed me that there were 58 of them. He keeps his wheel constantly going, and he informed me that it spins six or seven yards every day—besides the spinning ginney that he says he keeps constantly going.