Eustis, William (1753-1825) to Henry Knox
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.04414 Author/Creator: Eustis, William (1753-1825) Place Written: Boston, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 13 November 1789 Pagination: 2 p. : address : docket ; 23 x 18.8 cm. Order a Copy
Discusses a gentleman from Boston who is attempting to obtain the position of commissary of pensioners. Asks whether the appointment to that post is granted from the state or the Continent. Relates a request from the Marquis La Gallissonnière, possibly Augustin-Félix-Elisabeth Barrin, asking Knox for a diploma to give to Louis Antoine Thomassin, Comte de Peynier [also spelled Peinier], Governor of Saint-Domingue and member of the Society of the Cincinnati. Notes that a "gentleman of character," also a member of the Society, will be happy to deliver the diploma if Knox decides to send it. States that "[t]here seems to be a danger in giving a diploma to any foreign officer, and I am so much alive to the honor of the Society in this respect that I cannot desire that for the Count de Peynier unless you should have the most acquiescent satisfaction in the safety & propriety of the measure." Adds that other members of the Society think that the Viscount de Pontives, possibly Henri-Jean-Baptiste, comte de Ponteves-Gien, was granted membership by mistake. Notes that Rochambeau or the Count de Estaing recommended him, but "time & its information will convince you that he was not entitled to become a wearer of the bald eagle."
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