Waterhouse, Benjamin (1754-1846) to Lucy Knox
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.08066 Author/Creator: Waterhouse, Benjamin (1754-1846) Place Written: Cambridge Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 6 February 1818 Pagination: 3 p. : address : docket ; 25.1 x 20.1 cm. Order a Copy
Writes first to report on Knox's daughter (in law) Eliza's travels to and from Boston, and correspondence related to her (Eliza married Lucy's son Henry Jackson Knox). Next, discusses President [John] Adams's recent preoccupation with the idea of an American Navy. Adams believes that when he was Vice President under Washington, they discussed the establishment of a Navy; [Thomas] Jefferson and [Henry] Knox supported the idea, but [Alexander] Hamilton and the Attorney General did not. Writes that President Adams would like to know whether Lucy remembers any debates on this subject. Believes that Adams plans to write a history of the Navy, and would like to include Knox's opinions of it. Page 3 contains a brief note from Waterhouse about the receipt of correspondence from Lucy prior to the current letter as well as financial information.
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