Adams, Abigail (1744-1818) to Dolley Madison
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01104 Author/Creator: Adams, Abigail (1744-1818) Place Written: Quincy, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 24 October 1816 Pagination: 2 p. : address : docket ; 24.5 x 19.5 cm Order a Copy
Responds to an earlier letter from Madison and remarks that receiving it was an unexpected pleasure but mentions a mistake (not specified) regarding it. Comments that a friend did not have the power to comply with the circumstances communicated by Mr. Stodert. Remarks that this friend has high personal regard for James Madison. States that Dolley need not have apologized for not replying to her letter because it is sufficient that her request (not specified) was complied with. Mentions that John Quincy Adams is very satisfied with William Steuben Smith, his assistant. Asks to give her regards to President Madison and expresses regret that she was not able to get to know him better as she was sick during the winters he spent in Philadelphia. Address and docket are on a separate slip of paper.
William Steuben Smith was the secretary to John Q. Adams when he was the American Minister in Russia, Ghent (to work on the treaty ending the War of 1812), and England. He was Abigail Adams' grandson and John Q. Adams' nephew. Smith was possibly also friends with Dolley Madison's son from her first marriage, Payne Todd, who also held a minor post in John Q. Adams' legation thanks to James Madison.
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