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1807/09/18
Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826)
to Caesar A. Rodney re: transmitting documents for trial of Aaron Burr
Written as President to his Attorney General. Recipient from address leaf. Free franked.
GLC01483
circa 1804-1854
Thatcher, Lucy Flucker Knox (1776-1854)
to Charles Davies
Letter is possibly a copy. Relays an anecdote she heard about her father, titled "Anecdote of [George] Washington." "Washington always kept this useful & scientific officer near his own person; he not only honored him with confidence, but with...
GLC02437.09898
28 February 1807
to Wilson Cary Nicholas
Written as President to his close friend Wilson Cary Nicholas whom he asks to run for the House (he did and won) and to write him unreservedly with facts and opinions. Docketed by recipient. Nicholas died the year before Jefferson and is buried at...
GLC00290
11 November 1807
Adams, John (1735-1826)
to Benjamin Rush
Addressed to "My dear Phylosopher [sic] and Friend," this letter discusses George Washington, France and scientific societies. Adams dwells ironically at great length upon those "talents" which brought about Washington's "elevation above his Fellows...
GLC00424
4 December 1805
Writes concerning his and George Washington's administrations by referring to those "melancholly books" such as "Tully's Memoirs" and "Cicero's Life" from which he compares the first and second triumvirates to Hamilton's "Schemes, to get rid of...
GLC00747
24 January 1801
to George Churchman and Jacob Lindley
Written by Adams in the last months of his presidency to the Quaker abolitionists Churchman and Lindley. Adams wrote in response to a letter and pamphlet that the two abolitionists had sent him. The pamphlet was by Quaker abolitionist Warner Mifflin...
GLC00921
July 12, 1801
to Elias Shipman & others
An important letter responding to their protest about the dismissal of Elizur Goodrich in favor of Samuel Bishop. Goodrich was a "midnight" appointee of Adams, two weeks before leaving office. An important letter defending the care with which he...
GLC00964
19 September 1816
to James Fishback, Lexington KY, re: religion & French atheism
Jefferson denies a statement attributed to him that he had heard atheism discussed by French bishops at a table. Fishback, a Kentucky minister and politician, maintained that "by corruption in religion" all of Europe had "gravitated into atheism."...
GLC00180
23 December 1800
Hamilton, Alexander (1757-1804)
to Harrison Gray Otis
Hamilton suggests that the Federalists should support Jefferson for President rather than Burr when the tied election goes to the House of Representatives. Hamilton's response is an extended comparison of the two men concluding with the statement:...
GLC00496.028
19 February 1804
Hamilton, Alexander (1755-1804)
to unknown re: protecting independent judiciary, trial of judges; attacking Burr
"It is an axiom with me that he will be the most dangerous chief that Jacobism can have."
GLC06019
6 March 1814
Wilson, John (1777-1848)
to Aaron Hobart
Discusses his efforts to obtain a presidential appointment to an unspecified post for Hobart.
GLC06313.04.033
10 June 1801
to James Dinsmore
Discusses the renovation and construction of the dome at Monticello. "I wonder the Copper sheets had not got to hand, as it is very long since they left Philadelphia. the steps, or plinths for the dome must be got from Fluvanna...." States that it...
GLC07105
4 March 1812
Adams, John Quincy (1767-1848)
to Thomas B. Adams
Signed with his initial "A." Adams discusses family matters, his declining a seat on the Supreme Court. He expects war with Great Britain: "All the information that we receive from the United States... indicates a disposition and measures leading to...
GLC07118
19 July 1804
[Pardon of James Snow for perjury].
Countersigned by Secretary of State James Madison. Snow was convicted of perjury in Alexandria, Virginia in 1803. Jefferson pardoned Snow for "divers causes and considerations."
GLC07146
31 December 1808
to William Henry Harrison
Asks Harrison, then governor of the Indiana Territory, to help pass laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol to Indians, in hopes that it will remove a "great obstacle to their acquiring industrious habits." Also notes that the general government policy...
GLC07156
1803/02/27
to William H. Harrison re: seeking more land for the U.S. by subjugating Indians
"To promote this disposition to exchange lands,which they have to spare and we want . . . we shall push our trading houses, and be glad to see the good & influential individuals among them run in debt, because we observe that when these debts get...
GLC07171
1805/03/12
to Ann Welsh re: denying pension to widow of Revolutionary War officer
"Having fallen during the war, no right of half pay could arise in their case . . . A legislature must follow general rules, and never do for one person what they would not do for every other under the same circumstances . . . [commutation] has never...
GLC07172
1808/07/21
Madison, James (1751-1836)
to Gilbert M. Lafayette re: difficulties in selling land in New Orleans
"In this country and especially under existing circumstances,
GLC07173.03
1801/01/28
to Gilbert M. Lafayette re: assessment of Lafayette's interests on Mississippi
and in New Orleans; relations between US and France
GLC07173.04
1804/03/13
Certifying true copy of act for land south of Tenn.
Accompanied by an attached manuscript copy of the act.
GLC07173.05
1812/07/09
Eustis, William (1753-1825)
War of 1812 re: fortifying coast against attack by England
GLC07184
1812/06/24-26
to Benjamin Rush re: economic policy, declaration of war
"The prudence of an individual is the policy of a nation. Self preservation is the first law of nature to both...France, under Washington's administration, had in defiance of all laws human and divine, plundered our commerce in every sin in Europe...
GLC07306
16 August 1808
[Patent for John Templeman's improvement in the chain bridge]
Signed by Jefferson as President. Countersigned by James Madison as Secretary of State and Caesar Augustus Rodney as Attorney General. Templeman's written description of his improvement is signed by Thomas Corcoran and John Oto as witnesses. The...
GLC07328
20 December 1813
Robertson, Thomas B. (1779-1828)
to Fulwar Skipwith
Discusses the Spanish threat and the disastrous northern campaign in the War of 1812. Also comments on generals James Wilkinson and Wade Hampton in the aftermath of their failed attempt to attack Montreal. Notes that congress has approved an...
GLC07341
4 November 1813
Jackson, Andrew (1767-1845)
to David Holmes
Informs Mississippi Territory's Governor Holmes that on 2 November 1813, General John Coffee attacked the Creek Indians at Tallaseehatchee in upper Alabama, killing 186 warriors and taking 86 women and children prisoners. Concludes: "If I had...
GLC07371
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