To George Washington from Jeremiah Wadsworth, 31 January 1794
From Jeremiah Wadsworth
[Philadelphia] Jan. 31 1794
Sir
I am requested by several of my friends to name the Revd Daniel Storey as Chaplin to the Army1—Col. Meigs by a letter says he is a Man of real learning & Religion has been the Minister at Marietta for a long time That since the Indian War they have not been able to give any reward for his labor. Col. Meigs is a Man of real piety and would not r[e]commend Mr Storey if he was not so.2 I have the honor to be with great respect Your Excellencys most obt Hum. Serv.
Jere. Wadsworth
ALS, DLC:GW.
1. Connecticut congressman Jeremiah Wadsworth was in Philadelphia to attend the first session of the Third Congress. Daniel Story (Storey; 1756–1804), a native of Boston, Mass., graduated from Dartmouth College in 1780. After serving as pastor to several New England churches, he was hired in late 1788 by the Ohio Company to preach the gospel to residents of Marietta, Ohio, and nearby towns in the Northwest Territory. He arrived at Marietta in the Spring of 1789 and remained an employee of the company until 1796. He served as the minister of the newly organized Congregational Church at Marietta from 1798 until shortly before his death (Thomas Jefferson Summers, History of Marietta [Marietta, 1903], 198–202). For the resignation of John Hurt, the current chaplain for the U.S. troops in the Northwest Territory, see Hurt to GW, 12 April 1794. GW nominated David Jones to replace Hurt (GW to U.S. Senate, 12 May 1794).
2. Col. Return Jonathan Meigs, Sr. (1740–1823) was a native of Middletown, Conn., and a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Receiving an appointment as a surveyor for the Ohio Company in 1787, he settled in Ohio the following year. He later served as an Indian agent to the Cherokee Indians, 1801–23. Meigs County, Tenn., is named for him. His letter to Wadsworth has not been identified.