To Thomas Jefferson from Francis Peyton, 13 March 1801
From Francis Peyton
Alexandria March 13th. 1801.
Dear Sir,
An invitation to Genl. Wilkinson was forwarded by express this morning, and I have this moment sent off a card for his aid Capt Huger, I expect a delay of the dinner for even two or three days would be attended with serious inconveniences to Mr. Gadsby, I therefore hope if the day should be bad, it will comport with your convenience to come down in a carriage.
I find upon inquiry that Thomas Darne resides within the District of Columbia, and I am further confirmed in my opinion that he would be the most proper person to fill the office of magistrate in that part of the County, of Alexandria.
I am Sir with great respect Yr. Obt. Servt.
Francis Peyton
RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 14 Mch. and so recorded in SJL.
Francis Peyton (ca. 1764–1836) was a prominent Alexandria merchant and a nephew of state senator Francis Peyton of Loudoun County, Virginia. On 2 Mch. 1801, in a “midnight appointment,” John Adams nominated him a justice of the peace for Alexandria County in the District of Columbia. He was retained by TJ, however, who renominated him on 6 Jan. 1802. In that same year TJ also appointed Peyton a commissioner of bankruptcy for Alexandria County and a lieutenant colonel in the District of Columbia militia (, 8:345; , 1:388, 404; , 5 [1902], 260, 279; 50 [1948–50], 388, 401; Horace Edwin Hayden, Virginia Genealogies [Washington, D.C., 1931], 500; Alexandria Times, 25 June, 9 July 1802; National Intelligencer, 31 Aug. 1836).
Mr. Gadsby: John Gadsby, proprietor of Gadsby’s Hotel in Alexandria.
On 6 Jan. 1802 TJ nominated Thomas Darne a justice of the peace for Alexandria County in the District of Columbia, but Darne declined qualifying for the office (, 1:404, 417).
Peyton’s letter is in response to one from TJ of 12 Mch.