William Lyman to Thomas Jefferson, 1 May 1809

From William Lyman

American Consulate, London, May 1. 1809.

Sir,

I had the honour to address you on the 21st of December last by Lieut. Gibbon in the Union, which I doubt not you will have duly received as we have information of the safe arrival of that vessel in the United States. At this time, urgency of business and the opportunity allow me only to add that I have taken the liberty to send you a Report of the Examination before the House of Commons into the Conduct of the Duke of York late Commander in Chief, and hope the same will prove both acceptable and interesting.

I beg you to be assured of the consideration and regard with which I am, Your obedient Servant

Wm Lyman

RC (MoSHi: TJC-BC); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson”; endorsed by TJ as received 14 June 1809 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: History of the Proceedings of the House of Commons, in the Inquiry into the Conduct of His Royal Highness the Duke of York (London, 1809).

William Lyman (1755–1811), a Yale graduate and Revolutionary War veteran, was elected to the Massachusetts state house of representatives in 1787 and the state senate in 1789. He was twice elected to the United States House of Representatives, first as a Federalist and then as a Republican, serving from 1793 to 1797. Lyman’s shift of political parties hurt him financially and he sought assistance from TJ, who appointed him United States consul to London in 1804. Lyman, who sent TJ a stylograph in 1807, held the consulship until his death (Dexter, Yale Biographies description begins Francis Bowditch Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, 1885–1912, 6 vols. description ends , 3:619–20; Biog. Dir. Cong. description begins Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1989, 1989 description ends ; Samuel Fowler to Levi Lincoln, 15 Jan. 1804 [DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1801–09]; JEP description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States description ends , 1:476, 477 [11, 12 Dec. 1804]; Lyman to TJ, 11 July 1807 [DLC]).

Lyman’s letter of 21 december 1808 (DLC) congratulated TJ on his retirement and discussed British policies.

Index Entries

A Circumstantial Report of the Evidence and Proceedings upon the Charges preferred against His Royal Highness the Duke of York (G. L. Wardle; probably included in Book of Kings compiled by TJ) search
Frederick Augustus, Duke of York and Albany search
Gibbon, Lieut. (ship’s officer) search
Jefferson, Thomas; Correspondence; stylograph search
Lyman, William; consul at London search
Lyman, William; identified search
Lyman, William; letters from search
Lyman, William; sends publication to TJ search
stylograph search
Union (ship); carries letters to TJ search
Wardle, Gwyllym L.; A Circumstantial Report of the Evidence and Proceedings upon the Charges preferred against His Royal Highness the Duke of York (included in Book of Kings compiled by TJ;see also Book of Kings) search

You Are Looking At

Source Project: Jefferson Papers
Title: William Lyman to Thomas Jefferson, 1 May 1809
Author: Lyman, William
Recipient: Jefferson, Thomas
Date: 1 May 1809

Reference

Cite as: “William Lyman to Thomas Jefferson, 1 May 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0149. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March 1809 to 15 November 1809, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, p. 182.]

More between these correspondents