To James Madison from Zachariah Vowles, 19 June 1805
From Zachariah Vowles
falmouth 19th. June 1805
Dear Sir
Inclos’d I beg leave to hand you a small accot for a ps Irish Linen had by yourself from Mr. Peter Gordon,1 omitted in the accots which have been rend. to you, owing to a Settlement not having taken place with him ’till last year when the omission was discover’d, and since when an application has been defer’d under an expectation from time to time that I shou’d be in the City & have an Oppy to Make it personally; but it being uncertain when this may happen, and the bearer hereof Mr. Reuben Crump being in the business of Mr Dunbar,2 & having occasion to be in the City, will take the liberty to call on you—& his rect. will be the Same as if from me. I am with great respect Dr Sir Your mo. Obedt Servt.
Zachr Vowles
for Robt Dunbar
RC and enclosure (DLC). RC docketed by JM: “Vowles Zachy.” For enclosure, see n. 1.
1. The enclosure (1 p.) is an April 1804 bill for £6.5.0 for 25 yards of Irish linen bought on 4 May 1798, with the explanation “Omited to be charged here in consequence of a Settlement not taking place between PG. & RD. untill this time,” and a 22 June 1805 note beneath, signed by Reuben Crump for Robert Dunbar, acknowledging receipt of payment.
2. Robert Dunbar was a Scottish merchant at Falmouth, Virginia, who owned a bridge and a mill at that place and who had previously bought JM’s wheat crops (W. G. Stanard, “The Thornton Family,” 1st ser., 5 [1896]: 59; Richmond Enquirer, 18 Aug. 1807; 2:150 n. 4). In 1809 New York merchant Reuben Crump married in Fredericksburg Mary A. Green, the daughter of editor Timothy Green of the Fredericksburg Virginia Herald (New Haven Connecticut Journal, 2 Mar. 1809; Spooner’s Vermont Journal, 10 June 1811).