To James Madison from Isaac A. Coles, 4 September 1809
From Isaac A. Coles
Green Mountain1 Sept. 4. 1809.
Dr. Sir,
In consequence of the wish which you were good enough to express when I had last the pleasure to see you, I have been busying myself in the arrangement of my little Concerns, & will be ready by the last of the month, if you should still desire it, to occupy that Station in your family which I fear I am little worthy to fill, & into which I shall carry little else than an ardent desire to render myself useful. I pray you Sir, to accept the assurances of my warm & respectful Attachment
I. A. Coles2
RC (ICHi).
1. The site of the Coles family estates in Albemarle County (Coles, Coles Family, p. 21).
2. Coles, nephew of former congressman Isaac Coles of Halifax County, served from March to July 1809 carrying private and diplomatic correspondence to and from France as a special courier. He joined the president’s official family as JM’s private secretary, but after assaulting Maryland representative Roger Nelson in the Capitol he resigned that post in late December. He was succeeded by his brother, Edward Coles (ibid., pp. 57, 93–99, 113; , Miscellaneous, 2:18–19; Isaac A. Coles to JM, 29 Dec. 1809 [ICHi]).