James Madison Papers

To James Madison from Joseph Hutton, 2 October 1818

From Joseph Hutton

Petersburg Va. October 2nd. 1818

Sir,

Confiding in your willingness to promote the diffusion of literary information through the Union, over whose interests you so long presided with honour to your self and benefit to your constituents, I respectfully solicit your name to the enclosed prospectus,1 together with any other, from the circle of your retirement, you may, without inconvenience, be enabled to obtain. Pardon, Sir, the liberty I have taken, and believe me With respect and Esteem Your Fellow Citizen

Jos: Hutton2

RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.

1Enclosure not found.

2Joseph Hutton (1787–1828) was a poet and sometime actor who wrote a number of plays, among them The School for Prodigals (Philadelphia, 1809; Shaw and Shoemaker description begins R. R. Shaw and R. H. Shoemaker, comps., American Bibliography: A Preliminary Checklist for 1801–1819 (22 vols.; New York, 1958–66). description ends 17797), The Orphan of Prague (New York, 1810; Shaw and Shoemaker description begins R. R. Shaw and R. H. Shoemaker, comps., American Bibliography: A Preliminary Checklist for 1801–1819 (22 vols.; New York, 1958–66). description ends 20421), and Fashionable Follies (Philadelphia, 1815; Shaw and Shoemaker description begins R. R. Shaw and R. H. Shoemaker, comps., American Bibliography: A Preliminary Checklist for 1801–1819 (22 vols.; New York, 1958–66). description ends 34983), which were performed in New York and Philadelphia. He also wrote patriotic songs and poems, such as The Field of Orleans (Philadelphia, 1816; Shaw and Shoemaker description begins R. R. Shaw and R. H. Shoemaker, comps., American Bibliography: A Preliminary Checklist for 1801–1819 (22 vols.; New York, 1958–66). description ends 37901). From 1820 to 1821, Hutton was an actor in Caldwell’s American Company in New Orleans (Weldon B. Durham, ed., American Theatre Companies, 1749–1887 [New York, 1986], 29, 34, 35).

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