James Madison Papers

From James Madison to Robert H. Rose, 10 February 1821

To Robert H. Rose

Montpr. Feby. 10. 1821

Sir

I have recd your letter of Jany. 21.1 with a Copy of your address to the Agricultl. Socy. of Susquehanna County,2 for which I return my thanks. I offer but a just tribute to the Address, in saying that it contains very judicious observations presented in the best form, & apparently very appropriate to the rural circumstances of the new County.

The multiplication of these Societies is among the many proofs of the spirit & progress of improvement in our Country. And the establishment of them in districts unimpoverished by a vicious cultivation may prevent those wasteful errors which it is found so difficult & expensive to repair. With friendly respects

J. M.

Draft (DLC). With JM’s note in top margin: “R.H. Rose. Silver Lake Pena.” Robert Hutchinson Rose (1776–1842) was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and educated in Philadelphia. He was trained as a doctor but never practiced. In 1809 he purchased an enormous tract of land in northern Pennsylvania, built a home on the shores of Silver Lake, and for the rest of his life worked to develop the area (Rhamanthus M. Stocker, Centennial History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania [1887; reprint, Baltimore, 1974], 500).

1Letter not found.

2Robert H. Rose, An Address Delivered before the Agricultural Society of Susquehanna County, at Its Organization, December 6, 1820 (Montrose, Pa., 1820).

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