1To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 21 January 1793 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] January 21, 1793 . “By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secretary of the Treasury, three contracts made by the Collector of Washington in North Carolina for the stakeage of the shoals, sounds &c. in that State; which contracts are ratified by the President.” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. See Tench Coxe to H, January 2, 1793 ,...
2To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 8 March 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] March 8, 1791 . Transmits “a commission for Stephen Keyes, Collector of Allburgh in Vermont.” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. Vermont was admitted to the Union on March 4, 1791. On the same day Keyes, a Burlington, Vermont, merchant, was appointed collector of Alburg.
3To George Washington from Tobias Lear, 24 March 1799 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found: from Tobias Lear, 24 March 1799. On 26 Mar., GW wrote Lear : “Your letter of the 24th. Inst. . . . was delivered to me last night.”
4To George Washington from Tobias Lear, 26 February 1796 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found: from Tobias Lear, 26 Feb. 1796 . On 2 March, Lear wrote to GW: “I had the honor to address you under date of the 26th ultimo”; in GW’s letter to Lear of 13 March , he acknowledged receipt of “letters of the 26th Ulto and 2d Instant.”
5Tobias Lear to Clement Biddle, 22 July 1790 (Washington Papers)
New York, 22 July 1790. Encloses a draft on the Bank of North America for $200 to be credited to GW’s account. ALS , PHi : Washington-Biddle Correspondence; ADfS , ViMtvL ; LB , DLC:GW . Biddle acknowledged receipt of the bank check on 26 July 1790 ( PHi : Clement Biddle Letter Book).
6To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 4 August 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York ] August 4, 1790 . Encloses commissions for persons appointed to the customs service in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
7To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 11 January 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia, January 11, 1791. “The President of the United States having duly considered the subject of building a Light House on Cape Henry in Virginia, as submitted to him on the 5th Instant by the Secretary of the Treasury … it appears to him that the proposal made by John McComb Junr. of New York is most advantageous to the United States, and he is therefore of opinion that the...
8To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 24 July 1793 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] July 24, 1793 . “… The President, having considered the communication made to him respecting the Salary of the Keeper of the New Hampshire Light House, approves of its being fixed at one hundred & eighty dollars per Annum.…” ALS , RG 26, “Segregated” Lighthouse Records, National Archives. See H to George Washington, July 23, 1793 .
9To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 14 December 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] December 14, 1790 . Encloses “a Provisional Contract between William Ellery and William Martin for keeping the Light House on the Island of Conannicut in the State of Rhode Island—which has received the President’s approbation.” ALS , RG 26, “Segregated” Lighthouse Records, National Archives; LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
10Tobias Lear to Edmund Randolph, 9 July 1791 (Washington Papers)
[Philadelphia] 9 July 1791. By the president’s command, returns the enclosed letter with the thanks of the president for the attorney generals attention in submitting it for his perusal and notes that “The President expresses his pleasure at its contents.” LB , DLC:GW . The enclosed letter has not been identified.
11To George Washington from Tobias Lear, 2 July 1798 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found: from Tobias Lear, 2 July 1798. On 4 July GW wrote Lear : “I have received your letter and A/c of the 2d Instt.”
12To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 3 May 1793 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] May 3, 1793 . Returns “the letters from our Bankers at Amsterdam which were laid before the President yesterday.” States “that the President approves of the appointment of Laban Goffigan to be Keeper of the Light House on Cape Henry.” ALS , RG 26, Lighthouse Letters Received, “Segregated” Lighthouse Records, Cape Henry, National Archives. See H to Washington, second and third...
13To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 29 May 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York ] May 29, 1790 . “The President of the United States approves of the … Contracts … submitted to him by the Secretary of the Treasury.…” ALS , RG 26, “Segregated” Lighthouse Records, National Archives; LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. See H to Washington, May 28, 1790 .
14To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 3 September 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] September 3, 1791 . “The enclosed letter, which I have the honor of transmitting to you by the President’s order, will shew the necessity of making a change in the commissions for the Port of Charleston.…” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
15To Thomas Jefferson from Tobias Lear, 2 February 1793 (Jefferson Papers)
T. Lear has the honor to inform the Secretary of State that as it is a cloudy day the Indians decline doing business . Their meeting is therefore put off till monday 12 O’clock. RC ( DLC ); endorsed by TJ as received 2 Feb. 1793. The business that brought a delegation of Wabash and Illinois Indians to Philadelphia is described in Minutes of a Conference with the Illinois and Wabash Indians ,...
16To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 31 January 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] January 31, 1791 . Transmits a “Contract (which has been submitted to the President and received his approbation) between Joseph Whipple, for the Secretary of the Treasury and, Titus Salter, to provide for the keeping and supply of the Light House at the entrance of Piscatiqua River in the State of New Hampshire.…” LS , RG 26, “Segregated” Lighthouse Records, National...
17To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 13 July 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York ] July 13, 1790 . Encloses “the Warrants for the Superintendants of the Lighthouses &c.” LS , RG 26, “Segregated” Lighthouse Records, National Archives; copy, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
18To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 16 December 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] December 16, 1790 . “I have the honor, by the Presidents command, to inform you that he has no objection to gratifying the wish of the Collector of Boston, communicated to him this day, to spend a part of the time of the session of Congress at the Seat of Government, provided that an absence from his Office may not be injurious to the Public.…” LC , George Washington Papers,...
19To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 10 July 1792 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] July 10, 1792 . Returns “with the President’s approbation thereunto subjoined, a Contract between the Superintendant of the Delaware Lighthouse &c. and Benjamin Rice, for making two mooring chains for the use of the Beacon boats in the River Delaware.” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. See H to George Washington, July 8, 1792 .
20To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 24 August 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York ] August 24, 1790 . States that the President has approved the contract for repairs on the Cape Henlopen lighthouse. LS , RG 26, “Segregated” Lighthouse Records, National Archives; LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
21To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 28 June 1792 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, June 28, 1792. “By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to return … a contract, with his approbation subjoined, between the Superintendant of the Delaware Lighthouse &c. and Thomas Davis & Thomas Connaroe.…” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. See Tench Coxe to H, June 20, 1792 , and H to George Washington, June 26, 1792 .
22To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 23 March 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] March 23, 1791 . “I have the honor to transmit you agreeably to your request the five commissions for the Commissioners to receive subscriptions to the Bank of the United States.…” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. H to Lear, March 23, 1791 .
23To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 22 December 1792 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] December 22, 1792 . “… T. Lear has the honor to inform the Secretary of the Treasury that the President has appointed Lemuel Cornick to be keeper of the Light House on Cape Henry in Virginia.” ALS , RG 26, Lighthouse Letters Received, “Segregated” Lighthouse Records, National Archives; LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. See Tench Coxe to H, November 28 ,...
24To James Madison from Tobias Lear, 14 December 1807 (Madison Papers)
I have the honour to inform you that I have this day drawn upon you, in favor of John Gavino Esqr. at 30 days sight, for five thousand dollars, on account of the United States of America, for their Barbary Affairs. With the highest respect & consideration, I have the honor to be Sir, Your mo. ob. St. Privately owned.
25To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 14 March 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] March 14, 1791 . Returns two lighthouse contracts which George Washington has approved. ALS , RG 26, Lighthouse Letters Received, “Segregated” Lighthouse Records, Lear, National Archives; copy, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. These contracts were for supplying the lighthouses at New London, Connecticut, and Charleston, South Carolina. See H to Washington, March...
26To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 16 September 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] September 16, 1791 . “T: Lear has the honor to transmit to the Secretary of the Treasury a Commission for Benjn. Cudworth, Inspector of Survey No. 2. in South Carolina.” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
27To George Washington from Tobias Lear, 8 February 1796 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found: from Tobias Lear, 8 Feb. 1796 . On 10 Feb., Lear wrote to GW: “I had the honor of writing to you on the 8th inst.”
28To Thomas Jefferson from Tobias Lear, 16 March 1792 (Jefferson Papers)
United States, 16 Mch. 1792 . Transmits by the President’s command a copy of the Senate resolution extending the negotiation proposed at Madrid to commerce. RC ( DLC ); 1 p.; endorsed by TJ as received 17 Mch. 1792. Dft ( DNA : RG 59, MLR ). FC ( Lb in same, SDC ). Enclosure: Resolution of the Senate, 16 Mch. 1792 (see note to TJ’s second letter to George Washington, 7 Mch. 1792).
29To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 18 December 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] December 18, 1790 . Encloses “a letter from the post Master general to the President of the United States accompanied with a schedule of Contracts for carrying the Mail in the year 1791.” Asks for Hamilton’s “opinion on the enclosed.” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
30To James Madison from Tobias Lear, 14 December 1807 (Madison Papers)
I have the honor to inform you that I have this day drawn upon you, in favor of John Gavino Esqr. for ten thousand dollars, at 30 days sight, on account of the United States of America for their Barbary Affairs. With the highest respect & consideration, I have the honor to be, Sir, Your mo. Ob. St. Privately owned.
31To Thomas Jefferson from Tobias Lear, 7 February 1793 (Jefferson Papers)
The President requests the Secretary of State to add words to the effect of those marked by the President with a pencil at the end of the Indians’ Speeches to the President, and return the paper to the President. RC ( DLC ). For TJ’s record of the Indians’ speeches, see Minutes of a Conference with the Illinois and Wabash Indians , printed under 1 Feb. 1793. See note 17 to that document for...
32To George Washington from Tobias Lear, 27 March 1796 (Washington Papers)
Once more I refer you to another letter for what has occurred to me on the late distressing event, and I will therefore only say that the contents of your last letters to me shall be shortly attend’d to, and that I am most truly & devotedly your’s ALS , DLC:GW . See Lear to GW, 25 March. Lear is referring to GW’s letters of 13 and 21 March.
33To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 30 June 1792 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] June 30, 1792 . Transmits “three Contracts entered into for the stakage of certain waters in North Carolina, which have been submitted to the President of the United States & have received his approbation.” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. See H to Tench Coxe, June 30, 1792 .
34To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 16 January 1793 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] January 16, 1793 . “By the President’s command T. Lear has the honor to return to the Secretary of the Treasury the letter from the Commissioner of the Revenue respecting the Light House on Tybee Island; and to inform the Secretary that the President approves of the arrangements therein suggested.…” LS , RG 26, “Segregated” Lighthouse Records, National Archives; LC , George...
35To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 5 April 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] April 5, 1791 . Sends commissions requested by Hamilton. LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
36Tobias Lear to Elbridge Gerry, 8 December 1791 (Washington Papers)
Philadelphia, 8 Dec. 1791. Having received “the Pears and the curious fluted Cymbling which Mr. Gerry has been so good as to send them,” the president and Mrs. Washington “beg his acceptance of their best thanks for this mark of polite attention.” George D. Smith catalog #172, 1912–13, item 521. Cymling was a contemporary name for pattypan squash ( Shannon, American Dictionary of Culinary...
37To James Madison from Tobias Lear, 30 March 1807 (Madison Papers)
Exchange for $12,000 dollars. At thirty days Sight of this my first of Exchange (second and third of the same tenor and date not paid) please to pay to the Order of Richard OBrien Esqr. the Sum of Twelve thousand Dollars, value received on account of the United States of America for their Barbary Affairs, and place the same to account, as per Advice from, Your Most Obedt Servt. Privately owned.
38To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 27 March 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] March 27, 1791 . “About two hours ago I had the honor to receive your letter of yesterday, which the door keeper of your Office says he forgot to deliver sooner. This will account for your not receiving the commission for General Hand yesterday forenoon as you requested. I have now the honor to enclose it.…” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
39Tobias Lear to William Duer, 4 December 1789 (Washington Papers)
The President of the United States will keep the Carriage provided for his use previous to his arrival in New-York—and as it will be considered upon the same footing with other articles furnished at that time and for that purpose —Mr Manley will therefore bring in his Accot accordingly. I am sir, with great respect Your most Obt Servt LB , DLC:GW . See Tobias Lear to Alexander Hamilton, 28...
40Tobias Lear to Alexander Hamilton, 18 June 1792 (Washington Papers)
United States [Philadelphia] 18 June 1792. Transmits by GW’s command for Hamilton’s inspection “a letter from John Ritchie, Inspector of the 2d division in Maryland, to the President.” LB , DLC:GW . Neither Ritchie’s letter to GW nor any reply from GW or Hamilton to Ritchie has been found.
41To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 13 August 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] August 13, 1791 . Encloses the following commissions: “A Commission for Thomas Marshal Inspector of Survey No. 7. in the District of Virga. Do. for Sylvanus Walker, Inspector of survey No 3. in the Distt. of South Carolina. Do. for William Ham second Mate of a revenue Cutter. Do. for Bathurst Dangerfield, third mate of Do. Likewise a commission for Josiah Murdaugh Inspector of...
42To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 7 March 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] March 7, 1791 . Transmits “all the letters of application which have come to the President’s hands for appointments on board the cutters.” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
43To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 2 June 1792 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] June 2, 1792 . “… The President approves of Joseph Sayword to be Keeper of the Lighthouse on Thatchers Island, in the State of Massachusetts.…” LS , RG 26, Lighthouse Letters Received, “Segregated” Lighthouse Records, Lear, National Archives; LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. Joseph Sayward. See H to George Washington, May 31, 1792 .
44To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 25 February 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York ] February 25, 1790 . Transmits papers relating to the case of Captain Hammond, a shipmaster imprisoned in St. Jago. LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress. Thomas Hammond, master of the American sloop Brothers . A British frigate seized the Brothers and her crew for allegedly possessing coins salvaged from wrecks near Boa Vista Island, the most eastern of the Cape Verde...
45To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 11 December 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] December 11, 1790 . “… I have the honor to enclose for your inspection a letter from, & recommendation of, Mr. David Phipps of Connecticut, for the command of one of the revenue Cutters. Also a letter and recommendation for a similar appointment from Mr. Henry Putnam of Georgia.” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
46Tobias Lear to Thomas Jefferson, 14 August 1793 (Washington Papers)
The President wishes the Heads of the Departments to meet at his house tomorrow at ten o’clock. AL , DLC : Jefferson Papers. Jefferson’s docket reads “recd Aug 14. 93.” For a description of this meeting, see Cabinet Opinion on the Recall of Edmond Genet, 23 Aug. 1793 .
47To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 11 February 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York ] February 11, 1790 . Transmits a list of the persons the President has appointed collectors, naval officers, and surveyors in North Carolina, and the names of those appointed to fill vacancies in other states. LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
48To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 23 August 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York ] August 23, 1790 . Transmits “three Commissions [of customs officials] which have received the signature of the President.” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
49To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 28 December 1790 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] December 28, 1790 . Transmits a “letter from Mrs. Mary House in behalf of her son George House for an appointment on board one of the Cutters.” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
50To Alexander Hamilton from Tobias Lear, 18 June 1792 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia ] June 18, 1792 . Transmits “a letter from John Ritchie, Inspector of the 2d division in Maryland, to the President.” LC , George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.