Adams Papers
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https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-15-02-0224

Louisa Catherine Adams to John Quincy Adams, 4 July 1804

Louisa Catherine Adams to John Quincy Adams

Washington July 4th. 1804

My most beloved friend

I recieved your last very kind letter two days since and return you many thanks for your verses1 the idea is extremely beautiful and I should be much delighted to see it dressed in some other form by you I do not admire the versification at precent whatever you do write must be more grateful to me than the best piece that ever was pened—

I followed the multitude to day and went to pay my respects to the President every body attended that remain’d in town and we had as much Ice Cream and cake as we could eat the President is so alter’d I scarcely knew him he is grown very thin and looks very old—2

Poor Pichon is in great distress their little Lewis is dangerously ill3 Dr May attends him but he is fearful he has been called in too late Mrs. Pichon is very much to be pitied she will not believe her Child is Sick she has however consented to the Childs being Cloathed in Flannel I sincerely hope it will recover but I very much fear it is in the last stage of a decline—

There have been five attempts made to destroy Mount Vernon Mrs. Washington dare not Sleep there when Mr. Washington is from home a few days since a servant went into the Cellar for something in the evening and found it in a blaze they put it out with difficulty and on searching the Cellar discover’d a Barrel filled with Tar Shaving &c. prepared to set fire to the Gardener an Irishman is supposed to have done it and has been confined in consequence but this last attempt has been made since his imprisonment—4

I see by the papers Col. Trumbull is returned it is here said Mr. Pinckney is to have the place of Attorney General in lieu of Mr. Lincoln in the hope of his becoming one of the reigning party he returns early in the Spring—5

Adieu my beloved friend remember me affectionately to your friends the are much as usual I intend going to Bladensburg tomorrow by way of changing the air I shall write you as soon as I return with the tenderest sentiments of esteem and love I remain your faithful

L. C. Adams

P.S. The President asked after you and was very anxious to know when you returned

RC (Adams Papers).

2The “Anniversary of an empire’s birth” began in the nation’s capital with an artillery salute from the Navy Yard. John Peter Van Ness, a major in the district’s militia, gave an oration at 11 A.M., and the President’s House opened for a “large assemblage” of well-wishers. Several public dinners were held in the evening, including one at Stelle’s Hotel where in addition to toasts to the president and American prosperity, the “martyrs of American freedom” and “accession of Louisiana” were celebrated (Washington, D.C., National Intelligencer, 2, 6 July; Biog. Dir. Cong. description begins Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005, Washington, D.C., 2005; rev. edn., bioguide.congress.gov. description ends ).

3The infant son of Louis André and Alexandrine Émilie Brongniart Pichon, identified by LCA as his father’s namesake, died by 5 July (LCA to JQA, 9 July, Adams Papers; Anna Thornton Diary, 6 July).

4Bushrod Washington inherited a large portion of George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate following his uncle’s death in 1799. He and his wife, Julia Ann (Nancy) Blackburn Washington (1768–1829), resided at Mount Vernon when Bushrod was not traveling for his service as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. In May 1804, while in court in Philadelphia, Bushrod learned of a fire at the estate, triggering the court’s adjournment and the judge’s swift return to Virginia. Several newspapers reported the fire in May, and news of subsequent fires were discussed within Washington society (Washington, Papers, Presidential Series description begins The Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series, ed. W. W. Abbot, Dorothy Twohig, Jack D. Warren, Mark A. Mastromarino, Robert F. Haggard, Christine S. Patrick, John C. Pinheiro, David R. Hoth, Jennifer Stertzer, and others, Charlottesville, Va., 1987– . description ends , 1:101; Bushrod Washington to Richard Peters, 21 May, ViMtvL:Bushrod Washington Manuscripts; Philadelphia Gazette, 9 May; New York Commercial Advertiser, 11 May; Baltimore Telegraphe and Daily Advertiser, 12 May; Dolley Payne Todd Madison to Anna Payne Cutts, [June] 1804, Dolley Madison Digital Edition description begins Papers of Dolley Madison Digital Edition, ed. Holly C. Shulman, Charlottesville, Va., 2008. description ends ).

5The Washington, D.C., National Intelligencer, 2 July, reported the return to the United States of Col. John Trumbull after serving on the Anglo-American claims commission. Trumbull’s fellow U.S. commissioners, Christopher Gore and William Pinkney, also returned in 1804. Gore returned in the spring, for which see JQA to LCA, 24 April, and note 3, above, and Pinkney in late October. Rather than U.S. attorney general, Thomas Jefferson intended to nominate Pinkney (1764–1822) as a judge at New Orleans. Levi Lincoln continued to serve as the attorney general throughout Jefferson’s first term, although he voiced his determination to retire from the post about this time (vol. 11:385; Jefferson, Papers description begins The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, James P. McClure, and others, Princeton, N.J., 1950– . description ends , 44:180, 531, 659; Biog. Dir. Cong. description begins Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005, Washington, D.C., 2005; rev. edn., bioguide.congress.gov. description ends ).

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