1To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 1 April 1819 (Jay Papers)
Col. Pickering called on me last Sunday & breakfasted with me on Monday. He was going that Day in Stage as far as Stamford where he intended to hire a horse & ride over to Bedford to visit you. I mention this because the weather was such as probably prevented him from putting his Intention in Execution. M r Eddy this Morning shewed me a letter from the Governor in which he says that M r Jays...
2To John Jay from Maria Jay Banyer, 3 May 1821 (Jay Papers)
I have this moment recieved with the most grateful pleasure yours & Augusta’s & Maria’s affectionate letters & must beg you to accept my thanks & offer them to my Sister & Niece. I have doubly enjoyed the fine weather of the last week, in the hope that it had released you from your long confinement to the house, & was disappointed on hearing from Augusta that you had only walked on the Piazza;...
3To John Jay from Maria Jay Banyer, 19 June 1821 (Jay Papers)
I had a very comfortable ride to Rye & found Aunt remarkably well, she & Helen were mutually delighted to see each other, Aunt & Effy both wish to keep her there— They went with me after dinner to M r . Munro’s after paying a short visit I proceeded to M r . Watts’s & spent the evening agreably with Matilda— M r . Watts was out electioneering until 11 O’Clock— it is thought Brother will be...
4To John Jay from Charles Gerrit De Witt, 4 August 1823 (Jay Papers)
Having it in contemplation to draw up a memoir of the life of my grandfather, the late Charles De Witt of Hurley in Ulster county, and being informed that he had the honour of your acquaintance, may I beg to receive your aid in the task?— His character from your pen, still vigorous in age, would be an exceeding great favour: I will thank you likewise for letters or other documents,...
5To John Jay from Maria Jay Banyer, 4 July 1823 (Jay Papers)
I yesterday rec d . your favor of the 1 st . & will with pleasure attend to your wishes respecting M rs . Chandler, either to-morrow or on Monday—to-day it would be unpleasant to encounter the crowd— It gives me great pleasure to tell you that Mary continued remarkably well the whole of yesterday, & slept thro’ so much noise that my apprehensions respecting the firing ringing &c on her account...
6To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 17 September 1819 (Jay Papers)
I have not yet rec d any letters from Bedford by the last Mail, tho it is possible they may be now at my Office in Wall Street, to which I have not time to send before the hour at which I must be at the City Hall. On Monday last I wrote you a short letter & sent it to Clarks to be forwarded, communicating the intelligence that Mary had a daughter on Sunday— Both the Mother & Child are doing...
7To John Jay from William Coleman, 14 May 1817 (Jay Papers)
You probably have seen a controver[s]y in the Herald respecting the authorship of the respective individuals who contribute to The Fœderalist. The correspondent of the National Intelligencer claims for M r . Madison several, I believe, nearly 30 numbers, that we have always been led to suppose were written by Hamilton, & upon his own authority; were written & one number, that we have always...
8To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 10 October 1821 (Jay Papers)
Our prospects here grow more unpleasant The more violent members of the Convention begin to act more in a body & to gather strength. They have held at least one caucus. Upon the whole there is a good deal of bad feeling & I should not be surprized if something very violent should be attempted in relation to the judiciary. This will probably depend upon the likelyhood of its succeeding—& of...
9To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 15 November 1821 (Jay Papers)
The Convention adjourned on Saturday & I immediately went on Board the Steam Boat & arrived here on Sunday Morning. You will see the new Constitution in the Newspapers. Many of the democratic members were dissatisfied with it, but did not dare to seperate from their party— I think it chief defects are making the right of suffrage universal, rendering the Judges of the Supreme Court dependent,...
In Obedience to the Direction of the Board of Managers of the American Bible Society, We have the Honor to inclose You a Copy of their Proceedings relative to your late Resignation of the Office of President of the Society. We are deeply sensible of the serious Injury the Society will inevitably sustain from the Want of your illustrious Name to patronize its important Concerns; We cannot...
11To John Jay from Elias Boudinot, 5 November 1819 (Jay Papers)
We have the pleasure of transmitting to you, a Copy of the proceedings of a Meeting held at Trenton; the objects of which are sufficiently explained in the Resolutions adopted—we can truly assure you, that whether we consider the number of the persons present, or their individual importance, a more respectable assembly has never been convened in this State: whether the subject of those...
12To John Jay from John Adams, 9 January 1818 (Jay Papers)
Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry, by William Wirt of Richmond Virginia has been Sent to me by M r Shaw of the Atheneum. My Family are reading it to me every Evening, and though We have not finished it, We have proceeded far enough to excite an earnest desire to know your Opinion of it. There is in Section fourth, page 108. a passage which no Man now living but yourself can...
13To John Jay from John Murray Jr., 9 April[–19 May] 1818 (Jay Papers)
I am induced to address thee on a subject which has heretofore interested thy feelings, and which, as a philanthropist, and Christian, I presume still continues to claim thy consideration? It is in relation to the African Race, whose cause thou early advocated, by being the first President of the Society for promots the manumission of Slaves, and for protecting such of them as were, or should...
14From John Adams to John Jay, 4 July 1823 (Adams Papers)
The excellent president, governor, ambassador and chief justice, John Jay, whose name, by accident, was not subscribed on the declaration of independence , as it ought to have been, for he was one of its ablest and faithfulest supporters. A splendid star just setting below the horizon. Printed Source--Niles’ Register..
15To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 28 October 1821 (Jay Papers)
You have already heard that Mary has given you another Grandson. I left Albany yesterday & arrived here this Morning & finding all well shall return tomorrow. M r Munro’s Daughter Frances had a son on the same day with Mary. The Convention will I hope adjourn in about a week. Since I wrote you last it has been occupied with the Judiciary. The first attack made upon it was a proposition to...
16To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 4 December 1823 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . your letters of the 25 Nov r . & 2 d . instant— the first did not come to hand until the last weeks Mail had closed. I cannot say that I was detained from the Bedford Court by important Business— But I had nothing to do there & I have lost so much business by Absence from my Office during the Convention, & while I was recorder & I regain it so slowly that I am now unwilling to...
17To John Jay from William Jay, 25 August 1824 (Jay Papers)
After a most delightful journey I have reached this place. We arrived this afternoon, having first visited Newark & Queenstown in Canada— No one can have adequate ideas of the resources & prosperity of this state without visiting the Western Counties. From Rochester to this place is 87 miles & in the whole distance there are not 6 miles of bad road, nor half that distance of unsettled Country....
18To John Jay from Noah Worcester, 6 February 1818 (Jay Papers)
I have received both your letters relating to mine of Jan 2nd. But prior to the arrival of either I was under a necessity of printing yours of Nov. 12, or of excluding it from No XI. The paragraph I had mentioned is printed; but on reading your letter again after I had written, I thought it would not be proper for me to publish Mr Lords opinion of the Editor of the Friend of Peace. I therefore...
19To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 12 May 1820 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . your letter of the 9 th . ins t . I know nothing of the management of the Canal Company. The Dividends have been as you mention. I will ask M r Eddy whether they are to be annual or how otherwise. I have received your Watch of M r Sedgwick & will send it by Calhoun put up in the box which Maria provided for it. I have purchased for you at the place you directed a Lottery Ticket...
20To John Jay from Lafayette, 10 November 1824 (Jay Papers)
As Soon as I found Myself once more on the Happy Shore of America, one of My first inquiries Was after You, and the Means to Get at My old friend. The pleasure to See Your Son Was Great indeed, but I regretted the distance, Engagements, and duties which obliged me to postpone the High Gratification to Meet You after So long an absence. Since that time I Have been paying Visits, and Receiving...
21To John Jay from Sarah Morris, 18 May 1822 (Jay Papers)
Many years ago I was induced by my brother Col. Morris to execute a paper touching some of the privileges secured to me by the will of my father, the tenor of which has escaped my memory— My affection for my brother which remains undiminished, and Confidence in his equity is such, that in signing the instrument, I could not suppose it deprived me without an equivalent of any of the rights...
22To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 26 November 1824 (Jay Papers)
I have received a very Kind letter from Maria & Nancy but fear I shall not have time to answer it by this morning’s mail— Your Marble Mantle Piece has been sent up by the Sloop General Delavan. And a stove which William bought has been sent by the Sloop Montgomery Capt Montross— Some iron Jambs & an iron back have also been sent by the Gen l . Delavan— I am sorry to hear that you have been...
23To John Jay from Foxes & Sons, 3 November 1818 (Jay Papers)
It is with the deepest concern that we beg to trouble thee on the occasion of the death of our highly valued relative Robert Were Fox, who has ever since the time of American Independance held the situation of Consul in this and the neighbouring ports, with the entire approbation of the American Government, of which he has received repeated testimonies. We have now to request that thee wilt be...
24To John Jay from Richard Peters, 12 December 1818 (Jay Papers)
Although our correspondence is rare, my most sincere regards for you are uninterrupted. I have outlived, & so have you, so many old friends & contemporaries, that the very few left me are the more valuable for their scarcity. New acquaintances I make the most of; but old & valued friends delight me with solid enjoyments, more easily felt than described. And yet, in what is called society, a...
25To John Jay from Maria Jay Banyer, 17[–18] February 1825 (Jay Papers)
Accept my thanks for your kindness in sending me to town. I fear it has again proved an inconvenience to the family, the roads & weather were so very unfavorable that the horses can hardly have escaped injury returning— The ride & the exercise I have since used, has been more beneficial to my health than could have been expected, which makes me more solicitous than ever that you should resort...
26To John Jay from Richard Peters, 20 March 1821 (Jay Papers)
It is always to me a most gratifying cordial, & delightful antidote to the “ills that flesh is heir to” when I receive an affectionate remembrance from an old & highly valued friend. There are so few left of those we loved in “olden times”, that it seems as if, like other precious commodities, they become the more estimable, in proportion to their scarcity. When I wrote to you on the subject...
27To John Jay from the Committee of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (William Rawle, Benjamin R. Morgan, and Charles … (Jay Papers)
The interest which has lately been taken by so many in the question whether the valedictory address of the venerable Washington was his own composition or the work of another, has extended to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania which has appointed us a Committee to make enquiries on the subject. May we take the liberty to ask of you, Sir, whether you would favor us with any information in...
28From John Adams to John Jay, 30 April 1821 (Adams Papers)
I must beg your pardon for delaying so long the acknowledgement of your kind favour—you have done all that is necessary to be done with Mr Duane—The sume of the matter is I suppose is—he has ploughed the Son of the Heifer in the Secretary of States Office—and procured copies of some of your communications to Congress—My letter to Jonathan Jackson, which was unfortunately and absurdly laid...
29To John Jay from Edward Livingston, 1 December 1822 (Jay Papers)
On my return to this place, I had the honor to receive your Letter of the 28 th July last,— acknowledging the receipt of a Pamphlet which I took the Liberty to address to you. Aware of the dignified manner in which you had voluntarily abstracted yourself from public concerns, I should not have offered, any disquisition of a merely political nature, as one that would have afforded you...
30To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 19 February 1819 (Jay Papers)
I left our Friends well at Rye & came to town on Wednesday. Little Mary has entirely recovered, & all our Family are well. William his sitting for his Picture & expects to return in a few days. In the mean time he has sent back the waggon to Rye. Anna is better & Augusta very well. M r . Munros Children have all recovered from the Scarlet Fever. A Dinner or Ball is to be given here to Gen l ....
31To John Jay from John Adams, 31 March 1821 (Jay Papers)
I thank you for your favour of the 20 th your letter to M r Duane comprehends every thing necessary to be said upon this occasion, and I presume will remove all difficulties— I congratulate you on the firmness of your nerves fully demonstrated by your hand writing, the beauty and firmness of which is equal to the best of your former days Mine are so debilitated that I can neither write— or...
32To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 28 January 1819 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d your letter of the 25 th . inst. & am happy to hear that Nancys Health has improved and that Maria is well enough to go to Rye. I am sorry for the Death of Major Lyons but hope that his sufferings have been attended with a Blessing. I know very little of what is going forward at Albany, but fear that the federalists in the assembly are driving Bargains in a manner not very...
33From John Adams to John Jay, 13 May 1821 (Adams Papers)
I received, last night your kind favour of the 7th. Your design of writing to Mr Duane for Copies of our “very Short journals” as he calls them, is judicious, and all that is necessary. I am under no concern about Mr Duane’s Extracts or Copies, because Congress has ordered our Journals to be printed and they are in a course of publication. Although I am ashamed of mine, yet I know that Shame...
34To John Jay from Richard Varick, 27 March 1826 (Jay Papers)
On the 22 nd . Instant I was honored by the Receipt of your Letter of the 18 th . Ins t ., addressed to me as “Vice Presid t of the American Bible Society;” and upon perusing it I felt very great Concern to find it contained a Request that I would announce to the Managers your Resignation of the important Station of its endeared Head. This unwished for Communication and Request I know to be so...
35To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 9 May 1823 (Jay Papers)
We went very comfortably to Rye the Day we left you, and the next Day finding that no Stage passed toward New York, Aunt was so good as to send us to town in her chariot. Maria is certainly not worse for her ride. The annual Meeting of the Bible Society was held yesterday, & your address was very well read by D r Milnor. M r Clinton moved a resolution for thanks to you, & did it very...
36To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 7 April 1819 (Jay Papers)
The Governors Secretary called on me this Morning & told me that he had just arrived from Albany; that the Council of Appointment was to meet on the Day he left that city, & that he was authorized to tell me that I would at that Meeting be appointed Recorder. This Intelligence which a short time since would not have been unwelcome, is at present a little embarrassing. Since the Appointment of...
37To John Jay from John Adams, 19 June 1821 (Jay Papers)
I thank you for your kind favour of the 11 th , which I have this moment received, and soon determined that an acknowledgement of it should not be so long delayed. You have done, with dignity and propriety all that can be done. A publication of your letters to M r Duane and his answers would place him in a ridiculous light. But Duane Cobbet and Calender are Such excentric Characters that it...
38To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 19 September 1826 (Jay Papers)
I left Rye yesterday— Mary then intended to pay you a visit today, but I suppose the bad weather prevented her. John & daughter Mary were to accompany her— I wish I could be of the party— But tho’ I have only our cause to argue before the Court of Errors, yet until that one is disposed of, I dare not leave town long enough to go to Bedford. I hope however soon to have the pleasure of seeing...
39To John Jay from DeWitt Clinton, 6 August 1823 (Jay Papers)
I have the honor to transmit to you a Discourse pronounced before a Literary Society at Schenectady. My object in delivering it was to evince my zeal for science, and my motive in sending it to you, is to indicate my respect for a distinguished Statesman of the Revolution. I have the honor to be with high consideration Your most Obed t serv t , ALS , NNC ( EJ : 09120 ). DeWitt Clinton, A...
40To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 15 April 1819 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . your letter of the 13 th . & am very much obliged to you for it. It was necessary however to decide before I rec d it. Upon further reflection the same Reasons occurred to me which have weighed with you— I thought it prudent also to consult some of the principal federal Gentlemen who thought that I ought to accept— & that during the election it would be unnecessary & improper in...
41To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 3 October 1821 (Jay Papers)
I have received your letter of the 25 Sept. & another from Mary of the 1 st . inst. mentions that she & the children were at New York & that Nancy & Aunt Symmes had arrived & were well. I saw less of Nancy here than I could have wished, but she left this city in better health, than she was in when she came, I wish it may continue to improve—& that Marias might also change for the better....
42To John Jay from Peter Van Schaack, 27 December 1826 (Jay Papers)
Let me break in upon your retirement with the wish of a happy New Year, and that it may be attended with every blessing, which life, transitory as it is, can bestow—and in this wish I comprehend every branch of your family.— The return of this season habitually brings the recollection of days long since past, of youthful attachments, and more mature connexions dissolved, as well as of the few...
43To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 20 May 1819 (Jay Papers)
I sent by Mary Delavans bond & c but had not time to write by her. A M r Honeywell called & told me that he had proposed to give a new Mortgage in lieu of Delavans & that you had referred him to me. I believe that Delavans bond is perfectly secure, but as he is not in the habit of paying his Debts voluntarily & is now deeply indebted to the Mechanics bank who will probably press him for money,...
44From John Adams to John Jay, 9 January 1818 (Adams Papers)
Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry, by William Wirt of Richmond Virginia has been Sent to me by Mr Shaw of the Atheneum. My Family are reading it to me every Evening, and though We have not finished it, We have proceeded far enough to excite an earnest desire to know your Opinion of it There is a Section fourth, page 108. a passage which no Man now living but yourself can...
45To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 25 July 1817 (Jay Papers)
On Friday last I was in court from Morning till 9 oClock at Night engaged in the trial of a Man who ^was^ indicted for an attempt to export a Cargo of Negroes to Georgia, which is now an offence punishable with Imprisonment for not more than 14 years— He was convicted— This trial prevented my writing to you by the last Mail— James Hamilton has shown me a letter from M rs . Gouverneur Morris to...
46To John Jay from John Clarkson Jay, 23 February 1818 (Jay Papers)
J’espere que vous et toute la famille etes bien. Je regarde d’avance avec bien deplaisir a L’approche d’avril et Je desire le plaisir De vous voir. Ditez moi dans votre prochaine lettre quand ma tante Nancy va venir a la ville vivre avec ma tante Marie. Je lis Telemaque et Je m’ en vais Commencer Cæsar au prim^i^er de mars. Donnez mon amour a la tante Nancy et toute la famille. Je reste votre...
47To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 22 November 1821 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . your letter of the 20 th . instant. Since I wrote to you last Mary’s Cough has increased & I am not without anxiety concerning it. During the first part of her confinement she was so well that she was perhaps she was not sufficiently prudent. The Child is quite hearty. I am happy that Marias Complaints are more moderate & hope she will pay us a visit. I understand that the new...
48To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 20 May 1824 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . your letter of the 17 th . May & sincerely regret to learn that Sister Maria continues to suffer so much. Nancy & William I presume are now with you— The former had a bad cold when she left us, & I shall be happy to hear that it has not been encreased by travelling in disagreable Weather. Mary hopes that as soon as Marias health will permit we shall the pleasure of a visit from...
49To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 22 April 1818 (Jay Papers)
Sister Sallys Troubles are all ended. It has pleased God to take her to himself. She expired this Afternoon about half past three oClock. She retained her Senses to the last, knew her Situation & was perfectly composed & tranquil. M r Milnor prayed with her a short time before she died. May God comfort you my dear father, I am your Affectionate Son, Maria & Nancy are as well as can be...
50To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 3 September 1824 (Jay Papers)
I have received your letter of the 24 August last— I returned from Albany on Wednesday last & was not a little surprized to find Sister Banyer & my daughter Mary in town— They propose going to Providence in the Steam Boat, & perhaps to go to Boston from thence— They are now waiting for my John whom they wish to take with them, but who has not yet returned from Niagara to which his uncle has...