To James Madison from William Pierce, 6 December 1788
From William Pierce
Savannah, December 6th. 1788.
Dear Sir
As I flatter myself you will be seated in one of the senatorial Chairs of the United States, I take the liberty (and I do it in full confidence that you will think me worthy of the appointment) to ask you for your vote and interest for the Office of Collector to the Port of Savannah. My views and future prospects will be confined within the limits of Georgia; I shall attempt nothing in the Legislative department of the new Government.
I will thank you to mention me to whoever may be appointed from Virginia, and to recommend me to the Senators of North Carolina.1 I am Dr Sir with very much esteem and respect, Your mo: obt. servt
Wm. Pierce.
P. S.—please to answer this Letter thro’ Mr. Chs Thompson.
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.
1. Pierce, JM’s fellow delegate at the Federal Convention, lost his bid for the Savannah collector’s post to John Habersham (, II, 16, 22, 492). He had sought the newly created federal office in an attempt “to pick his way out of the morass of bankruptcy” but died impoverished on 10 Dec. 1789 (Rossiter, 1787: The Grand Convention, p. 318; Charles C. Jones, Jr., Biographical Sketches of the Delegates from Georgia to the Continental Congress [Boston, 1891], p. 157).