To Thomas Jefferson from John Breckinridge, 22 October 1804
From John Breckinridge
Lexington (Kentucky) 22. Octr. 1804.
Dear Sir
I have been lately informed, that Robt. Nicholas does not accept the Office of Surveyor of the port of Orleans. Applications for that office will be made to you from this quarter, in behalf of John Clay, a gentn. formerly resident here, but who many years ago removed to, and settled in, the city of Orleans. He was bred to the mercantile business; is of very respectable connections here; is a man of activity, well qualified for Business; and a good Republican; & would, I think, discharge the duties of that office with reputation to himself & advantage to the govert.—I would have Deferred this application on behalf of Mr. Clay, untill I had the pleasure of seeing you (which I hope will be in about 4 weeks); but understanding that other applications were on foot here, I have availed myself of the oppo. furnished by the present mail.
Accept assurances of the sincere regard & respect of Dear Sir Your friend & Sert.
John Breckinridge
RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR); at foot of text: “Mr. Jefferson”; endorsed by TJ as received 3 Dec. and so recorded in SJL with a brace connecting it to letters received on the same date from Thomas Hart and others of 20 Oct., Christopher Greenup of 18 Oct., and John Rowan of 19 Oct., and the notation “John Clay to be Collector or Surveyor N.O.”
Robert Carter Nicholas wrote to Gabriel Duvall on 10 Oct. from Lexington that unfortunately he had not received the comptroller’s letter of appointment until after leaving the Mississippi Territory and that distance and circumstances now prevented his accepting the post (RC in DNA: RG 59, RD; endorsed by TJ: “declines office of Surveyor & Inspector at N.O.”). News that Nicholas had declined the appointment prompted George Russell to write Samuel Smith from Lexington, 28 Oct., asking that his former employer recommend him for the office. In Smith’s cover letter, written from Washington on 15 Dec. and unaddressed, the senator wrote that Russell had been one of the best young men at his counting house and was from a family of first respectability (RC in DNA: RG 59, LAR; endorsed by TJ: “to be Surveyor N.O. lre to Genl. S. Smith”).