51From Alexander Hamilton to Samuel Gouverneur, 9 December 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, December 9, 1803. Gives opinion concerning the effect of the French arrêt of June 20, 1803, on neutral shipping. ALS , The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Gouverneur was a New York City merchant. For the full text of this letter and a discussion of its contents, see Goebel, Law Practice Julius Goebel, Jr., and Joseph H. Smith, eds., The Law Practice of Alexander Hamilton:...
52From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [23 September 1801] (Hamilton Papers)
I am vexed and chagrined, My beloved Eliza, that I cannot come out to day as I intended. I had requested a Meeting of the Manumission Society for this forenoon; but for some reason unknown to me, it is called for this Evening seven oClock. I cannot of course help attending and I have little hope that it will break up in time to make the journey this Evening. To indemnify myself, in some sort,...
53From Alexander Hamilton to John Dickinson, 29 March 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
I was not, My Dear Sir, insensible to the kind attention shewn me by your letter of the 30th. of November last. But till very lately the subject has been so extremely painful to me, that I have been under a necessity of flying from it as much as possible. Time and effort and occupation have at length restored the tranquillity of my mind, sufficiently to permit me to acknowlege the kindness of...
54From Alexander Hamilton to Oliver Wolcott, Junior, 3 October 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
I lately received a letter from you, transmitting a pamphlet. The latter, I have read with much pleasure. If party spirit admitted of candor, I should say that it was calculated to satisfy candid men of whatever party. Pains will be taken to disseminate it. You may remember that when you were last in this City, I spoke to you about some lands which I owned in the Ohio Company tracts. Inclosed...
55From Alexander Hamilton to Robert R. Livingston, [10 April 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
You were probably acquainted in this Country with Colonel Toussard who will have the honor of delivering you this letter. He has filled several stations in our Military service at different periods and always with much credit to himself and advantage to the service. During our revolutionary war he lost an arm in an action in which he displayed much zeal and bravery, and to my knowlege was...
56From Alexander Hamilton to Aaron Burr, [1 April 1802] (Hamilton Papers)
Your Protegé Buisson has addressed to me the inclosed letter. Why he did not immediately write to you I cannot tell unless it be that he is conscious he has used your politeness sufficiently, and imagines an intermediary to be hereafter necessary. Perhaps you may be able to decipher his wishes from the letter; which I confess is beyond my skill. But I understand from him in conversation that...
57From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [2 October 1801] (Hamilton Papers)
I was extremely disappointed, My Dear Eliza, that the Mondays post did not bring me a letter from you. You used to keep your promises better. And you know that I should be anxious to hear of your health. If the succeeding post does not rectify the omission of the former I shall be dissatisfied and pained. I am chagrined at the prospect of being detained considerably longer than I expected. Our...
58From Alexander Hamilton to William Cooper, 6 September 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
I congratulate you and myself on your victory over Brockholst. Whether your interest is much promoted by it or not is of small consequence—In the triumph of vanquishing such an enemy. That you know was your principal inducement and I know that you will be willing to pay well for it. I have been deliberating whether to charge you 200 or 100 pounds for my services in this cause. In fixing upon...
59Jacob Radcliff to Alexander Hamilton and Josiah Ogden Hoffman, 20 April 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
[ April 20, 1804. “As to any right of property claimed by the corporation of this City to the land under water we have ourselves no doubt that it is wholly unfounded, and if you should be of the same opinion we wish it to be expressed. This will in the first instance depend on the Charter of this City. With respect to the claim of jurisdiction by this State we at present wish your opinion only...
60From Alexander Hamilton to Jonas Platt, 16 August 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, August 16, 1803. “The enclosed is pursuant to an arrangement between Judge Thompson & Mr. Troupe. The parties trust and hope, that you will by all means have the goodness to attend.…” ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. Platt, Smith Thompson, and Robert Troup had been appointed arbitrators and commissioners to settle the dispute over lands in Claverack, Columbia County, New...
61From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [1803] (Hamilton Papers)
I arrived here, my beloved, about five this afternoon. According to my first day’s journey, I ought now to be much further advanced. But some how Riddle sprained the ancle of one of his hind legs, which very much retarded my progress to day. By care and indulgence, he is much better this Evening; so that I count upon being able to reach Albany with him early on Wednesday morning. I have...
62From Alexander Hamilton to James A. Hamilton, [June 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
I have prepared for you a Thesis on Discretion. You may need it. God bless you. Your affectionate father. Hamilton, Reminiscences James A. Hamilton, Reminiscences of James A. Hamilton: or Men and Events, at Home and Abroad, During Three Quarters of a Century (New York, 1869). , 40. In describing this letter and its enclosure, James A. Hamilton wrote: “In 1804 a student in Columbia College...
63From Alexander Hamilton to Gouverneur Morris, [4 September 1802] (Hamilton Papers)
I fully intended to have dined with you to day but going to Town the two last days & forgetting that I ought to observe a regimen, I have brought back in some degree the complaint which lately annoyed me & which requires to be well watched. This must deprive me of the pleasure of seeing you. I send Schedules of the papers required of Tillier, all which have been put into my hands—the bill to...
64From Alexander Hamilton to William P. Van Ness, 23 June 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
I was in Town to day till half past one. I thank you for the delicacy which dictated your note to me. If it is indispensable the communication should be made before Monday Morning, I must receive it here. But I should think this cannot be important. On monday by Nine I shall be in Town at my house in Cæder Street No 52, where I should be glad to see you. An additional reason for preferring...
65From Alexander Hamilton to Charles Wilkes, [26 April 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
[ Grange, New York, April 26, 1804. “I would not pronounce against the power of the Directors to go into the operation you mention; but I think it liable to so much question as hardly to be advisable without the sanction of the stock holders at a general meeting. I should perceive no difficulty in their giving a gross sum out of their profits for the renewal or extention of their charter. The...
66From Alexander Hamilton to Louis André Pichon, 10 May 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
The inclosed was put into my hands by Capt Du Buisson, when lately I was about to make a journey to the City of Washington, with the suggestion that you had desired it as a voucher for his right to receive 3000 francs from the Armateurs of the Peggy and which sum he informed me you would be willing to pay out of funds in deposit with you on account of that Vessel and her Cargo. The...
67From Alexander Hamilton to James M. Hughes, [3 June 1802] (Hamilton Papers)
Mr. Hughes will please to execute the above order as follows—After deducting the Costs he will pay their proportions to the respective parties except that to Joseph Caste which I will receive. ALS , Emmett Collection, MS Division, New York Public Library. Hughes, a New York City lawyer, was a master of the New York Court of Chancery. This letter concerns the case of Benjamin Taylor v Charles...
68From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [25 October 1801] (Hamilton Papers)
I was much relieved, My Dear Eliza by the receipt yesterday morning of your letter of Monday last. How it came to be so long delayed, I am unable to conjecture. But the delay gave much uneasiness in consequence of the imperfect state of health in which I had left you. Thank God you were better—for indeed my Eliza you are very essential to me. Your virtues more and more endear you to me and...
69From Alexander Hamilton to Herman LeRoy, 19 September 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
Grange [ New York ], September 19, 1802 . Informs LeRoy of an arrangement he has concluded with Henry Sands to assign Sands’s mortgage on lots in Brooklyn to the Bank of New York, which, in turn, would sell the mortgaged property and use the proceeds to discharge Comfort Sands’s debts. States: “Going tomorrow morning to attend the W Chester Circuit which may occasion an absence of three or...
70From Alexander Hamilton to John Jay, 11 June 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
Mr. Davies, who appreciates your character as he ought, having expressed a desire to be personally acquainted with you, I promised him a letter of introduction. I comply with this promise with the greater pleasure, as the impressions which this Gentleman has made upon me induce me to believe that you will be glad of the opportunity of making his acquaintance. He is Attorney of the UStates for...
71Last Will and Testament of Alexander Hamilton, [9 July 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
In the Name of God Amen! I Alexander Hamilton of the City of New York Counsellor at Law do make this my last Will and Testament as follows. First I appoint John B Church Nicholas Fish and Nathaniel Pendleton of the City aforesaid Esquires to be Executors and Trustees of this my Will and I devise to them their heirs and Assigns, as joint Tenants and not as Tenants in common, All my Estate real...
72From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, 16 October [1802] (Hamilton Papers)
I have just arrived here and shall stay till tomorrow. It has always appeared to me that the ground on which our Orchard stands is much too moist. To cure this a ditch round it would be useful, perhaps with a sunken fence as a guard. But this last may be considered at a future time. If you can obtain one or two more labourers, it may be adviseable to cut a ditch round the Orchard—three feet...
73From Alexander Hamilton to John V. Henry, 31 October 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
I left with a Watchmaker at Albany my watch to be put in order & forgot it when I came away. I believe the name of the Watchmaker is Howal . He lives near the Court House, obliquely SouthWest. Do me the favour to get it from him and send it to me by a safe opportunity; paying the expence. Yrs. with much esteem ALS , Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. Henry, an Albany lawyer, was...
74From Alexander Hamilton to Oliver Wolcott, Junior, [September] 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
The necessity of purchasing a quantity of land, which I did not intend, in consequence of a mortgage that comprehended a tract I had before purchased, has so far disconcerted my pecuniary arrangements as to require that I should obtain some further Bank accommodations, instead of gradually extinguishing those I had already procured. It is therefore my wish to obtain from the Merchants Bank a...
75From Alexander Hamilton to Aaron Burr, 10 October 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
I distinctly recollect (as was once before verbally explained between us) that just before you made a payment of Two thousand Dollars on your Bond, Winships Mortgage was returned to you, as the mean by which the money was to be procured. I think it was sent to you by Le Guen himself. It is to be presumed, that Winship has had since some intimation from the possessor of his mortgage, and that...
76From Alexander Hamilton to Jeremiah Olney, 29 June 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
The original of your letter of the 9th. of April never came to hand. The copy in that of the 9th. of June arrived here while I was on a circuit, so that I did not receive it till a few days ago. It is the practice on the admission of honorary members to present them with diplomas. But there are no blanks in my possession and very few in that of the officers of the Society of this state. These,...
77From Alexander Hamilton to Nicholas Low, [17 June 1803] (Hamilton Papers)
I send you the letter I have drafted to Mr. Ludlow. Be so good as to sign and forward it. Retain carefully the copy on the other side. Yrs. with esteem ALS , The Sol Feinstone Collection, Library of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia. Daniel Ludlow, a former Loyalist and a New York City merchant, was one of the founders of the Manhattan Company in 1799. In 1801 he was appointed...
78From Alexander Hamilton to William R. Putnam, 6 December 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
The multiplicity of my engagements has diverted my attention from a remittance to you on account of the taxes of my lands in your quarter. I count upon your good will that no inconvenience will have ensued & I now enclose Fifty Dollars. It will be satisfactory to me to know that it has reached you and whether any further supply will be promptly requisite; also what are the present prospects as...
79From Alexander Hamilton to Richard Peters, 29 December 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
A disappointed politician you know is very apt to take refuge in a Garden. Accordingly I have purchased about thirty acres nine miles from Town, have built a house, planted a garden, and entered upon some other simple improvements. In this new situation, for which I am as little fitted as Jefferson to guide the helm of the UStates, I come to you as an Adept in rural science for instruction....
80From Alexander Hamilton to Nathaniel G. Ingraham, 6 March 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
Albany, March 6, 1801. Acknowledges receipt of Ingraham’s letter of February 26, 1801 . Regrets that he cannot serve as Ingraham’s attorney because of unavoidable delay in Albany. ALS , Mrs. Jean Ahnfeldt, Los Altos, California. Letter not found. Ingraham was declared a bankrupt on February 19, 1801 (RG 21, Records of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York,...
81From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, 10 March [1801] (Hamilton Papers)
The Senate has refused on account of the interference with other business to hear any more causes this session; so that were it not for the situation of your Sister Peggy, her request that I would stay a few days longer and the like request of your father and mother, I could now return to you. But how can I resist these motives for continuing a while longer? Things must change this week but at...
82From Alexander Hamilton to George Clinton, 2 March 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
If our correspondence does not terminate with your letter of the 29th. of February, received yesterday, I wish it to be understood that it proceeds merely from the desire of removing all ambiguity from a transaction, in which my character may be materially interested. It is perhaps the natural inference from what you have stated, that nothing took place on your part, to sanction or corroborate...
83From Alexander Hamilton to Gouverneur Morris, 4 March 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
You have seen certain resolutions unanimously pass our legislature for amending the Constitution 1 by designating separately the candidates for President and Vice President 2 by having the Electors chosen by the people in districts under the direction of the National Legislature. After mature reflection I was thoroughly confirmed in my first impression, that it is true Fœderal policy to...
84From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, 22 October 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
I am here, my beloved Eliza, on my way to Albany —in much better health than I have been since my first attack at home. To avoid the risk of bringing on a relapse by too much exercise, it is my intention to continue here ’till tomorrow morning. Judge Benson is with me. The Arbitrators are gone to view the land in which business they will be engaged till Wednesday. On that day I must be back at...
85From Alexander Hamilton to Pierre Charles L’Enfant, 27 July 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
Three days since I received your letter of the 14th. As there is a Court sitting, I defer a particular answer to it, and drop you a line to say, that I shall certainly do every thing in my power to fulfil your wish. With regard, I am, Sir Yr. Obed ser ALS , Digges-L’Enfant-Morgan Collection, Library of Congress. Letter not found. The New York Supreme Court met in New York City from July 21,...
86Egbert Benson, Richard Harison, and Alexander Hamilton to Charles Williamson, 6 August 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, August 6, 1802. Propose that Williamson go to England to settle his dispute with William Hornby and Patrick Colquhoun. Copy, Rochester Historical Society, Rochester, New York. Benson, Harison, and H were Williamson’s attorneys. See William Hornby to H, September 15, 1801 . Benson, a Federalist, was attorney general of New York from 1777 to 1788, a member of the New York Assembly from...
87From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [16 March 1801] (Hamilton Papers)
On Saturday, My Dear Eliza, your sister took leave of her sufferings and friends, I trust, to find repose and happiness in a better country. Viewing all that she had endured for so long a time, I could not but feel a relief in the termination of the scene. She was sensible to the last and resigned to the important change. Your father and mother are now calm. All is as well as it can be; except...
88From Alexander Hamilton to Ann Mitchell, 28 June–10 July 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, June 28–July 10, 1804. Nathaniel Pendleton described the eighth item on a list of ten, which were given to him after Hamilton’s death, as a “Letter to Mrs. Mitchell inclosing 400 dollars as was mentioned on the outside. Sealed.” Letter not found. ] Ann Mitchell, the daughter of James and Ann Lytton, was H’s cousin. Her mother was the sister of H’s mother, Rachel Lavien. In 1759,...
89From Alexander Hamilton to Aaron Burr, 20 June 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
I have maturely reflected on the subject of your letter of the 18th instant; and the more I have reflected the more I have become convinced, that I could not, without manifest impropriety, make the avowal or disavowal which you seem to think necessary. The clause pointed out by Mr. Van Ness is in these terms “I could detail to you a still more despicable opinion , which General Hamilton has...
90From Alexander Hamilton to George Clinton, 9 March 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
I had the honor of receiving, yesterday, your Excellency’s letter of the 6th instant. It is agreeable to me to find in it a confirmation of the inference, that you had given no countenance to the supposition of my agency or cooperation in the project, to which the story of Judge Purdy relates; and it only remains for me to regret that it is not in your power to furnish the additional clue, of...
91From Alexander Hamilton to Archibald Gracie, [23 March 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
I have perused the Bill & am of opinion that the prohibition will extend only to Associations or Companies of which the primary and essential purpose or end is, to issue notes make discounts &c, in other words, to operate as a Bank, and not to Commercial companies which may incidentally transact such business. Yet there is some degree of Ambiguity on the subject and questions may arise. The...
92From Alexander Hamilton to Louis André Pichon, 6 August 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
At the request of Capt Du Buisson, I have the honor to send you two documents one of which is the copy of an Arbitration Bond between Mr. Roget and himself, the other the copy of an award, which has been made pursuant to the submission. As Mr. Roget makes difficulties about the performance of the award (though given unanimously and under circumstances very obligatory upon his candour) Capt du...
93From Alexander Hamilton to William Short, [3 July 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
General Hamilton waited on Mr. Short to pay his respects & to request the pleasure of his Company at a Family Dinner in the Country on Saturday next three oClock. ALS , Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Short, who had been Thomas Jefferson’s secretary when Jefferson was Minister to France during the Confederation period, became chargé d’affaires at Paris in 1789. In 1792 he was...
94From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [16–17] March 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
I thank you My Betsy for your letter from Fish Kill. I hope the subsequent part of your journey has proved less fatiguing than the two first days. I have anticipated with dread your interview with your father. I hope your prudence and fortitude have been a match for your sensibility. Remember that the main object of visit is to console him; that his own burthen is sufficient, and that it would...
95From Alexander Hamilton to Nathaniel Pendleton, [4 July 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
I thank you My Dear Sir for your friendly offices in this last critical scene, if such it shall be. Excuse me for having inserted your name as Executor. I fear it may not be in your favor to do much good to my family. But I am sure you will do all the good you can. Yrs. truly My most interesting papers in regard to my pecuniary affairs will be found 1 in the upper Apartment of Escrutory or...
96Mortgage by John Laurance, John B. Church, and Alexander Hamilton to Robert Gilchrist, 21 August 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, August 21, 1802. Laurance, Church, and Hamilton give a mortgage to Gilchrist on an undivided one-half of Townships 9, 10, a portion of 17, and certain lots in Townships 21 and 15, all located in Scriba’s Patent, as security for the payment of $21,765. By the terms of the mortgage each is to pay Gilchrist $7,255 in five equal annual payments with interest from May 18, 1802. Copy,...
97From Alexander Hamilton to Benjamin Rush, 29 March 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
I felt all the weight of the obligation which I owed to you and to your amiable family, for the tender concern they manifested in an event, beyond comparison, the most afflicting of my life. But I was obliged to wait for a moment of greater calm, to express my sense of the kindness. My loss is indeed great. The highest as well as the eldest hope of my family has been taken from me. You...
98From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [13 March 1803] (Hamilton Papers)
Captain Church, My Dear Betsy, has just arrived & brings me favourable accounts of your journey hitherto and prospects. It is a great comfort to me and I hope will not be marred by bad weather; so that you may all speedily arrive and without too much fatigue to sooth and console your affected Father. Now you are all gone and I have no effort to make to keep up your spirits, my distress on his...
99From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [4 July 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
This letter, my very dear Eliza, will not be delivered to you, unless I shall first have terminated my earthly career; to begin, as I humbly hope from redeeming grace and divine mercy, a happy immortality. If it had been possible for me to have avoided the interview, my love for you and my precious children would have been alone a decisive motive. But it was not possible, without sacrifices...
100From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, 20 March [1803] (Hamilton Papers)
I am here my beloved Betsy with my two little boys John & William who will be my bed fellows to night. The day I have passed was as agreeable as it could be in your absence; but you need not be told how much difference your presence would have made. Things are now going on here pretty and pretty briskly. I am making some innovations which I am sure you will approve. The remainder of the...