There are three Gentlemen, in the Mercantile Way, Mr. Sigourney, Mr. Ingraham and Mr. Bromfield, who are now in this City, and propose to reside here and establish a mercantile House. These Gentlemen are very well known in the Massachusetts, and therefore it is unnecessary for me to Say any Thing concerning their Characters. They have travelled a good deal in Europe, and I believe have been...
2Board of War Resolutions, 15 August 1777 (Adams Papers)
Resolved that a Copy of that Part of Coll Richardson’s Letter which relates to Thomas Cockayne and George Walton and Thos Lightfoot of Sussex County in the State of Delaware be transmitted to Governor President McInlay, and that the Governor Presidt he be desired forthwith to take order for the Apprehension and Confinement of the said Cockayne and Walton, and Lightfoot and that Coll Richardson...
Copy: Connecticut Historical Society This will be handed you by Capt. Courter who goes express with our Dispatches to Congress and is to inform you that we have wrote by the Capt. of the Frigate in which Capt. Courter takes Passage, for you to Pay the Capt. of said Frigate the Sum of 15,000 Livres money of France which Letter of ours we are Confident will meet with due honor; and we have...
I am directed by the Board of War to desire you, to deliver to Coll. Bird forty of the Hessian Prisoners in your Custody, to work with him as Artifficers and Labourers, if they consent. I am your humble sevt., RC in JA ’s hand ( DLC ); docketed: “Order from Warr Office 16th Septr. 1777 to deliver 40 Hessians to Col. Bird.” Col. Mark Bird, who ran a cannon foundry in Berks co. ( JCC Worthington...
5The Board of War to George Washington, 21 June 1776 (Adams Papers)
The Congress having thought proper to appoint us to the Board of War and Ordinance, we do ourselves the Honour to transmit you the foregoing Extracts from their Proceedings establishing a War Office for the more speedy and effectual Dispatch of military Business. You will percieve, on Perusal of the Extracts, that it will be necessary for you forthwith to furnish the Board with an exact State...
6A Report of the Board of War, 13 August 1776 (Adams Papers)
Agreed to report to Congress That Monsr. Weibert now serving in the continental Army at New York as an Engineer be appointed Assistant Engineer with the Rank and Pay of Lieut. Colonel and that his Pay commence from the Time of his engaging in the Service. That General Mercer be directed to discharge or grant Furlows to Joseph Kerr Hatter a private of Capt Will’s Company in the first Battallion...
7From John Adams to John Bondfield, 3 June 1778 (Adams Papers)
Passy, 3 June 1778. printed: JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 4:126 . Adams acknowledged Bondfield’s letter of 26 May (not found), enclosing an account for expenses of JA ’s party in Bordeaux and the trip to Paris, and approved one for goods shipped to AA . printed: ( JA, Diary and Autobiography...
8John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 17 March 1780 (Adams Papers)
I have received your Letter, giving an Account of your Studies for a day. You should have dated your Letter. Making Latin, construing Cicero, Erasmus, the Appendix de Diis et Heroibus ethnicis, and Phaedrus, are all Exercises proper for the Acquisition of the Latin Tongue; you are constantly employed in learning the Meaning of Latin Words, and the Grammar, the Rhetorick and Criticism of the...
9From John Adams to John Jay, 17 August 1782 (Adams Papers)
The States General have chosen Mr Brantzen Minister to negotiate for Peace. Yesterday he did me the honour to dine with me. He is represented to me to be a good Man and well fixed in the true System. I have very authentic Information that his Instructions will be such as France and America as well as his own Country ought to wish them. I have Letters from Boston 17 June —grand Rejoicings on...
10From John Adams to John Boylston, 5 March 1779 (Adams Papers)
I have received your Billet of the 6. Feb. and altho I am much obliged by your Care to put me on my Guard, against dangerous Men: Yet I am extreamly Sorry to find, that Slander has been So successfull, as to impose upon you, who I know have no sinister Motive, nor any Thing to byass you; in this Case from the Truth and the Interest of a Country whose Welfare you wish. The “Freres” have been...
11John Adams to John Thaxter, 8 April 1777 (Adams Papers)
Your kind Favour of March 22. reached me Yesterday. I am much obliged to you for your Account of the Proceedings of the Superiour Court, and wish you to continue to give me a regular Account of their Progress. The Order, and Happiness of the State and even its Safety, depend much upon that Court, and I long to learn that they are fully employed in the Distribution of Justice, both in the civil...
12From John Adams to John Hancock, 26 May 1783 (Adams Papers)
M r De Hogendorp a Lieutenant in the Dutch Guards, in the Service of the Republick of Holland, is going to America in the Suite of M r Vanberckel the Dutch Minister and I am requested by Some respectable Gentlemen to give him Letters of Introduction to Some Persons in America. any Civilities you may please to Shew him, will be gratefully acknowledged, by / Sir your most obedient and / most...
13From John Adams to John Bondfield, 30 April 1782 (Adams Papers)
Yours of 13 is duely recd: I congratulate you, on Gillons Success and hope that his Prizes, and those he may make hereafter will defray the enormous Expence of that outfit. All his Patience Activity and Perseverance, were necessary, to carry that affair through: and the Cost was immense. I am not able to answer your Question, concerning the fate of a Vessell of yours, which should be carried...
14From John Adams to John Bondfield, 25 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
I am very much obliged by your kind Attention, in your Letter of 22d. April. Clinton has then arrived at Georgia, where he is destined to be as well watched and guarded and finally as compleatly ruined as Burgoyne was at Saratoga or Preston at Rhode Island, and that favorite Child of Fortune Gates is to have the Glory of it all. I am quite easy since I know, he commands. There is an Affection...
15John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 12 February 1781 (Adams Papers)
I received to day, your Favour of 11. You may purchase L’Art Dramatique, alone if you please. But I know nothing of the Dramatick Character of Mercier. He is not very famous, as I remember, and therefore, I think it is Scarcely worth while to go to the Expence of all his Works. I shall make you a present of Some Volumes of Pope soon.—I have seen a Terence, in three Volumes, with the Latin on...
16John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 18 April 1776 (Adams Papers)
I thank you for your agreable Letter of the Twenty fourth of March. I rejoice with you that our Friends are once more in Possession of the Town of Boston, and am glad to hear that so little damage is done to our House. I hope you and your Sister and Brothers will take proper Notice of these great Events, and remember under whose wise and kind Providence they are all conducted. Not a Sparrow...
17John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 16 March 1777 (Adams Papers)
There is an observation, which I wish you to make very early in Life because it may be usefull to you, when you grow up. It is this, that a Taste for Literature and a Turn for Business, united in the same Person, never fails to make a great Man. A Taste for Literature, includes the Love of Science and the fine Arts. A Turn for Business, comprehends Industry and Application as well as a faculty...
18John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 3 July 1783 (Adams Papers)
I can tell you nothing with Certainty when the Peace will be finished. I hope it will not be long. You may purchase a Suetonius, provided you intend to make a good Use of it. I long to See you, but can as yet form no Judgment when I shall have that Pleasure. We have no News from Congress, a Neglect which is to the last degree astonishing and inexplicable. Do you find any Society at the Hague?...
19From John Adams to John Bondfield, 18 August 1781 (Adams Papers)
I have received your favour of August 7. with much pleasure, and thank you for the agreable News it contains. The Dutch have at last, Sent off Parker with a Flea in his Ear —pardon a very homely Expression. There is an End, sir, from this Moment of British Tyranny upon the Sea. The Heart and Spirit of the English Navy is certainly broke, and their Skill and Courage gone. They have lost their...
20John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 20 December 1780 (Adams Papers)
I have just received a Letter from Mr. Thaxter and another from your Brother, and should have been equally pleased with one from you. Write me as often as you can, and let me know what Professors you Attend and what Instructors attend you, whether you understand the Lectures &c. The Lectures upon the Greek of the New Testament, I would have you all attend, and those upon Euripides, Sophocles,...
21Franklin and John Adams to John Paul Jones, 10 February 1779: résumé (Franklin Papers)
LS : National Archives; copies: Library of Congress, Massachusetts Historical Society, National Archives (two) <Passy, February 10, 1779: As the change in command of the Ranger might be subject to misinterpretation, we hereby certify that your leaving that ship was with our consent and at the express request of M. de Sartine, who desired to employ you in some public service. That Lt. Simpson...
22From John Adams to John Bondfield, 6 December 1780 (Adams Papers)
I have received your Favour of 28 of Octr. and am very glad to hear of your Recovery from Sickness. The Non Arrival of the Cloathing, is a great Disappointment and Misfortune in America. The British Ministry are never at a Loss. You see they were very ready to discover how Mr. Laurens was to be treated. They will easily know how to treat Mr. Trumbull and Mr. Tyler. If Americans had understood...
23From John Adams to John Bondfield, 31 January 1780 (Adams Papers)
At Bayonne, I had the Honour of yours of the 25. Decr. last, which was delivered me by Mr. Dufour, whom you desired to assist me with whatever I should want particularly with Money. Mr. Dufour politely offered me, Supplies of Cash, and services of any sort in which he could be usefull to me, and I was very sorry that I could not have the Opportunity of forming an Acquaintance with him: but my...
24From John Adams to John Bondfield, 24 May 1780 (Adams Papers)
This day I had the Pleasure of yours of the 20th. By the arrival of so many Vessells, at Bilbao, Bourdeaux Nantes, L’orient, and Amsterdam, I think We may fairly conclude that the British Vessells of War have other occupations than cruising, and that the Commerce of our Country is opening and extending in an agreable manner. But as these Vessells bring so few Letters to the Politicians I begin...
25From John Adams to John Jay, 28 March 1781 (Adams Papers)
It is so long since I wrote You, that I am almost ashamed to recollect. I have been in the most curious Country, among the most incomprehensible People and under the most singular Constitution of Government in the World. I have not been able to write You, what could or would be done here, because I was not able to discover, nor did I ever yet find one Man in the Country, who would pretend to...
26From John Adams to John Bondfield, 2 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
I have Occasion for a Cask of Bordeaux Wine, of the very best Quality, such as You sent Us, when I was at Passy. I wish You would be so good, as to send it me, as soon as possible, as I am in great distress for want of it, having none, and being able to get none so good for daily Consumption. Your Bill for the Money shall be paid punctually. Another favor I have to ask of You, and that is a...
27Benjamin Franklin and John Adams to John Paul Jones, 10 August 1778 (Adams Papers)
We do not think ourselves authorized to give any Orders concerning the Deductions to be made from the Seamen’s Price money or Wages, of what was advanced to them. The Resolutions of Congress must be complied with as to your Stores and Furniture, we suppose there can be no Difficulty, but that M. Simpson will as he ought to deliver you your private Property upon Request. We are not informed...
28To John Jay from John Adams, 28 March 1781 (Jay Papers)
It is so long since I wrote You, that I am almost ashamed to recollect. I have been in the most curious Country, among the most incomprehensible People and under the most singular Constitution of Government in the World. I have not been able to write You, what could or would be done here, because I was not able to discover, nor did I ever yet find one Man in the Country, who would pretend to...
29John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 28 April 1782 (Adams Papers)
Yours of March 20/31 I have received. I am well pleased with your learning German for many Reasons, and principally because I am told that Science and Literature flourish more at present in Germany than any where. A Variety of Languages will do no harm unless you should get an habit of attending more to Words than Things. But, my dear Boy, above all Things, preserve your Innocence, and a pure...
30From John Adams to John Howard, 16 March 1783 (Adams Papers)
I have just rec d. the letter you did me the honor to write me on the 26 th. ult:. You could not have applied to a person, less acquainted with the subject of lands. I know not where the best, & cheapest at the same time, are to be found: Indeed I should think it most prudent, for the man who wishes to purchase, to go to the Country first & enquire—and not to be in haste. There are Lands...