To Alexander Hamilton from William Seton, 8 March 1794
From William Seton
New York 8 March 1794.
My Dear sir
Late last night I received your favour of the 5th.1 with the enclosure for Mr. Verplanck,2 which I have sent him. You may rest assured the most immediate attention shall be paid to what you wish, and the Statements forwarded to you as soon as possible, tho it will take some time as we have to go thro’ so many Ledgers, however not a moment shall be lost, and the Interrogetarys can & will be answered in the most satisfactory manner.3
I shall stop making any further purchases of Bank Stock for Mr. Church,4 but not hearing from you, and the prices being such as I thought it an object, let matters go which way they will, I have since I wrote you purchased for him 21 Shares at 12½—25 Shares at 9½ & 5 Shares at 9 ⅌ Cent—in all 51 Shares, & have drawn for 21 of them at the Exchanges of 5½ & 5 ⅌ Cent above par—& for the remainder have partly engaged the Bills at 5 ⅌ Cent. Considering this Exchange, the Dividend & the prices at which the whole 82 have been purchased, the average is so low that I think the investment cannot fail of being very beneficial & satisfactory. I have kept Mr. Church constantly advised of my transactions & I trust it will meet his approbation.
I am with the greatest respect & esteem Dear sir Your Obliged Obed Hue Sert
Wm Seton
Alexr. Hamilton Esqr
ALS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.
1. Letter not found.
2. Gulian Verplanck was president of the Bank of New York.
3. H had requested these statements so that he could present them to the select committee appointed to examine the Treasury Department. See the introductory note to H to Frederick A. C. Muhlenberg, December 16, 1793. H made several references to Treasury Department procedures respecting banks in his “Report on Rules and Modes of Proceeding with Regard to the Collection, Keeping, and Disbursement of Public Moneys, and Accounting For the Same,” March 4, 1794. For the meeting on March 13, 1794, the minutes of the committee read: “Deposits at and other proceedings with the Banks explained” (D, RG 233, Papers of the Select Committee Appointed to Examine the Treasury Department, Third Congress, National Archives).
4. For information on Seton’s purchase of bank stock for John B. Church, see Seton to H, November 21, 26, 1793; February 11, 18, 1794.