From George Washington to the U.S. Senate, 17 February 1797
To the United States Senate
United States
February 17th 1797
Gentlemen of the Senate,
I nominate the following Persons to fill the Offices annexed to their respective names.
Morgan Brown of the State of Tennessee, to be Collector for the District of Tennessee, and Inspector of the Revenue for the Port of Palmyra.1
John McNairy of the State of Tennessee to be Judge for the United States in the District of Tennessee.2
Thomas Gray of the State of Tennessee, to be Attorney for the United States in the District of Tennessee.
Robert Hays of the State of Tennessee to be Marshal of & for the District of Tennessee.
Richard Rogers of New-York to be Naval Officer for the District of New-York, vice Benjamin Walker resigned.3
Mathias E. Sawyer of North Carolina to be Surveyor for the Port of Pasquotank River Bridge in the District of Camden and Inspector of the Revenue for the same Port, vice Edmund Sawyer deceased.4
Elias Backman a resident of Gottenburg in Sweden to be Consul for the United States at Gottenburg.5
Isaac Cox Barnet of New Jersey now residing at Brest to be Consul for the United States at the Port of Brest.6
Francis Childs late of New York now residing in Europe to be Consul for the United States at Genoa.7
Conrad Frederick Wagner to be Consul for the United States at Trieste.
William Henry Lange of Georgia (heretofore nominated by mistake Henry William Lange) to be Surveyor for the District of Savanna, and Inspector of the Revenue for the Port of Savanna, vice James Benjamin Maxwell resigned.8
Go: Washington
LS, DNA: RG 46, entry 52; LB, DLC:GW.
GW’s secretary George Washington Craik delivered this message to the Senate on this date, when the Senate ordered “That it lie for consideration” (, 226). GW again wrote the Senate on Monday, 20 Feb.: “In the nominations that were submitted to you on Friday the 17th instant, the name of William Henry Lange of Georgia was inserted by mistake, contrary to my intention” (LS, DNA: RG 46, entry 52; LB, DLC:GW). The Senate ordered GW’s 20 Feb. message to “lie on the table.” The Senate acknowledged GW’s withdrawal of Lange’s nomination but approved the other nominations, except for those of Elias Backman, Francis Childs, and Conrad Frederick Wagner. The latter nominations were finally authorized on 27 Feb. (, 227).
An undated memorandum from Treasury Secretary Oliver Wolcott, Jr., headed “Names of Persons recommended to vacant Offices” and docketed “Memo. Candidates for Office Feby 97,” reads: “Richard Rogers to be Naval Officer for the District of New York, vice Benjn Walker resigned.
“John Stockton to be Collector for the District of Delaware, vice George Bush decd—Also Inspector of the Revenue for the Port of Wilmington.
“Matthias E. Sawyer, of N.C. to be Surveyor for the Port of Pasquotank River Bridge in the District of Camden, North Carolina & Inspector of the Revenue for the same port—vice Edmund Sawyer decd.
“Morgan Brown to be Collector for the District of Tennessee, & Inspector of the Revenue for the Port of Palmyra.” Wolcott then added: “If the Senate consent to the appointment of John Stockton to be Collector, it is submitted that [ ] Bush be appointed Commissioner of Loans, vice John Stockton.” At the bottom of the page, Wolcott suggested John McNairy as district judge, Robert Hays as U.S. marshal, and Thomas Gray as U.S. district attorney (ADfS, DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Letters). George Bush, the customs collector for the District of Delaware, died on 2 Feb., and GW appointed Allen McLane in his place. The Mr. Bush recommended as commissioner of loans may refer to George Bush’s brother, David (see Jacob Broom to GW, 4 Feb.; GW to McLane, 27 Feb., and n.1 to that document; and GW to the U.S. Senate, 27 Feb.). John Stockton remained commissioner of loans for Delaware for several more years (see Caesar A. Rodney to Thomas Jefferson, 27 Dec. 1801, in , 36:217–20).
Secretary of State Timothy Pickering had also recommended to GW some of the nominees named in the present document (see Pickering to GW, c.17 Feb.).
1. On 31 Jan., Congress had called for the appointment of a customs official at Palmyra, which was named as the only port of entry or delivery in the Tennessee district “of any goods … not the growth or manufacture of the United States” ( 496–97). Brown served as customs collector at that port until 1801, when Palmyra was replaced by the District of Massac as the Tennessee port of entry (see William C. C. Claiborne to Thomas Jefferson, 17 April 1801, in , 33:599–600; see also William Blount and William Cocke to GW, 13 Feb.).
2. McNairy served as federal district judge for the state of Tennessee (later for the state’s eastern and western districts) until he resigned in 1833 (see , p. 337).
3. For Benjamin Walker’s resignation, see Alexander Hamilton to GW, 31 Jan., n.1. Richard Rogers served as naval officer for the port of New York until 1803 (see Rogers to Thomas Jefferson, 16 May 1801, and Denniston & Cheetham to Jefferson, 12 June 1801, in , 34:126–27, 316–17).
4. Edmund Sawyer had been appointed in 1790 as surveyor of the port of Pasquotank River bridge in the District of Camden, N.C. (GW to the U.S. Senate, 9 Feb. 1790 [third letter]). Mathias E. Sawyer served as surveyor at least until 1810–11, when he represented Chowan County in the North Carolina legislature. A new surveyor for Pasquotank River bridge was appointed in 1816.
Likely named for the Indian village of Pasquenoke, the Pasquotank River rises in Camden County, N.C., and runs in a southeasterly direction until it enters Albemarle Sound. In 1790, Congress first named “Pasquotank River bridge” as one of the ports of delivery in the Camden district ( 151).
5. GW signed Elias Backman’s letter of credence on 27 Feb. (see Pickering to GW, c.17 Feb., and n.4 to that document; see also Mulliner, “A History of the American Consular Office at Göteborg, Sweden,” in American Swedish Historical Foundation, Year Book 1947 [Philadelphia, 1947], 1).
6. Isaac Cox Barnet served as U.S. consul at Brest, France, until 1799.
7. Francis Childs resigned as U.S. consul at the Republic of Genoa (now Genoa, Italy) by early July 1797 and was replaced by Frederick H. Wollaston (see Philadelphia Gazette & Universal Daily Advertiser, 11 July 1797; see also , 82).
8. For GW’s earlier nomination of William Henry Lange, in which he mistakenly reversed Lange’s first and middle names, see GW to the U.S. Senate, 21 Dec. 1796, and n.12. GW unsuccessfully submitted another candidate for surveyor and inspector at Savannah (see GW to the U.S. Senate, 27 Feb. 1797).