1William Wirt to James Madison, 11 July 1832 (Madison Papers)
Judge Glenn of this place, being about to pass through Orange, and having always been one of your political and personal friends, thinks it probable he may have it in his power to call & pay his respects to you, in passing; & lest you may possibly have forgotten his person, has requested a line of introduction from me, which I give him with great pleasure, from a long acquaintance with him &...
2From William Wirt to John Quincy Adams, November 1825 (Adams Papers)
W. Wirt acknowledges the honor of Mr & Mrs. Adams polite invitation to dinner on the 15th. but not having been into company this winter, hopes to be excused for declining it. MHi : Adams Papers.
3William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 9 March 1820 (Jefferson Papers)
The gentleman who hands you this is M r Albert Insinger , who has been introduced to me as Son to the Prior of the great commercial house of Insinger, & Co. of Amsterdam . M r Insinger being on a tour through Virginia , & being desirous of paying his respects to you, I have been requested to give him a letter of introduction, which I do with very great pleasure, because I am sure you will,...
4To James Madison from William Wirt, 17 March 1816 (Madison Papers)
I thank you for your favor of the thirteenth instant. I certainly had not thought of the Office in question, for myself, nor am I now sufficiently informed of the interference which the discharge of it’s duties at Norfolk will cause with my other professional engagements to decide, with entire satisfaction to myself whether I can with propriety undertake it. I have written to Norfolk to...
5To Thomas Jefferson from William Wirt, 8 January 1803 (Jefferson Papers)
I understand that the office of a judge for the Indiana Territory is vacant by the death of Mr. Clarke, and that Mr Ninian Edwards of Kentucky has been proposed for that appointment. I hope that I am not presuming too far on my acquaintance with you in certifying my opinion of Mr. Edwards. Having known him from youth to manhood, I feel a pleasure in having it in my power to declare, with...
6To James Madison from William Wirt, 23 July 1815 (Madison Papers)
I thank you very sincerely for your letter of the 19th. inst. from Washington. The business of recommending a candidate for office is always disagreable to me; not only because I fear it may be assuming higher ground than I am entitled to occupy, but because I am fully aware of the swarms of applications by which you are importuned on every vacancy, and it is extremely painful to me to run the...
7William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 2 October 1816 (Jefferson Papers)
I sent you about three or four weeks ago a second, and by the last mail, a third parcel of my biographical M.S.—Not having heard of their arrival and having had frequent proofs of the irregularity of the mails, I begin to be fearful that the packets have miscarried.—I beg you to be assured that it is not with the most distant intention of hurrying you in the kind and obliging office which you...
8William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 10 August 1816 (Jefferson Papers)
I suppose it proceeds from the circumstances of my having lived in your neighbourhood, for several years; the brotherly intimacy and affection which has always subsisted between your nephews, the M r Carrs , and myself; and the paternal kindness with which you have always treated me, that I feel a sort of filial right to be more troublesome to you, than my judgment can entirely approve: but I...
9William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 27 June 1810 (Jefferson Papers)
Your last favor was brought to me from the post-office, too late, by some accident, to be answered by the returning mail. It gives me pleasure to assure you that succeeding interviews have completely removed the apprehensions expressed to my friend D. Carr in relation to this cause: and did I not know to whom my letter was addressed & by whom, alone, its contents are known, I should regret...
10To James Madison from William Wirt, 23 March 1816 (Madison Papers)
As I intimated, in my last letter, a wish to make farther enquiries before I should answer decisively as to the proposition you were so obliging as to make to me, I think it probable you may expect to hear from me again on this subject. It is for this reason I trouble you now, with stating my willingness to accept the office, which I understand Mr. Hay has laid down. At the same time, I beg...
11To Thomas Jefferson from William Wirt, with Jefferson’s Notes, 15 July 1797 (Jefferson Papers)
In a day or two I will come up and settle with you for the nails which were furnished us some time ago —and at the same time for 500. 8d. and 50. 30d. do. if you will be so obliging as to have them sent by the bearer. Yr. obt. Servt. (500) 5 ℔ VIII d. 12d 0-5-0 50. 3 ℔ XXX 10d. 0-2-6 0-7-6 RC ( MHi ); addressed: “Mr. Jefferson Monticello.” Furnished us some time ago : see Wirt to TJ, 4 May...
12To Thomas Jefferson from William Wirt, 11 June 1825 (Jefferson Papers)
Doct. Caldwell, of the University of Transylvania, being on his way homeward from a short excursion to the North of us, and being desirous of paying his respects to you, as he passes, is yet fearful that you may possibly not recollect him and has accepted the offer of this note of introduction, which I have much pleasure in giving him, both as it may contribute to the gratification of a...
13William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 20 July 1812 (Jefferson Papers)
I have just rec d yours of the 13 th and can only assure you of my constant attention to your interest. I can not think with patience, of your having this repose, to which you are so justly entitled, interrupted, in this way and yet, rather inconsistently I am sincerely pleased at having an opportunity of being any way useful to you: for I am yours in very truth devotedly yours Tr ( MdHi :...
14To Thomas Jefferson from William Wirt, 20 July 1823 (Jefferson Papers)
This will be handed to you by M r Benj. Lincoln Lear whom I had the pleasure, some time past, to recommend to you as qualified to fulfil your wishes with regard to Gen l Kosciusko’s will. A further acquaintance with Mr. Lear has confirmed the favorable opinion I then expressed of him. He is one of the most correct, amiable, inteligent and respectable of our young gentlemen: and I am sure you...
15To James Madison from William Wirt, 10 March 1816 (Madison Papers)
I understand that the office of attorney for the U.S. in the district of Virginia is vacant by the resignation of Mr. Hay; and if a successor be not already selected, I beg leave to present to your notice Mr: Abel P. Upshur of this city. The circumstance of Mr. Upshurs having read law under my direction and lived in habits of great intimacy with me for several years, has brought me closely...
16To Thomas Jefferson from William Wirt, 20 July 1802 (Jefferson Papers)
I have just received yours of the 13th . and can only assure you of my constant attention to your interest. I cannot think, with patience, of your having that repose, to which you are so ju[stly] entitled, interrupted, in this way—and yet, rather [incon]sistently, I am sincerely pleased at having an opportunity of being, any way, useful to you: for I am, in very truth, devotedly yours RC ( DLC...
17William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 28 December 1818 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letter of the 10 th Ult o reached this place after I had set out for Baltimore on public business, which kept me from home a full month, tho’ in the expectation, all the while, of returning on every succeeding day or two, at the farthest. I regret this delay, as I do most sensibly my misapprehension of your first letter relative to the proper court of probate of the will of General...
18To Thomas Jefferson from William Wirt, 24 July 1805 (Jefferson Papers)
In this intermission of your public labours I hope there may be nothing improper, in begging the aid of your memory towards a little literary project which I have on foot. I am collecting memoirs of the late Patrick Henry. His life and example appear to me to afford some fine lessons. His faults, as well as his virtues will be instructive and I propose to myself to become his biographer, not...
19To James Madison from William Wirt, 26 July 1827 (Madison Papers)
I beg leave to introduce to you Mr. Hoffman, Professor of law in the University of Maryland, who, on his way to the Western Springs of Virginia, proposes I understand to pay his respects to you. Mr. Hoffman is too well known to Fame to require more than the annunciation of his name to make him welcome—and I need only to add that learned as he is in his profession, you will find that his...
20To Thomas Jefferson from William Wirt, 13 July 1825 (Jefferson Papers)
My friends Colo Tennant, a distinguished merchant of Baltimore, and his son in law, M r Kennedy, one of my favorite brethren of the bar of that city, being about to pass through your part of the country, are desirous of an opportunity of paying their respects to you; and I give them this introduction with great pleasure, not only on account of their own merits and high standing in society, but...
21To James Madison from William Wirt, 17 July 1812 (Madison Papers)
On passing through the county of Powhatan two days ago, I had the mortification to learn from a friend of mine that he had, with a kind yet illjudged officiousness, written to you in my behalf, recommending me for a military appointment. I was aware that you had lately received a similar intimation, through Mr. Brent, from another quarter; and ’though I had explained, immediately, to Mr. Brent...
22William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 9 September 1817 (Jefferson Papers)
The rev d John H. Rice , of this place, a gentleman of great erudition, is about to publish a magazine, in which he proposes to give a view of the literature and literary men of Virginia . To this end, he is anxious to procure a complete catalogue of all the works, of any merit, which have been published, by Virginians, since the first foundation of the colony—the names of the respective...
23William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 15 March 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
The clerk of the court of chancery has, this day, for the first time put into my hands the fi: fa. in your case with Scott which I hasten to enclose to you—and beg you to believe me as ever RC ( MHi ); endorsed by TJ as received 17 Mar. 1815 and so recorded in SJL . RC ( DLC ); address cover only; with
24To Thomas Jefferson from William Wirt, 2 April 1825 (Jefferson Papers)
A letter from my friend, M r Thomas A. Emmet, of New York, informs me that his son, Doctor John P. Emmet, has been chosen Professor of Chemistry & c in the University of Virginia, and, as he is going to a land of strangers, he feels the solicitude natural to a parent that he may find his happiness as well as his interest promoted by the change of residence. I have not the advantage of a...
25William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 6 July 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
The only court in this district which has original cognizance in matters testamentary is the Orphans’ Court , the laws of Maryland , which, you know, are in force in the district, not having been altered by congress in this respect. If you will send me Gen l Kosciusko ’s will, with a certificate of it’s proof and of your relinquishment of the executorship, I can have the will proved here and...
26From William Wirt to John Quincy Adams, 6 June 1818 (Adams Papers)
The enclosed letter from Mr. Bache, the post-master at Philadelphia, ought, I think, to be communicated to the President of the U.S. As it is not improbable that an application for pardon, in the case alluded to, may follow him, on his tour. Taking it for granted that, some channel of communication between him and your department, during his absence, has been settled between you, I have...
27William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 24 May 1810 (Jefferson Papers)
I have just recieved your favor of the 19 th and will, with very great pleasure, attend to its request and instructions. M r Wickham had previously made known your desire both to M r Hay and myself: he cannot join us in the defence although he is still unresolved to take the plaintiff’s case. You conjecture rightly as to the cause of action—it is Livingston’s expulsion from the batture by an...
28To Thomas Jefferson from William Wirt, 16 September 1805 (Jefferson Papers)
An excursion to the western part of this State, from which I did not return untill last evening, has hitherto prevented me from acknowledging your favor of the 4. Ult. in answer to a request of mine relatively to Mr. Henry. You are so obliging as to tell me that if the work I propose is not destined to come out speedily you will endeavour to recollect what may be of use to it. I find it...
29To James Madison from William Wirt, 7 June 1815 (Madison Papers)
It is understood that the American consulate at Cadiz is vacant by the death of the late incumbent. If a successor have not been, already, appointed, or selected, I beg leave to recommend to your notice Mr. James Hagarty, a Virginian who was raised at this place, and who now resides at Cadiz. Mr. Hagarty has spent two or three years at Lisbon and Cadiz, and from the reports of the American...
30To James Madison from William Wirt, 26 April 1809 (Madison Papers)
I understand that Mr. Boyle has resigned the government of the Illinois territory, and that Ninian Edwards, the President of the court of Appeals of Kentucky, has been thought of and perhaps named to you, as a fit successor. Having known Mr. Edwards, personally, from the time he was fourteen years of age untill he grew up to manhood and having for several years past maintained an intimate...
31To James Madison from William Wirt, 10 July 1809 (Madison Papers)
Alexander McRae lately and for several years a member of the privy council and lieutenant Governor of this state, and Majr. John Clarke, as highly distinguished for his mechanical genius, are about to proceed to various parts of Europe on private business of considerable magnitude: such as is highly honorable to themselves and will, if they shall be successful, reflect benefit and lustre on...
32To James Madison from William Wirt, 11 January 1813 (Madison Papers)
I understand that we have lost Judge Tyler and that his place is to be immediately filled, will you give me leave to bring to your recollection for the appointment St Geo Tucker, late judge of our court of appeals. I do this without the privity of Judge Tucker much less without his authority; but I am under the impression that he will probably accept & I know of no one who would do more...
33To Thomas Jefferson from William Wirt, 14 January 1808 (Jefferson Papers)
I fear you have forgotten my disposition, since you seem to think that your favor of the 10th. might require an apology. It is to me obliging and grateful, beyond expression. I cannot, better, deserve your good opinion, than by answering your proposition in the same spirit of frankness, in which it is made. My desire to go into the army proceeded from no dislike to my profession: it arose from...
34William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 10 April 1811 (Jefferson Papers)
I have your favors by the last mail and will attend to them with much pleasure. If any thing could be done for Colo. D. here, it would be by shewing the copy of your letter to him. I shall retain it for another mail that I may recieve your directions as to making use of it or not. You may rely upon it that D.’s name has no magic in it here: he is considered as the foe of M r Madison . And the...
35To Thomas Jefferson from William Wirt, with Jefferson’s Notes, 4 May 1797 (Jefferson Papers)
Mrs. Gilmer directs me to enquire whether you can furnish her with 20,000. 6 penny nails 10,000. 16 penny do. 200. 30. penny do.? In what time they can be got ready? Or, if they be now ready, whether it would suit you to take a draught for the amount on Mr. James Brown of Richmond payable on sight, or to wait for the money until the post from Richmond to Charlottsville gets again in...
36To Thomas Jefferson from William Wirt, 8 April 1826 (Jefferson Papers)
I hasten to acknowledge your favor of the 6 th inst. just rec d by which I have been both pained and gratified. I beg you to be assured that I had no agency, direct nor indirect, in giving this trouble to the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virg a and I regret exceedingly the suggestion that led to it. I am very sensible of the kindness of the motive which prompted my friend to make...
37William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 23 September 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
A young gentleman of S t Mary’s county , in the state of Maryland , M r William Edelin , being about to become a student in the college at Charlottesville , I have been requested to give him a letter of introduction which will make his reception in your county respectable and his situation, as a stranger, more comfortable. I have not the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with M r Edelin ;...
38William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 25 September 1816 (Jefferson Papers)
W m Wirt , with respectful compliments to M r Jefferson , sends a few more sheets of the biography—and thinks he may venture to add the consoling assurance that a few more pages, (20, or at the most 30) will put an end to the trouble to which M r Jefferson has been so kind as to subject himself. RC ( MHi ); dateline at foot of text; endorsed by TJ as received 1 Oct. 1816 and so recorded in SJL...
39William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 9 August 1810 (Jefferson Papers)
I have perused, with equal pleasure and conviction, your view of the question touching the batture at New Orleans : the copy is now returned. With such aid, I think it must be the fault of your counsel if they leave any room for candor to doubt or even for sophistry to cavil, with any hope of success. I had noted a few slight omissions which it will be necessary to supply in order to clear the...
40William Wirt to James Madison, 5 October 1830 (Madison Papers)
I thank for your letter of the 2nd. inst. and concur with you entirely as to the best mode of solving the political problem with regard to the Indians within the bounds of the States– and as I am extremely unwilling that you should think me either so Quixotically weak or so diabolically wicked as to have excited this contest (of which some of the news-papers have accused me) I wish to inform...
41William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 19 May 1811 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of the 3 rd covering a copy of your letter to Colo. D. arrived at a time when I was absent on an excursion to the superior court of Powhatan from which I have just returned. If the bulwark of vanity which surrounds D. be not impregnable, or the spirit of faction which rules him, as wild and deaf as the winds of winter, I think your letter must touch him—but I much fear that he is...
42William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 17 April 1811 (Jefferson Papers)
Yours of the 15 in reply to mine of the 10 th inst. has been brought to me from the office this instant. The copy of your letter to D. has been shewn to one person only— W m H. Cabell . The effect of it was to dispose him to lend D. $500. And I wrote my letter in a persuasion produced by that incident, as well as by its effect on my own feelings, that with the use of that letter, something...
43William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 24 August 1816 (Jefferson Papers)
I accept, with gratitude, the terms on which you are willing to remark on my manuscript—and send herewith three sections, ninety one pages. There will be an advertisement prefixed to it, stating the authorities on which the narrative is founded, and appealing to the candor and indulgence of the public on account of the peculiar disadvantages under which the work has been written. This, I...
44William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 10 September 1816 (Jefferson Papers)
I thank you for the remarks with which you have been so good as to accompany the return of the sheets. The story of Livy I had from Judge Nelson who gave it as a declaration to him from M r Henry himself. I think with you that the statement must be inaccurate: his indolence forbad it and Livy I find is not among the books left by him, of which I have a catalogue—I have moderated the passage...
45William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 24 July 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
Henry ’s resolutions , as given by Judge Marshall , were copied from Prior Documents . Your conjecture that the 5 th resolution was the 5 th as offered by M r Henry , or at all events that which produced “the bloody debate” derives great strength from the resolutions of
46William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 27 July 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
The summer vacation of our courts, gives me an opportunity of taking up the materials which I have been for several years collecting for a life of Patrick Henry , and seeing what I could make of them. Will you have the goodness to excuse the following questions suggested, in a great degree, by a comparison of the communication you were so kind as to make , with others, from different quarters....
47To James Madison from William Wirt, 29 August 1813 (Madison Papers)
I have been deliberating for six months whether I should or should not write you on the subject of this letter. Were I a stranger to you, I should fear that it might subject me to the imputation of officiousness, and an idle & improper encroachment on your precious time—it might, too, with a mind differently constructed from yours, farther subject me to the unjust & degrading suspicion of...
48To John Adams from William Wirt, 12 January 1818 (Adams Papers)
I am just honored with your letter of the 5th. inst. and am truly gratified to learn that my sketches of Mr. Henry have afforded you entertainment. If I could have anticipated such an effect, I would have taken the liberty, on the first publication of the book, to have ordered you a copy, as a slight proof of that sincere respect, which, in common with my countrymen, I feel towards you as one...
49William Wirt to Thomas Jefferson, 15 April 1812 (Jefferson Papers)
I have your favor by the last mail, covering an hundred dollars (a draft on Gibson & Jefferson ) as a fee in the suit of Livingston against you. This is much more than an equivalent for any trouble I have had in the case. In truth, I have had no trouble in it. The investigation has been to me both a pleasure and instruction, and in itself, a compleat remuneration. From you I should never have...
50To James Madison from William Wirt, 21 June 1816 (Madison Papers)
*I presume it is not improper to address you, as filling the department which superintends the execution of the laws of the U.S. as to a difficulty which has presented itself, in the execution of a duty devolved on me, as the District atto’ of Virginia, under the act of the 3d. of March 1815, entitled “an act to vest more effectually in the state courts and in the district courts of the U.S....