1To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 30 June 1814 (Adams Papers)
The subject of this letter, is the celebration of the 4th of July at Lexington; a fete which I hope will be honored by your company. The crisis appears to require every measure for animating the friends of our Independence. In this quarter they are sensible of it, & are making every exertion for honoring the day. Your ideas on this subject, as communicated by accident, always struck my mind...
2To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 26 August 1813 (Adams Papers)
By the request of Mr Wyer, lately appointed a Consul of the U States to Riga, I have the pleasure of introducing you to this Gentleman, who proposes soon to embark for Russia. Mr Wyer is governed by those principles of integrity & honor, & is possessed of such liberality & candor as cannot fail to meet your approbation & friendship. Permit me, With Mrs Gerry & my family, to express, in terms...
3To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 21 April 1813 (Adams Papers)
I must apologize my dear Sir, for the troublesome request which I made; & for your ready compliance with it on the 2d of April in your letter which I had the honor of receiving, I must request your acceptance of my cordial Thanks. I recollect the epoch of 1789, & that about that period I gave mortal offence to the Count Mouchet, for declaring in Congress, that the French nation was indebted to...
4To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 10 April 1813 (Adams Papers)
I addressed a line to you yesterday, with a bound collection of Edes’ Gazettes printed in 1775 & 6, to the care of Mr. Marston. I now am honored by yours of the 2d & 9th instant, & am much obliged to you, for their impressive & instruct i ve contents. You are the only friend, & almost the only person of the United States, who is capable of giving full information on the subject of our...
5To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 8 April 1813 (Adams Papers)
I have received from Benjn Austin Esqr, for your perusal, a collection of News papers, printed by Benjn Edes of Watertown, between the 5th June 1775 & the 9th of Decr 1776; & have committed them to the care of Mr Marston. The privateering act which I formerly mentioned, is printed in the Gazette of the 13th of Novr 1775. I shall probably be absent at the time you may wish to return this book...
6To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 24 March 1813 (Adams Papers)
Enclosed are two letters marked A,B, & four documents numbered from 1 to 4 inclusively, which Capt Selman agreably to my request, on the subject of our first naval enterprizes, has transmitted to me for your perusal. They are intended as records for your files of application. I have also received & included in this packet, a letter from B Austin Esq in regard to the same subject. I shall be...
7To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 6 March 1813 (Adams Papers)
Your letters of the 11th of February has given me great pleasure. I regretted exceedingly that the incidents of the day, at our last interview, deprived me of the pleasure you then proposed, of conversing fully & freely on the subject of the Navy. I have this day written to Captain Selman (Commodore Broughton being no more) & have requested of him every information, & a copy of every document...
8To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 9 February 1813 (Adams Papers)
I have deferred an answer to the letter, which you did me the honor of addressing on the 28th of Jany, ’till I could see Capt John Delman of Marblehead; who has refreshed my memory with the following statement, which he made in a short interview, as the facts then were presented to his recollection. “That in the fall of the year 1775, General Washington commissioned Nicolas Broughton &...
9To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 26 January 1801 (Adams Papers)
I am honored by your confidential letter of the 30th of Decer, & am sorry that any event should render it uncertain, whether you shall appoint Consuls to France. that Mr Lee, amidst the interfering applications of so many candidates, should be represented to the President as a Jacobin, is not to my mind, in this epoch of intrigue, slander, injustice, unexpected or extraordinary. but I am...
10To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 18 December 1800 (Adams Papers)
I received yesterday from Mr Lee, the letter enclosed, & being fully convinced, that he is an object of persecution, as well on account of his open & manly disapprobation of the measures of a certain party, as well as of his uniform and warm attachment to your administration, an indispensable requisite in my opinion for every candidate of office, I feel myself under an obligation of justice to...
11To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 11 October 1800 (Adams Papers)
I have the honor to enclose a copy of my letter to the Secretary of state, & your pamphlet, with the paragraph which I mentioned. Mrs Gerry unites with me, in best respects to yourself & Lady, & complimts to Mrs Smith and Your family— I remain dear Sir with sincere / attachment Your most / obedt Sert MHi : Adams Papers.
12To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 14 August 1800 (Adams Papers)
I observe by the news papers, that the meeting of the academy of arts & sciences, is to be at this place on the 20th instant; & Mrs Gerry & myself shall be very happy to have the honor of your company to dine with us on that day, with your Lady & family: a request which we suggested to Mrs Adams, on saturday last, when she honored Mrs Gerry with a visit, & which she was so obliging as to...
13To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 21 July 1800 (Adams Papers)
The bearer of this, Mr. Waldo, is the Gentleman whom I mentioned, in a letter which I had the honor to address you at paris, as an applicant for the office of Consul in some part of France. he is well known & was much respected at Paris, altho he was a zealous advocate for the rights of his Country. his character, in regard to abilities, honor, probity, & politeness, stands high with all who...
14To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 18 July 1800 (Adams Papers)
Mr Gerry presents his best respects to the President of the United States, & sends by the bearer ten pair of squabs, of which he requests his acceptance. They have been learnt to feed in indian dough, & when put into the pigeon House, must be supplyed daily with water & gravel, & confined to the house untill they have young—The house should be locked and under the care of one person, as they...
15To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 4 June 1800 (Adams Papers)
I had the honor, this morning of paying my respects to your Lady, & the pleasure of finding her & the family in excellent health: happy should I be, if this was the case with Mrs Gerry, who is slowly recovering from a long & dangerous illness. being informed that you are by this time in Washington, I take the liberty to suggest, that since your departure, last fall from Quincy, I have received...
16To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 16 December 1799 (Adams Papers)
Whilst the late envoys were in Paris, they recommended Mr William Lee, in a letter to Mr Pickering, as a suitable character for a Consul; & it was expected, he would apply for the consulate of Bourdeaux, which it was then supposed would be vacant: & he now proposes to renew his application. being informed of this circumstance, & having, after the fullest enquiry, & conviction of his merit,...
17To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 26 September 1799 (Adams Papers)
If an answer to the letter, which Your Excellency proposed to write to Mr Pickering on my concerns, is received, I will do myself the honor of waiting on You at any time which may best suit your convenience. Mrs Gerry unites with me in best respects to yourself & Lady, & be assured I remain, Dear Sir, with every sentiment / of attachment, Your / most obedt & very / huml Sert. MHi : Adams Papers.
18To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 24 July 1799 (Adams Papers)
I have the honor to enclose a copy of Mr Pickerings letter to me of the 20th of June No 1, of an account of Stores said to have been purchased for the Sophia No 2, & of his statement of my account No 3; the latter of which, as I conceive, is unjust in several particulars. 1st Mr Pickering has considered my salary as terminating the 12th of may; stating, that it was “the day on which I received...
19To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 8 July 1799 (Adams Papers)
In your letter of december 15th, referring to General Marshall’s journal, You are pleased to observe, “that my seperate , & secret conferences with Talleyrand, & my advocating a stipulation for a loan, to be paid after the war, will do no good to me or to the public,” & that “Pinckney & Martial will attest to the correctness of this journal, & will be beleived .” My conferences with Mr....
20To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 24 June 1799 (Adams Papers)
I inclose the remarks, which I proposed to make, when I had the honor of paying my last respects to you. The delay has been owing, in a great measure, to sickness in my family, but it cannot be attended with any ill consequences. I shall wait on you soon, with the information for explaining such parts of the curious Journal of General Martial, relating to myself, as you was pleased to...
21To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 11 February 1799 (Adams Papers)
Agreably to your opinion, advice, & request, of the 15th of december, any one of which was sure on my part of a ready compliance, I have waited for your communications to Congress, and candidly confess, that some parts of them have given me extreme pain. They commence with a letter of instructions to me of the 25th of June, which I never saw or heard of, untill it appeared in the Centinel; &...
22To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 29 December 1798 (Adams Papers)
I was honord, a few days since, by your friendly letter of the 15th. I had previously recd a letter from Mr Pickering inclosing one from General Marshal on the subject of my letter to you of the 20th of october, & in my next will transmit copies of them. I was aware, that controversies between the envoys would produce disagreable effects on the public mind, & no good to themselves, & had...
23To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 10 December 1798 (Adams Papers)
Remarks on General Marshalls letter of the 12th of Nov, & Mr Pickerings of the 10th of December 1798 to Mr Gerry: respectfully submitted by the latter to the President of the United States of America. 1st. In regard to the source of the information (relative to the renewal of one or both the money propositions) which General Marshall thinks, I must have supposed to be him; I had not the means...
24To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 24 November 1798 (Adams Papers)
Having transmitted to Mr Pickering, additional documents, numbered from 36 to 50 inclusively, you will probably peruse them. The first, contained a copy of a motion, I made to the other Envoys; to put an end, as early as the 21st of October 1797, to the disgraceful communications of X & Y. at the bottom of the original, is a note in the handwriting of General Pinckney, which shews, that it was...
25To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 20 October 1798 (Adams Papers)
I have the honor to inform you, that there has lately been published in the Boston Gazettes, a letter signed “Timothy Pickering”, addressed “to P Johnston Esqr of Prince Edward County, (Virginia,) dated the 29th of September last; wherein Mr Pickering, speaking of the dispatches of the Envoys, says, “that Mr. Tallyrand affects an utter ignorance of the person, designated in the dispatches, by...
26To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 8 August 1798 (Adams Papers)
I propose to embark for the United States this day, & have only a moment to inform you that Mr Skipwith will transmit you from Paris the letters which passed between the minister of foreign affairs & myself, just before my departure from that city— The aspect of affairs between the two republicks is very pacific at present on this side the Atlantick; God grant it may be so on my arrival the...
27To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 16 April 1798 (Adams Papers)
This I expect you will receive by my collegue General Marshal, who carries with him the last letter of Mr. Tallyrand to the american envoys & their answer. on the day when we sent the latter, I received a letter from the minister, a copy of which & my answer is inclosed. I have not sent these to the Secretary of State, because I have not time to prepare a letter to accompany them. indeed I...
28To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 24 March 1798 (Adams Papers)
I had the honor of addressing you on the 17th by Mr Hopkins; & being informed by Mr. Putnam of Boston, that Mr. Morgue, who has long resided with him, & has his confidence will depart in a day or two for Philadelphia, I embrace this opportunity of informing you that our affairs will be brot to a crisis in a day or two, & that we shall all leave France immediately, unless I should be obliged to...
29To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 17 March 1798 (Adams Papers)
Since my arrival here, I have not had the honor to address you: the want of health part of the time, the particular details of our official letters, the uncertainty of our residence for a week & sometimes for a day, & the painful situation in which I have been, have combined to produce a suspension of my correspondence untill I could communicate to you something agreable, but that period I am...
30To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 23 July 1797 (Adams Papers)
I am honored by your letter of the 17th, & sincerely thank you for the information it contains. Nothing is more essential to a public officer, than to be apprized of the imputations against him; for if well founded, he will thus have a fair opportunity of correcting his errors, & if unfounded, he will by the same means be better prepared for self defence. in addition to the great difficulties...
31To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 23 July 1797 (Adams Papers)
I have the pleasure to inform you, that I have just received, by Capt Eaton, the dispatches from the department of State; containing two large & two Small packets—I have the honor / to be my dear Sir with / perfect respect—your sincere friend / & very huml. serv MHi : Adams Papers.
32To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 14 July 1797 (Adams Papers)
I am honored by your letters of the 7th and 8th instant. The satisfaction which you are pleased to express at my acceptance of the mission, is the most flattering circumstance of my political concerns. I have taken passage in the ship Union for Rotterdam, & expect to sail in ten days; having notified Mr Pinckney by two vessels which are to sail this day & tomorrow, of this circumstance, & of...
33To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 10 July 1797 (Adams Papers)
It was always my sincere intention, but you have made it my indispensible duty, to support your administration. a good disposition is requisite, & so is ability. diplomatic politics I am not much versed in, & my inexperience will demand assiduity. If I should err then, you must not impute it to the want of attachment; for in such a case I would certainly retire: conceiving as I do, that the...
34To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 3 July 1797 (Adams Papers)
The information communicated by the Secretary of State, of my appointment to the office of an envoy extraordinary & minister plenipotentiary to the French republick, afforded me the highest gratification: inasmuch as it manifested the confidence of that political character, for whom, from my first acquaintance, I have ever had the highest respect. judge then, Sir, of my feelings when I inform...
35To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 28 May 1797 (Adams Papers)
The sailing of the Packet on which we are to go to New Port, being unexpectedly deferred till this afternoon, gives me an opportunity of inclosing a copy of No 3, & of adding a few words. I know that your ideas now are the same which they were in 1776 respecting a vigorous executive: I then & for several years afterwards tho’t the necessity for one so powerful would not exist within half a...
36To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 28 May 1797 (Adams Papers)
Being here on a few days visit with Mrs. Gerry to her aged parents, & having left six small children, the eldest of whom has the care of the rest and of the domesticks, I am deprived of the honor of paying my personal respects to you at this time. When I wrote to Mr. Monroe, I supposed he was in Philadelphia: it being so announced in the news papers, his conduct in making an inmate of Paris...
37To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 25 April 1797 (Adams Papers)
I am honored with your letter of the 6th, which I took from the cover without breaking the seal. The secret shall not escape me; but, from the circumstance mentioned, I shall not be surprized to find, that it has transpired on it’s passage. If the tho’t of sending Mr. Jefferson proceeded from both parties, it wears the appearance of “a natural one”, otherwise, coming from so many of one party,...
38To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 27 March 1797 (Adams Papers)
A social friend, but not one whose politicks have been much in unison with mine, has suggested to me the policy of your sending Mr Jefferson, at the present crisis, as a minister to France. at first blush, the measure struck me forcibly: Mr Jefferson being much in the confidence of France, & of her officers & adherents in the United States; the antipode of her enemies amongst us; possessed of...
39To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 7 March 1797 (Adams Papers)
I am honored with your letters of the 13th & 20th of Feby, the former of which, being an answer to my last, shall be first attended to. After I had sent that letter to the post office, it occurred to me, that what I had viewed as a studied neglect might have been intended as good policy; & being convinced it was so, by reflecting on the subject, I was highly gratified by the explanation with...
40To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 3 February 1797 (Adams Papers)
The newspaper, which you did me the honor to inclose, containing Mr Pickering’s letter to Mr Pinkney on the subject of Mr Adets letter to the former, I have carefully perused; but, a further examination of it, with the documents & Mr Adet’s letter, is necessary to obtain a clear idea of the subject. That part of it which discusses the claim of gratitude made by France, I consider in a certain...
41To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 30 January 1797 (Adams Papers)
Nothing could give me greater pleasure than the opportunity I had of annexing my signature to the number of those which have destined you to the “forlorn hope” of the presidential chair, a post the most honorable in the gift of your country, & rendered particularly so at this time by the difficulties attending it. if my conduct in this instance has been erroneous, you must impute it to the...
42To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 7 September 1795 (Adams Papers)
This you will receive by Mr Wilder of New-Hamshire who proposes soon to embark for Europe to transact some important concerns in that country. The nature of these he will communicate to you & to facitate his negotiations & give credit to his engagements he has a certificate signed by some of the first characters in that State, which bears an honorable testimony of his reputation. in addition...
43To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 30 January 1793 (Adams Papers)
Mr. Gerry presents his respectful compliments to the President of the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Massachusetts & incloses him a letter from Mr. Carmichael Chargé des Affairs at the Court of Madrid, part of which was by him intended to be communicated to the Academy. MHi : Adams Papers.
44To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 26 July 1790 (Adams Papers)
As you were so obliging on saturday last as to inform me of your design to recommend my brother Samuel Russel Gerry to the office of collector for the port of Marblehead, I think it necessary to inform you that of all the candidates, he is the only one who has received any appointment under the State & he has received three offices commissary, naval officer, & collector of excise. in the two...
45To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 4 March 1789 (Adams Papers)
I find on enquiry that you are elected Vice-president, having three or four times the number of votes of any other candidate. Maryland threw away their votes on Col o Harrison & South Carolina on Governor Rutledge, being with some other states which were not unanimous for you, apprehensive that this was a necessary step to prevent your election to the chair— in this point they were mistaken,...
46To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 20 September 1787 (Adams Papers)
The proceedings of the Convention being this day published, I embrace the Oppertunity of transmitting them by a Vessel which is to sail this morning for London. There were only three dissentients Governor Randolph & Col o Mason from Virginia & your friend who now addresses you, from Massachusetts. The objections you will easily conceive without their being enumerated: & they will probably be...
47To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 12 April 1786 (Adams Papers)
A few Days since, I rec d your Letter of the 13 th of Decr last, without either of the Arrets therein referred to. from the Cover of the Letter, which is inclosed for your Inspection, I suspect it has been opened, previously to my receiving it; if so, I should be well pleased to know who the person is that is so very curious as to loose his Sense of Honor in this Matter. When I left New York,...
48To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 8 November 1785 (Adams Papers)
Since my last of the 3 d of August I am favoured with yours of the 26 th of June, 6 th of July, 26 th of August & 11 th of September, & am much obliged to You for the papers inclosed in the July Letter, as well as for the useful Information contained in all of them. The Conduct of the Court of London, clearly indicates, & convinces Us on this Side the Atlantic that they have an unfriendly...
49To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 3 August 1785 (Adams Papers)
The packet has given her Signal this Morning for sailing & I have but an half Hour to write. You son Mr Adams delivered me your Favours of the 25 th & 28 th of April, & these were More acceptable as they were received from his Hands. I think him a promising Character, that will make a Figure in publick or private Life, & be an Honor to his Country as well as to his Connections. He has had much...
50To John Adams from Elbridge Gerry, 14 July 1785 (Adams Papers)
I have lately returned to this City after four Months Absence, & am favoured with your several Letters of the 31 st Jany 9 th of March & 13 th of April, in neither of which is any Mention of several Letters I wrote to You in Jan y Feb y & March last— You wish to be informed when “You are to be one of Us”? the Answer is easy, when You please. I have enquired of my Friend King whether any Order...