31From Alexander Hamilton to Louis Le Guen, 12 September 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, September 12, 1803. On September 30, 1803, Le Guen wrote to Hamilton : “Votre Lettre du 12, timbré du 19, ne m’est Parvenue que Le 29.” Letter not found. ]
32From Alexander Hamilton to James Madison, 20 May 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, May 20, 1801. On May 26, 1801, Madison wrote to Hamilton : “I have received your letter of the 20th.” Letter not found. ]
33From Alexander Hamilton to Edward Pennington, 6 April 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, April 6, 1803. Letter listed in dealer’s catalogue. Letter not found. ] ALS , sold by M. Thomas & Sons, Philadelphia, February 8, 1859, Item 815. Pennington (Penington) was a sugar refiner in Philadelphia.
34Alexander Hamilton and Richard Harison to Charles Williamson, 1 February 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
Albany, February 1, 1802. Urge Williamson to avoid litigation by settling his dispute with William Hornby and Patrick Colquhoun out of court. Copy, Rochester Public Library, Rochester, New York. For background to this letter, See Hornby to H, September 15, 1801 .
35From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [17–18 October 1801] (Hamilton Papers)
I have reached this place, my dear Eliza, after a very pensive ride, and not a little pain at the State in which I left you. I trust you will exert yourself to vanquish it & will only look forward to our reunion which I shall try to make as speedy as possible. While I [am] about I shall think certainly of you and my dear children and with the tenderest sentiments. Adieu best of women Yrs....
36From Alexander Hamilton to John Lowell, Junior, 11 June 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
Mr. Davies, District Attorney for Kentucke being about to make a visit to your City, I with pleasure embrace the opportunity of introducing him to you. He was presented to me by Chief Justice Marshall and appears to me entitled to all the attention due to a man of sense and merit. With great esteem I am Dr Sir Yr Obed ser ALS , Columbia University Libraries.
37From Alexander Hamilton to Nathaniel Terry, 21 April 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, April 21, 1803. States: “Your letter of the 2d instant found me in the midst of a Circuit Court.” Discusses a case concerning Jeremiah Wadsworth, one of the executors of Nathanael Greene’s estate. ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. Letter not found. The Circuit Court of the City and County of New York met from March 29 to April 21, 1803. For Greene’s estate, see “Report on...
38Enclosure: Alexander Hamilton and Nicholas Low to Daniel Ludlow, 17 June 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
It is now a considerable length of time since we became with you Trustees for the Creditors of Isaac Moses & Co and Samuel and Moses Meyers; and we feel anxious that the affairs of this trust should be finally closed. We therefore request that you will be good enough to communicate to us the present situation of this business and especially a statement of the funds, if any, which may remain in...
39From Alexander Hamilton to Rufus King, 24 February 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
You will have heared, before this reaches you, of the fluctuations and changes which have taken place in the measures of the reigning party, as to a candidate for Governor; and you will probably have also been informed that pursuant to the opinions professed by our friends, before I left New York, I had taken an open part in favour of Mr. Lansing. It is a fact to be regretted, though...
40From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [9 March 1801] (Hamilton Papers)
Yesterday, My beloved Eliza, I wrote you by water to the care of a Capt Boyed. I in that letter informed you of my painful detention here by the slow progress of the Court and of my extreme anxiety to be with you. Your Sister Peggy had a better night last night than for three weeks past and is much easier this morning. Yet her situation is such as only to authorise a glimmering of hope. Adieu...
41From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [27 October 1803] (Hamilton Papers)
It is with great pleasure, I am able to inform my beloved Eliza that I continue to progress in convalescence; so that I propose to go to day from your Uncles where I have been to claverack where the Arbitrators are. But I do not mean to take any other part than that of Chamber Counsel in the business, till I am quite strong, for it will be my careful endeavour not to hazard another relapse. I...
42From Alexander Hamilton to John B. Graves, 9 June 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, June 9, 1803. Gives his opinion concerning Graves’s legal questions and states: “Having myself lands in the vicinity of those of Mr. Scriba, I have occasionally received some information concerning the latter.… Some of my lands are now selling to settlers at the rate of three Dollars per acre.” ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. This letter was written in reply to Graves to...
43Indenture: Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Hamilton to Catherine Bleecker, John R. Bleecker, Elizabeth Brinckerhoff … (Hamilton Papers)
Albany, March 10, 1804. Convey to the heirs of Rutger Bleecker the land in Cosby Manor which Hamilton had purchased in trust for them in 1797. DS , Oneida County Clerk’s Office, Utica, New York. Bleecker had been an Albany merchant. See “Deed from Peter Goelet, Robert Morris, and William Popham,” April 4, 1797 . See also the introductory note to Philip Schuyler to H, August 31, 1795 , and...
44From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, October [1803] (Hamilton Papers)
This morning my b⟨e⟩loved Eliza I leave Albany for C⟨lav⟩erack, my health greatly mended ⟨a⟩nd I hope to make but a short stay there. My plan is to go to Poughkepsie and there embark. I shall be glad to find that my dear little Philip is weaned, if circumstances have rendered it prudent. It is of importance to me to rest quietly in your bosom. Adieu my beloved. Kiss all the Children for me....
45From Alexander Hamilton to Rufus King, 28 July 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
You are, I believe, acquainted with The Reverend Mr. Mason who will deliver you this. I could not let him depart without placing him under the protection of your friendship. He is in every sense a man of rare merit . Yrs. Affect. ALS , New-York Historical Society, New York City. John Mitchell Mason became pastor of the Scotch Presbyterian Church on Cedar Street in New York City in 1793. It...
46From Alexander Hamilton to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, [15 March 1802] (Hamilton Papers)
You will probably have learned before this reaches you that the act of last Session for the better organization of the Judiciary Department has been repealed, and I take it for granted, that you will with me view this measure as a vital blow to the Constitution. In my opinion, it demands a systematic and persevering effort by all Constitutional means to produce a revocation of the precedent,...
47From Alexander Hamilton to Aaron Burr, 22 June 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
Your first letter, in a style too peremptory, made a demand, in my opinion, unprecedented and unwarrantable. My answer, pointing out the embarrassment, gave you an opportunity to take a less exceptionable course. You have not chosen to do it, but by your last letter, received this day, containing expressions indecorous and improper, you have increased the difficulties to explanation,...
48From Alexander Hamilton to Philip Schuyler, 22 March 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
We did not leave Albany till near twelve on Friday and the next day about one, I arrived here —where I found the two families in good health. The darkness of the night obliged us to come to Anchor in Haverstraw Bay. About mid-night we were alarmed with the cry of “All hands upon Deck.” You will imagine we were not slow in our obedience. No sooner were we on Deck than we perceived by a flame...
49From Alexander Hamilton to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, [25 March 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
Presuming on the acquaintance, from which I derived so much pleasure during your stay in this Country, I am going to take a very great liberty. It concerns a near relation of mine, Mr. Alexander Hamilton, now a prisoner of war on parol, at Paris. His brother, from whom I have just received a letter informs me, that being upon a visit to the Continent as a Traveller, he was overtaken by the war...
50From Alexander Hamilton to Theophilus Parsons, 31 December 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, December 31, 1801. Sends depositions to Parsons, who is “of Counsel for the Underwriters in a case of Insurance in which my Brother in law Mr. Church is concerned.” Proposes that “these depositions … be used in evidence in any suit which may be instituted between him and your Clients.” ALS , Boston Public Library. Parsons, a Federalist lawyer from Newburyport, Massachusetts, had an...
51From Alexander Hamilton to Samuel Gouverneur, 9 December 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, December 9, 1803. Gives opinion concerning the effect of the French arrêt of June 20, 1803, on neutral shipping. ALS , The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Gouverneur was a New York City merchant. For the full text of this letter and a discussion of its contents, see Goebel, Law Practice Julius Goebel, Jr., and Joseph H. Smith, eds., The Law Practice of Alexander Hamilton:...
52From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [23 September 1801] (Hamilton Papers)
I am vexed and chagrined, My beloved Eliza, that I cannot come out to day as I intended. I had requested a Meeting of the Manumission Society for this forenoon; but for some reason unknown to me, it is called for this Evening seven oClock. I cannot of course help attending and I have little hope that it will break up in time to make the journey this Evening. To indemnify myself, in some sort,...
53From Alexander Hamilton to John Dickinson, 29 March 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
I was not, My Dear Sir, insensible to the kind attention shewn me by your letter of the 30th. of November last. But till very lately the subject has been so extremely painful to me, that I have been under a necessity of flying from it as much as possible. Time and effort and occupation have at length restored the tranquillity of my mind, sufficiently to permit me to acknowlege the kindness of...
54From Alexander Hamilton to Oliver Wolcott, Junior, 3 October 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
I lately received a letter from you, transmitting a pamphlet. The latter, I have read with much pleasure. If party spirit admitted of candor, I should say that it was calculated to satisfy candid men of whatever party. Pains will be taken to disseminate it. You may remember that when you were last in this City, I spoke to you about some lands which I owned in the Ohio Company tracts. Inclosed...
55From Alexander Hamilton to Robert R. Livingston, [10 April 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
You were probably acquainted in this Country with Colonel Toussard who will have the honor of delivering you this letter. He has filled several stations in our Military service at different periods and always with much credit to himself and advantage to the service. During our revolutionary war he lost an arm in an action in which he displayed much zeal and bravery, and to my knowlege was...
56From Alexander Hamilton to Aaron Burr, [1 April 1802] (Hamilton Papers)
Your Protegé Buisson has addressed to me the inclosed letter. Why he did not immediately write to you I cannot tell unless it be that he is conscious he has used your politeness sufficiently, and imagines an intermediary to be hereafter necessary. Perhaps you may be able to decipher his wishes from the letter; which I confess is beyond my skill. But I understand from him in conversation that...
57From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [2 October 1801] (Hamilton Papers)
I was extremely disappointed, My Dear Eliza, that the Mondays post did not bring me a letter from you. You used to keep your promises better. And you know that I should be anxious to hear of your health. If the succeeding post does not rectify the omission of the former I shall be dissatisfied and pained. I am chagrined at the prospect of being detained considerably longer than I expected. Our...
58From Alexander Hamilton to William Cooper, 6 September 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
I congratulate you and myself on your victory over Brockholst. Whether your interest is much promoted by it or not is of small consequence—In the triumph of vanquishing such an enemy. That you know was your principal inducement and I know that you will be willing to pay well for it. I have been deliberating whether to charge you 200 or 100 pounds for my services in this cause. In fixing upon...
59Jacob Radcliff to Alexander Hamilton and Josiah Ogden Hoffman, 20 April 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
[ April 20, 1804. “As to any right of property claimed by the corporation of this City to the land under water we have ourselves no doubt that it is wholly unfounded, and if you should be of the same opinion we wish it to be expressed. This will in the first instance depend on the Charter of this City. With respect to the claim of jurisdiction by this State we at present wish your opinion only...
60From Alexander Hamilton to Jonas Platt, 16 August 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, August 16, 1803. “The enclosed is pursuant to an arrangement between Judge Thompson & Mr. Troupe. The parties trust and hope, that you will by all means have the goodness to attend.…” ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. Platt, Smith Thompson, and Robert Troup had been appointed arbitrators and commissioners to settle the dispute over lands in Claverack, Columbia County, New...
61From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [1803] (Hamilton Papers)
I arrived here, my beloved, about five this afternoon. According to my first day’s journey, I ought now to be much further advanced. But some how Riddle sprained the ancle of one of his hind legs, which very much retarded my progress to day. By care and indulgence, he is much better this Evening; so that I count upon being able to reach Albany with him early on Wednesday morning. I have...
62From Alexander Hamilton to James A. Hamilton, [June 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
I have prepared for you a Thesis on Discretion. You may need it. God bless you. Your affectionate father. Hamilton, Reminiscences James A. Hamilton, Reminiscences of James A. Hamilton: or Men and Events, at Home and Abroad, During Three Quarters of a Century (New York, 1869). , 40. In describing this letter and its enclosure, James A. Hamilton wrote: “In 1804 a student in Columbia College...
63From Alexander Hamilton to Gouverneur Morris, [4 September 1802] (Hamilton Papers)
I fully intended to have dined with you to day but going to Town the two last days & forgetting that I ought to observe a regimen, I have brought back in some degree the complaint which lately annoyed me & which requires to be well watched. This must deprive me of the pleasure of seeing you. I send Schedules of the papers required of Tillier, all which have been put into my hands—the bill to...
64From Alexander Hamilton to William P. Van Ness, 23 June 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
I was in Town to day till half past one. I thank you for the delicacy which dictated your note to me. If it is indispensable the communication should be made before Monday Morning, I must receive it here. But I should think this cannot be important. On monday by Nine I shall be in Town at my house in Cæder Street No 52, where I should be glad to see you. An additional reason for preferring...
65From Alexander Hamilton to Charles Wilkes, [26 April 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
[ Grange, New York, April 26, 1804. “I would not pronounce against the power of the Directors to go into the operation you mention; but I think it liable to so much question as hardly to be advisable without the sanction of the stock holders at a general meeting. I should perceive no difficulty in their giving a gross sum out of their profits for the renewal or extention of their charter. The...
66From Alexander Hamilton to Louis André Pichon, 10 May 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
The inclosed was put into my hands by Capt Du Buisson, when lately I was about to make a journey to the City of Washington, with the suggestion that you had desired it as a voucher for his right to receive 3000 francs from the Armateurs of the Peggy and which sum he informed me you would be willing to pay out of funds in deposit with you on account of that Vessel and her Cargo. The...
67From Alexander Hamilton to James M. Hughes, [3 June 1802] (Hamilton Papers)
Mr. Hughes will please to execute the above order as follows—After deducting the Costs he will pay their proportions to the respective parties except that to Joseph Caste which I will receive. ALS , Emmett Collection, MS Division, New York Public Library. Hughes, a New York City lawyer, was a master of the New York Court of Chancery. This letter concerns the case of Benjamin Taylor v Charles...
68From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [25 October 1801] (Hamilton Papers)
I was much relieved, My Dear Eliza by the receipt yesterday morning of your letter of Monday last. How it came to be so long delayed, I am unable to conjecture. But the delay gave much uneasiness in consequence of the imperfect state of health in which I had left you. Thank God you were better—for indeed my Eliza you are very essential to me. Your virtues more and more endear you to me and...
69From Alexander Hamilton to Herman LeRoy, 19 September 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
Grange [ New York ], September 19, 1802 . Informs LeRoy of an arrangement he has concluded with Henry Sands to assign Sands’s mortgage on lots in Brooklyn to the Bank of New York, which, in turn, would sell the mortgaged property and use the proceeds to discharge Comfort Sands’s debts. States: “Going tomorrow morning to attend the W Chester Circuit which may occasion an absence of three or...
70From Alexander Hamilton to John Jay, 11 June 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
Mr. Davies, who appreciates your character as he ought, having expressed a desire to be personally acquainted with you, I promised him a letter of introduction. I comply with this promise with the greater pleasure, as the impressions which this Gentleman has made upon me induce me to believe that you will be glad of the opportunity of making his acquaintance. He is Attorney of the UStates for...
71Last Will and Testament of Alexander Hamilton, [9 July 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
In the Name of God Amen! I Alexander Hamilton of the City of New York Counsellor at Law do make this my last Will and Testament as follows. First I appoint John B Church Nicholas Fish and Nathaniel Pendleton of the City aforesaid Esquires to be Executors and Trustees of this my Will and I devise to them their heirs and Assigns, as joint Tenants and not as Tenants in common, All my Estate real...
72From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, 16 October [1802] (Hamilton Papers)
I have just arrived here and shall stay till tomorrow. It has always appeared to me that the ground on which our Orchard stands is much too moist. To cure this a ditch round it would be useful, perhaps with a sunken fence as a guard. But this last may be considered at a future time. If you can obtain one or two more labourers, it may be adviseable to cut a ditch round the Orchard—three feet...
73From Alexander Hamilton to John V. Henry, 31 October 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
I left with a Watchmaker at Albany my watch to be put in order & forgot it when I came away. I believe the name of the Watchmaker is Howal . He lives near the Court House, obliquely SouthWest. Do me the favour to get it from him and send it to me by a safe opportunity; paying the expence. Yrs. with much esteem ALS , Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. Henry, an Albany lawyer, was...
74From Alexander Hamilton to Oliver Wolcott, Junior, [September] 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
The necessity of purchasing a quantity of land, which I did not intend, in consequence of a mortgage that comprehended a tract I had before purchased, has so far disconcerted my pecuniary arrangements as to require that I should obtain some further Bank accommodations, instead of gradually extinguishing those I had already procured. It is therefore my wish to obtain from the Merchants Bank a...
75From Alexander Hamilton to Aaron Burr, 10 October 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
I distinctly recollect (as was once before verbally explained between us) that just before you made a payment of Two thousand Dollars on your Bond, Winships Mortgage was returned to you, as the mean by which the money was to be procured. I think it was sent to you by Le Guen himself. It is to be presumed, that Winship has had since some intimation from the possessor of his mortgage, and that...
76From Alexander Hamilton to Jeremiah Olney, 29 June 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
The original of your letter of the 9th. of April never came to hand. The copy in that of the 9th. of June arrived here while I was on a circuit, so that I did not receive it till a few days ago. It is the practice on the admission of honorary members to present them with diplomas. But there are no blanks in my possession and very few in that of the officers of the Society of this state. These,...
77From Alexander Hamilton to Nicholas Low, [17 June 1803] (Hamilton Papers)
I send you the letter I have drafted to Mr. Ludlow. Be so good as to sign and forward it. Retain carefully the copy on the other side. Yrs. with esteem ALS , The Sol Feinstone Collection, Library of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia. Daniel Ludlow, a former Loyalist and a New York City merchant, was one of the founders of the Manhattan Company in 1799. In 1801 he was appointed...
78From Alexander Hamilton to William R. Putnam, 6 December 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
The multiplicity of my engagements has diverted my attention from a remittance to you on account of the taxes of my lands in your quarter. I count upon your good will that no inconvenience will have ensued & I now enclose Fifty Dollars. It will be satisfactory to me to know that it has reached you and whether any further supply will be promptly requisite; also what are the present prospects as...
79From Alexander Hamilton to Richard Peters, 29 December 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
A disappointed politician you know is very apt to take refuge in a Garden. Accordingly I have purchased about thirty acres nine miles from Town, have built a house, planted a garden, and entered upon some other simple improvements. In this new situation, for which I am as little fitted as Jefferson to guide the helm of the UStates, I come to you as an Adept in rural science for instruction....
80From Alexander Hamilton to Nathaniel G. Ingraham, 6 March 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
Albany, March 6, 1801. Acknowledges receipt of Ingraham’s letter of February 26, 1801 . Regrets that he cannot serve as Ingraham’s attorney because of unavoidable delay in Albany. ALS , Mrs. Jean Ahnfeldt, Los Altos, California. Letter not found. Ingraham was declared a bankrupt on February 19, 1801 (RG 21, Records of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York,...