ALS, DLC:GW.

Eliphalet Fitch (born c.1740) was a grandson of Dr. Thomas Boylston and a distant cousin of John Adams (John Adams to John Quincy Adams, 12 June 1783, MHi: Adams Family Papers). A native of Boston, he moved to Jamaica where he owned a sugar plantation, engaged in mercantile activities, and held the post of receiver general. In 1781 he was involved with Francisco de Miranda in supplying the Spanish with naval stores (Robertson, “Miranda and the Revolutionizing of Spanish America,” description begins William Spence Robertson. Francisco de Miranda and the Revolutionizing of Spanish America. Washington, D.C., 1908. In Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1907, vol. 1:189-539. description ends 235–37; see Alexander Hamilton to GW, [c.15–22 July 1790]). John Adams apparently met Fitch in Paris in 1783 and noted in his diary that Fitch was “said to be very rich.” Fitch socialized with both John and John Quincy Adams in Paris, Delft, and London in 1783 (Butterfield, Diary of John Adams description begins L. H. Butterfield, ed. Diary and Autobiography of John Adams. 4 vols. Cambridge, Mass., 1961. description ends , 3:128, 134; Allen, Diary of John Quincy Adams, description begins David Grayson Allen et al., eds. Diary of John Quincy Adams. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass., and London, 1981. description ends 1:175, 204). He wrote to John Adams on 7 May 1790, renewing their acquaintance, and in a separate letter of 10 May he informed Adams that he was shipping him a barrel of sugar, a dozen bottles of rum, and two dozen bottles of madeira, adding: “I have requested my Mother to send you a Packet with some Papers relative to the Slave-Trade; and if you approve of sending Copies to the President I would avail myself of your kind Attention to them; as you will see by the inclosed Copy of my Letter.” Fitch enclosed a copy of his letter to GW of 10 May (Fitch to John Adams, 7 and 10 May 1790, MHi: Adams Family Papers). The original of Fitch’s letter to GW, along with the pamphlets, apparently was transmitted to Adams by Fitch’s mother, who lived in the United States. No letter from her to Adams has been found.