301To George Washington from John Quincy Adams, 9 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
I received at Amsterdam on the 5th instt the Letter which you did me the honour to write me on the 12th of September, and immediately made enquiries to ascertain whether there was at Amsterdam a person by the name of Sollingen. I could trace no such person, but am informed that Sollingen near Dusseldorf in Germany is a place where there are noted manufactures of arms and sword-cutlery. I have...
302From George Washington to the U.S. Senate, 9 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
I nominate Robert Troup of New-York to be District Judge for the United States, in the District of New-York, vice John Laurance who has resigned. LS , DNA : RG 46, entry 52; LB , DLC:GW . On this date, the Senate received this message from GW’s secretary George Washington Craik and ordered that it “lie for consideration.” The nomination was approved on 10 Dec., and GW signed Robert Troup’s...
303To George Washington from the Liberty Hall Academy Trustees, 7 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
The Trustees of Liberty Hall Academy, in Rockbridge County & state of Virginia, to his Excellency George Washington President of the United States of America. We have lately heard of your generous, & disinterested conduct in refusing, as private emolument, the shares in the Patomak and James’ River Companies presented to you by the Legislature of Virginia, as a testimony of their approbation &...
304From George Washington to John Hoskins Stone, 7 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
The attempts lately made by the Commissioners of the City of Washington to borrow Money in Europe for the purpose of carrying on the public buildings having failed or been retarded they have been authorised by me to apply to your State for a loan of One hundred and fifty thousand Dollars upon terms which they will communicate. Such is the present situation of foreign Nations with respect to...
305From George Washington to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 7 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
Fellow Citizens of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives In recurring to the internal situation of our country since I had last the pleasure to address you, I find ample reason for a renewed expression of that gratitude to the Ruler of the Universe, which a continued series of prosperity has so often and so justly called forth. The acts of the last session, which required special...
306To George Washington from Charles Morgan, 6 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
I have Receiv’d all the Rents for you, that Colo. Cannon put into my hand Except Nine pounds Sixteen Shillings, Which he had Receivd previous to delivering me the accts. I have forwarded the Money to you by Mr Ross—and have Inclos’d the acct. Colo. Cannon will not come to any Settlement with me Respecting what he owes you—he Says he Chuses to Settle with your self. on my Way from Kentuckey...
307To George Washington from Bartholomew Dandridge, Jr., 5 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
Your preparations for leaving this City and the period drawing nigh when that event will take place, reminds me that it is time for me to prepare some plan for myself by which I may obtain a livelihood after that shall happen; and impels me (tho’ with very great reluctance) to intrude on your usual indulgence for a moment. And that I may take up as little of your time as possible, I will...
308From George Washington to James Maury, 5 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
I have received several letters from you in the course of this year, but as none of them required a particular acknowledgment—and as my time is generally very much occupied I have been silent until now. The object of my writing to you now, is to request that the balance of £105.8.7 due to me, as appears by your account current dated the 23d of February in the present year may be remitted in...
309From George Washington to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, 5 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
Not being able to recollect with certainty whether I expressed to you my ardent desire that no favourable occasion might be omitted, by you, of signifying how much it was my wish, and the wishes of the People of this country that that friend to it—Mr de la Fayette—could be liberated from his confinement, is the cause of my giving you the trouble of this address. Not in my public character,...
310To George Washington from Robert Lewis, 4 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
As some of your leases which were given for the term of ten years, on the Goose-Creek tract of Land in the County, will expire the 25th of this month, and as you seemed undetermined when I was last at Mount Vernon, whether you wou’d let them for a term as long as in the first instance, or by the year only; I have suspended giving the tenants in possession any encouragement with respect to new...
311From George Washington to William Pearce, 4 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
Getting no letter from you by the Post of yesterday—nor receiving any account from home, leads me to conclude that something more than common has happened, as your last letter is dated the 17th of November. Hearing nothing of the state, in which my business is, for so long a time, especially too as the weather, for the Season, has been severe —I have but little to found my letter upon at this...
312To George Washington from William Pearce, 4 December 1796 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found : from William Pearce, 4 Dec. 1796 . GW wrote Pearce on 11 Dec. : “I have received your letters of the 30th of Novr and 4th inst.”
313To George Washington from Timothy Pickering, 4 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
Captain Cathcart’s vessel, laden with stores for Algiers, he expects will sail to-morrow. The Secretary of State therefore respectfully lays before the President this evening the draught of a letter to the Dey, and a letter for Mr Barlow. The letter from the Dey is inclosed; together with the letters from Mr Barlow to which the answer draughted by the Secretary of State refers. These are too...
314To George Washington from William Thornton, 4 December 1796 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found : from William Thornton, 4 Dec. 1796 . GW wrote Thornton on 26 Dec. : “Your letter of the 4th of the present month came to my hands.”
315To George Washington from the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 3 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
We are honored with your Letter of 27th Ulto, and on friday, agreeably to your expectations, we received a Letter from Mr Wolcott, informing of the failure of his negotiation with Mr Hope —The board therefore, immediately authorised Mr Scott to repair to Annapolis, and to negotiate a Loan with the Legislature of Maryland, agreeably to the terms of your act, authorising that measure —On an...
316From George Washington to the Dey of Algiers, 3 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
To the most excellent and most illustrious Vizer Hassan Bashaw, Dey of the City and Regency of Algiers. Health, Peace, and Prosperity. I have received your Excellency’s letter bearing date the 5th of May last, by James Leander Cathcart, informing me that altho’ eight months had then elapsed since peace and harmony had been settled between our two Nations, not one Article of the agreement had...
317From George Washington to James McHenry, 3 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
I have read all the letters of General Wayne, and their enclosures; as I have also done those of Captn Bruff and others, which you have laid before me. Note such matters (in all of them) as require particular directions, which I shall be ready to give whenever they are laid before me. The other parts, which call only for Office attention, will, I am persuaded, meet with prompt & ready...
318To George Washington from Philip Wilson, 3 Dec. 1796 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found : from Philip Wilson, 3 Dec. 1796 . Secretary of State Timothy Pickering wrote Wilson from Philadelphia on 13 March 1797: “Your petition dated the 3d of December 1796, addressed to the President, Senate and Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, was delivered to me by the late President Washington” ( DNA : RG 59, Diplomatic and Consular...
319To George Washington from Tobias Lear, 2 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
Nothing but my absence from home (to which place I returned last Evening) could have prevented an immediate acknowledgement of your respected & kind favor of the 25th ultimo. I am pleased to find, by Mr Van Vleck’s letter (of which you had the goodness to enclose me a copy) that my Maria can be admitted into the School at Bethleham; and the time which he mentions for her acception is more...
320To George Washington from Arthur St. Clair, 2 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
As there is a vacancy in the General Court of the north western Territory from the appointment of General Putnam to the Office of Surveyor General, should you think proper to fill it by a Person residing in that Country, I beg permission to mention to you the name of Joseph Gilman Esquire of Marietta in the County of Washington. Although he is not a Lawyer by Profession, he is a Man of much...
321From George Washington to the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 1 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
Your letter of the 25th Ulto came to hand on tuesday last, but it was not in my power to give it an earlier acknowledgment: and now, I must do it without resorting to papers (to be perfectly correct)—The pressure of my business, with the different Departments, previous to the meeting of Congress; and my own preparation for that event, leaves me but little time to attend to other matters. The...
322To George Washington from George Washington Parke Custis, 1 December 1796 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found : from George Washington Parke Custis, 1 Dec. 1796 . GW wrote Custis on 19 Dec. : “I am not certain whether I have written to you since my receipt of your letter of the first instant.”
323To George Washington from James Madison, 1 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
J. Madison presents his respectful compliments to the President & returns the Treatise on small Canals &c., with his acknowledgments for the perusal of it. He is not enough conversant with such subjects to decide on the merits of the various plans & machinery recommended by the Author. In general his principles appear to be both effective & practicable; but the question of their utility must...
324To George Washington from James Wilkinson, 1 December 1796 (Washington Papers)
J: Wilkinson takes the Liberty to send the President, a rough draft & concise description of his 1000 Acre tract of Land on the Ohio a few Miles above the little Miami, as reported to Him by the Surveyor. AL , DLC:GW . The enclosed document contains a hand-drawn map of GW’s tract near the Ohio and Little Miami rivers, accompanied by the following text: “The presidents 1000 Acre tract of Land...
325From James Madison to George Washington, 1 December 1796 (Madison Papers)
J. Madison presents his respectful compliments to the President & returns the Treatise on small Canals &c, with his acknowledgments for the perusal of it. He is not enough conversant with such subjects to decide on the merits of the various plans & machinery recommended by the Author. In general his principles appear to be both effective & practicable; but the question of their utility must be...
326To George Washington from the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 30 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
Your Instructions to Messrs Beall & Gantt to convey to us all the Lands in the City of Washington, vested in them, in trust, by the original proprietors, have been duly considered, with a reference to carrying the same into effect; in which some difficulties occur—That part of the Land which is held for the use of the United States, we consider, as in a very different predicament from those...
327To George Washington from the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 30 November 1796 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found : from the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 30 Nov. 1796 . GW wrote the commissioners on 26 Dec. : “Your letters of the 30th and 30th of November … are now before me.” Only one letter for that date has been found.
328To George Washington from William Pearce, 30 November 1796 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found : from William Pearce, 30 Nov. 1796 . GW wrote Pearce on 11 Dec. : “I have received your letters of the 30th of Novr and 4th inst.”
329To George Washington from Landon Carter, 29 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
Your Queries are very apt ones, and I regret my inabillity to answer some of them so satisfactorily as I could wish, and you might reasonably expect: Arising from my whole life being recluse, & the early part wrapt in contemplation. Altho I wrote in 1794, I had only began the practice in the year my publication alluded to, supposing myself fixed with a Person capable of conducting the...
330From George Washington to the Militia and Citizens of Frederick County, Va., 28 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
The approbation of my public conduct, which you have been so good as to express in behalf of the People of your county, has not failed to excite the most agreeable Sensations, and you have made it the dearer, by the terms of personal affection with whch it is accompanied. At all times it has been my ende⟨av⟩our to discern, and promote the welfare of o⟨ur⟩ country to the ⟨utmo⟩st of my...
331From George Washington to George Washington Parke Custis, 28 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
In a few hasty lines, covering your Sister’s letter and a comb on Saturday last, I promised to write more fully to you by the Post of this day. I am now in the act of performing that promise. The assurances you give me of applying diligently to your studies, and fulfilling those obligations which are enjoined by your Creator and due to his creatures, are highly pleasing and satisfactory to me....
332To George Washington from James McHenry, 28 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
The Indian Chiefs named Mus-qua-ca-nokan or Red pole, Wey-a-pur-sen-waw, or Blue Jacket, She-me-kum-ne-sa or soldier, Ase-me-the, and Muc-ca-te-wa-saw or Black chief, stiling themselves the representatives of the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanoes Ottawas, Chipwas, Putawatimes, Miamis, Eel River, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankashaws, and Kaskaskias have informed the Secretary of War in a talk delivered by...
333From George Washington to Joseph Whipple, 28 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
Upon my return to this City the latter end of October, after an absence of some weeks at Mount Vernon, Mr Wolcott presented me with your letter of the 4th of that month. I regret that the attempt you made to restore the girl (Oney Judge as she called herself while with us, and who, without the least provocation absconded from her Mistress) should have been attended with so little success. To...
334From George Washington to the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 27 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
Your letter of the 21st instant, with its enclosures, came duly to hand; previous to which, I had dispatched the Power, authorising an application to the Legislature of Maryland, for the loan of money; accompanying it, however, with a request that, it might not be carried into operation until you should have learnt the result of an application contemplated to be made by the Secretary of the...
335From George Washington to William Pearce, 27 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
Your letter of the 17th under cover from Mr Lear came duly to hand, as did the Weekly reports of the 19th yesterday. I am disposed to let Mr Smiths debt stand upon the security you have placed it—unless before the 24th of next month any circumstances should occur to render other measures necessary—or, on that day he should be unprepared to make payment & require further indulgence. In either...
336From George Washington to George Washington Parke Custis, 26 November 1796 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found : to George Washington Parke Custis, 26 Nov. 1796 . GW wrote Custis on Monday, 28 Nov. : “In a few hasty lines, covering your Sister’s letter and a comb on Saturday last, I promised to write more fully to you by the Post of this day.”
337To George Washington from John C. Ogden, 26 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
I know not what apology to make for writing this, nor where to begin. So many disagreeable events crowd upon the mind, when I recollect the causes, which have conspired to produce misery to a venerable Lady, that I should be forever silent, on the subject, did not humanity for suffering virtue direct me to proceed. Madam Wooster at a time of life, when the infirmities of age are taking fast...
338To George Washington from the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 25 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
We do ourselves the honor of inclosing, a Letter received from Mr Covachichi, one of the partners of Messrs Lynch & Sands in the late purchase from Bailey—Wishing, ardently, to preserve harmony among all city proprietors, we have paid the earliest attention to this gentleman’s Letter —A copy of our Letter to him, and an Extract from the contract of Morris & Greenleaf, alluded to, by Mr...
339From George Washington to Tobias Lear, 25 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
Your letter of the 20th instt was received yesterday, and the principal design of this is to cover the copy of a letter from Mr Van Vleck to me, respecting the reception of Maria at the School for young Ladies in Bethleham. It will be necessary for you to fix (for I presume it will be necessary that Mr Van Vleck should know) precisely, when she will enter; for as he is pressed by others; and...
340To George Washington from Gerardo Joseph de Souza, 22 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
Dandome motivo el Dey de Argel con su Carta de “8” de octubre proximo pasado que me fue entregada en primero del de la fecha por el Capitan Obrien, que d[ic]ho dia fundió en este Puerto, para que Cooperase Con mis Oficios afin de persuadir a este Baxá combiniese en otorgar la Paz con los Illes Estados Americanos, segun las proposiciones de a quel Principe; la felicidad de haverse Concluido...
341To Alexander Hamilton from George Washington, 21 November 1796 (Hamilton Papers)
Having written to you on Saturday the 11th. instant (accompanying it with enclosures) without hearing any thing from you in the course of last week, or by the Mail of this day, I begin to have uneasy sensations for the fate of my letter. To this cause, & to my solicitude to have the Papers returned, you must ascribe the trouble of receiving this letter. If my last got safe to your hands, &...
342From George Washington to the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 21 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
Your letter of the 11th Instant has been duly received. The altered One to Messrs Wilhem, and Jan Willink has been forwarded to its address, and the former is herewith returned. Your application to the Bank of the United States for the loan of money, having failed (as I presume the Secretary of the Treasury has informed you, and as I had always supposed would be the case) I have executed the...
343To George Washington from the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 21 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
We do ourselves the honor of inclosing a Memorial concerning the intended University, about which, you expressed a desire to receive some documents, which, if judged proper, might be laid before Congress—The one inclosed, has been drawn up with a view to that object; and the authors of it will feel the highest gratification, if it in any degree brings about the commencement of this great...
344From George Washington to Alexander Hamilton, 21 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
Having written to you on Saturday the 11th instant (accompanying it with enclosures) without hearing any thing from you in the course of last week, or by the Mail of this day, I begin to have uneasy sensations for the fate of my letter. To this cause, & to my solicitude to have the Papers returned, you must ascribe the trouble of receiving this letter. If my last got safe to your hands, &...
345To George Washington from Tobias Lear, 20 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
I received your kind & respected favor of the 16th inst. with much pleasure. No apology, my dear Sir, can be necessary for your not having recollected my having put the Certificate for one hundred Bank Shares into your hands. I only wonder, that, under the multiplicity of important, and often anxious, cares which lay on your mind, you can recollect one half you do. I am rejoiced, however, that...
346From George Washington to William Pearce, 20 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
Your letter of the 13th instt, and the Reports of the preceeding week, were received yesterday. I am sorry to hear that the growing Wheat is suffering for want of Rain—but hope you had some on Tuesday last (three days subsequent to the date of your letter). If the fact however is otherwise, let the ground in which the Egyptian Wheat was deposited, be watered, & continu’d to be so until the...
347From Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, [19 November 1796] (Hamilton Papers)
I duly received your letter of the 12th. instant. My avocations have not permitted me sooner to comply with your desire. I have looked over the papers & suggested alterations & corrections; and I have also numbered the paragraphs I. II. III &c in the order in which it appears to me eligble they should stand in the Speech. I thought upon full reflection you could not avoid an allusion to your...
348To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 19 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
I duly received your letter of the 12th instant. My avocations have not permitted me sooner to comply with your desire. I have looked over the papers & suggested alterations & corrections; and I have also numbered the paragraphs I. II. III &c. in the order in which it appears to me eligible they should stand in the Speech. I thought upon full reflection you could not avoid an allusion to your...
349To George Washington from Robert Morris, 19 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
Mr D. Russell of Boston, son of the late Thos Russell Esqre, has requested me to present the Book sent herewith to you in his name which I do with pleasure as I respected & esteemed the deceased very much. With great respect & regard I am Yrs LB , DLC : Robert Morris Papers. No reply to Morris from GW has been found. Daniel Russell (1769–1804) was the son of Charlestown, Mass., merchant Thomas...
350To George Washington from the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 17 November 1796 (Washington Papers)
We had the honor of your favor of the 11th Instant, with the Inclosure & shall now proceed to take a conveyance of all the property in which the United States have an interest —The State of the business laid before you by Messrs Budd & Prior was particularly stated to you on your way to Mount Vernon, last summer, & the measures to be pursued by the board were approved of by you— We now inclose...