1To Thomas Jefferson from Josiah Parker, 8 August 1790 (Jefferson Papers)
New York, 8 Aug. 1790 . John Cowper, Jr., of Portsmouth requested him “to name him as a candidate for a Consulship at … London, Bristol, Lisbon, or Bilboa.” After obtaining “a more than common Education,” Cowper was sent to Liverpool to be educated in the mercantile line, where he served in house of Crosbie & Greenwood for five years. He then returned to Virginia to conduct “the Mercantile...