To Alexander Hamilton from Benjamin Goodhue, 8 December 1798
From Benjamin Goodhue
[Philadelphia] Saturday Evg Decr 8th. 98
Dear Sir
I have paid all the attention in my power the short time allowed me would admit on the subject of your letter,1 as I was wholy unacquainted with almost the whole of the names handed me I found it necessary to call together in confidence Messrs Otis2 Parker3 Sewal4 and Dwight Foster.5 The result of our consultation will be found in the list markd, in which
| No | 1 stands for good |
| 2 middling | |
| 3 Bad | |
| M would in our opinion accept of a Majority | |
| C would do accept of a Captaincy | |
| S for Subaltern | |
| E for Ensign | |
| DK for dont know their character |
We have made some additions from our own Knowledge; in confidence let me remark that some of us are of opinion that Hunewell6 & Walker7 have the preference of Gibbs8 as Lieutenant Colonels and that Walker would accept a majority in case you take Elliot9 for a Lieutenant Colonel in his room which We think would be a judicious arrangement, for Elliot tho I am not much acquainted with him I have heard him very highly spoken of by Messrs. Cabot10 Ames11 and a number of others of our best characters.
I am with sincere esteem Yr Affectionate Friend
B Goodhue
my Brethren seem very desirous to Know if Elias Parker12 is on the list of Majors for Virginia as they esteem him a valuable Character.
Genl. Hamilton
ALS, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
1. Letter not found.
2. Harrison Gray Otis.
3. Isaac Parker, a Federalist and a lawyer in Castine, District of Maine, was a United States Representative from Massachusetts from 1797 to 1799. On March 5, 1799, he replaced John Hobby as United States marshal for the District of Maine (, 144, 258, 325, 327).
4. Samuel Sewall was a Federalist member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1796 to 1800.
5. Foster was a Federalist member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1793 to 1800.
6. Richard Hunewell, a veteran of the American Revolution, was sheriff of Penobscot, District of Maine.
7. John Walker.
8. Caleb Gibbs.
9. Simon Elliot was a Boston merchant.
10. George Cabot, who had been a Boston merchant and a Federalist member of the United States Senate from 1791 to 1796, had retired to Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1798.
11. Fisher Ames.