1To Thomas Jefferson from Gabriel Duvall, 18 March 1801 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letter of the 13th instant did not reach me until between 10 & 11 O’Clock at night on the 16th. & I was then twenty miles from this place. I embrace the earliest opportunity to express the high sense entertained, of the honour done me in offering me the office of Chief Judge of the district of Columbia;—for which, accept my thanks. Many considerations lead me to accept the appointment,...