To Thomas Jefferson from Francis Peyton, 2 April 1802
From Francis Peyton
Alexandria 2d. April 1802.
Dear Sir,
William Fitzhugh, Richard Conway, and Thomas Darne, have declined qualifying as justices of the peace for this county, in the place of those gentlemen I would propose, George Slacum, Presly Gunnell, and John Dundas, as characters best qualified in my opinion to succeed them, the two former are republicans, the latter a federalist, but who having long served the corporation as a magistrate would be considered a popular appointment,
I am with great respect Yr. Obt. Servt.
F. Peyton
RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ. Recorded in SJL as received 3 Apr.
CHARACTERS BEST QUALIFIED: when Peyton served as mayor of Alexandria from 1799 to 1800, Alexandria merchant George Slacum and John Dundas also served in the town government, Slacum as a member of the common council, Dundas as an alderman (, 1:xxvii; 2:126). For an earlier recommendation of Presly Gunnell to be justice of the peace, see Vol. 34:303–4. Dundas’s service to the CORPORATION included two terms as mayor during the late 1790s. Peyton and his three candidates were among the fifteen named in the commission for justices of the peace for the County of Alexandria in the District of Columbia issued on 27 Apr. (FC of commission in Lb in DNA: RG 59, MPTPC; , 1:xxvi).