Elias Boudinot (1740–1821), Revolutionary leader, public official, and philanthropist, was born in Philadelphia. After studying law with his brother-in-law Richard Stockton, in 1760 he began a legal practice in Elizabethtown (later Elizabeth), New Jersey. Boudinot’s public service started with membership on the Essex County Committee of Correspondence, and in 1777 George Washington appointed him commissary-general of prisoners. Boudinot represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress in 1778 and from 1781 until 1783, serving two terms as president in 1782 and 1783. A prominent Federalist and strong ally of Washington, Boudinot sat in the United States House of Representatives from 1789 until he resigned to become the director of the United States Mint in 1795. He retired from that post in 1805 to concentrate on religious study, writing, and philanthropy. Boudinot was an outspoken opponent of slavery and an advocate for Native Americans. The founding president of the American Bible Society in 1816, he held that office until his death. Boudinot’s published works include The Age of Revelation. or The Age of Reason shewn to be An Age of Infidelity (Philadelphia, 1801), The Second Advent, or Coming of the Messiah in Glory (Trenton, N.J., 1815), and A Star in the West; or, A Humble Attempt to Discover the long lost Ten Tribes of Israel, preparatory to their return to their beloved city, Jerusalem (Trenton, 1816). Having been a trustee of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) since 1772, he endowed two scholarships there in addition to bequests to such other groups as the American Bible Society and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Boudinot died in Burlington, New Jersey (ANB description begins John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, eds., American National Biography, 1999, 24 vols. description ends ; DAB description begins Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone, eds., Dictionary of American Biography, 1928–36, 20 vols. description ends ; George Adams Boyd, Elias Boudinot: Patriot and Statesman, 1740–1821 [1952]; Jane J. Boudinot, The Life, Public Services, Addresses and Letters of Elias Boudinot, LL.D, 2 vols. [1896]; Elias Boudinot, Journal or Historical Recollections of American Events during The Revolutionary War [1894]; Heitman, Continental Army description begins Francis B. Heitman, comp., Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution, April, 1775, to December, 1783, rev. ed., 1914, repr. 1967 description ends , 111; Paul H. Smith and others, eds., Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789, 26 vols. [1976–2000]; PTJ description begins Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, James P. McClure, and others, eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, 1950– , 43 vols. description ends , 16:581; Linda Grant De Pauw and others, eds., Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 22 vols. [1972–2017]; New-York Evening Post, 26 Oct. 1821; Times and New-Brunswick Advertiser, 29 Nov. 1821).

On this date Boudinot sent James Madison the same circular and enclosure (Madison, Papers, Retirement Ser., 1:545–6).