From John Jay to Matthew Clarkson, 13 September 1799
To Matthew Clarkson
Albany 13 Sepr. 1799
Dear Sir
I have recd. a Letter of the 6th. Inst. from Mr. C. Sands of Flatbush.1 After informing me of the Death of Mr. Lefferts2 the Surrogate for Kings County, he proceeds in strong Terms to recommend one Wm. Livingston to succeed him. Mr Willson3 the professor in Columbia College has heretofore written to me on the Subject of some place for Wm., & assured me of his Reformation—hitherto nothing of this Kind has occurred— The office of Surrogate may be an Object to him; and I have every Disposition to nominate him, provided he has really become fit for it, and that the sedate people of the County have Confidence in him.
Permit me therefore to write freely to you on this Subject. You know him well; and have had opportunities of judging whether a proper Degree of Confidence may be placed in Mr. Wilson’s and Mr. Sands’s Sentiments respecting him. Connected with him as I am, I find myself more delicately circumstanced than I should be if he was a Stranger. You I am persuaded wish him as well as I do; and I am equally persuaded that you would not promote or advise an improper measure. Whether he would be a proper person to fill the office, and whether that opinion prevails in the County, are Questions, to which your answers will be decisive with me. As the Council will not meet before Jany next, there will be sufficient Time for the necessary Inquiries &ca.4 I am Dear Sir with great Esteem & Regard Your most obedt. Servt
John Jay
Majr. General Clarkson
1. Letter not found. Comfort Sands, merchant, director of the Bank of New York, member of the state assembly for New York County (1784–85, 1788–89), and vice-president of the New York Chamber of Commerce (1794–98).
2. Jacobus (James) L. Lefferts (1757–99), member of the wealthy Lefferts family of Brooklyn, served as surrogate for Kings County from 1793 until his death. Teunis G. Bergen, Genealogy of the Lefferts Family, 1650–1878 (Albany, 1878), 90–92.
3. Peter Wilson (1746–1825), Scottish-born professor of Greek and Latin at King’s College, afterward Columbia (1789–92, 1797–1820). On 7 Apr. 1798, Wilson wrote JJ about Livingston, asking for his help in finding William employment, noting that “Want of Employment however does not appear to me the readiest mode of correcting bad habits, or of acquiring good ones. With whatever Errors he may have been chargeable in time past, it is but Justice to him, to declare that during my residence at Flatbush, his conduct whilst in my neighbourhood has been as little of objectionable, as that of most men. His Talents are indisputable, & I think it a pity a fair Opportunity should not be afforded him of exerting those Talents for the benefit of himself & others.”
JJ replied on 14 Apr. 1798, that while he approved of Wilson’s plan, such positions were scarce and “very few indeed of that class which ^consistantly with official Duty & Prudence^ would could be ^with^ prudence be confided to a Person so circumstanced.” He suggested that in the meantime Livingston might be employed as a tutor at “the Academy, ”believing that such a position was an “^excellent^ opportunity of evincing, by Facts that [illegible] ^the uniform^ Diligence and Propriety of ^his^ Conduct, was that past Errors ought to be forgotten, and proper Encouragement given to every laudable pursuit—” JJ concluded that there was “^no^ doubt but that his friends in general will be kind to him, the moment they are persuaded of his having become just to himself.” Peter Wilson to JJ, 7 Apr. 1798, ALS, NNC (EJ: 08646); JJ to Wilson, 14 Apr. 1798, Dft, NNC (EJ: 08980).
4. For Clarkson’s reply and Livingston’s appointment, see Clarkson to JJ, 23 Sept. 1799, and notes, below. See also JJ to William Livingston, 21 Aug. 1795, , 6: 365–66.