Adams Papers
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To John Adams from Ezra Stiles, 13 September 1788

From Ezra Stiles

Yale College Sept. 13. 1788

Sir

Some Men by their Merits call upon themselves the Attention of the whole Republic of Letters; and amidst a Profusion of Honors from the most illustrious & respectable Bodies, they are often sollicited to accept the Tribute of Estimation & Respect from Societies of inferior Consideration. Will you be pleased, Sir, to gratify the humble College of Connecticutt, in accepting as a Mark of her affectionate Love, Estimation & Honor, an ad eundem Degree of the Doctorate in Laws, which, by the unanimous [. . . .] Senatus Academicus, was publickly announced [. . .] your Name at our anniversay Com̃encement last Wednesday? We did ourselves the Honor to conjoyn your Name with those of his Excelly Goṽ. Livingston, & the Hon. President Johnson of Columbia College in N. York.1 I am, Sir, / with the greatest Respect / Your most humble / & Obedt Servant

Ezra Stiles

RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “Hoñ. Dr. John Adams.” Some loss of text where the seal was removed.

1. Along with JA, William Livingston and William Samuel Johnson (1727–1819) received “The degree of Doctor of Laws” from Yale at the 1788 commencement. In 1787, Johnson, Yale 1744, left his career as a statesman and jurist to become the first president of Columbia College (formerly King’s College) in New York City, a position he held until 1800 (New-Haven Gazette, 18 Sept. 1788; DAB description begins Allen Johnson, Dumas Malone, and others, eds., Dictionary of American Biography, New York, 1928–1936; repr. New York, 1955–1980; 10 vols. plus index and supplements. description ends ). JA acknowledged this honorary degree from Yale in his 4 Nov. reply to Stiles, below.

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    Adams Papers
    Title
    To John Adams from Ezra Stiles, 13 September 1788
    Author
    Stiles, Ezra
    Recipient
    Adams, John
    Date
    13 September 1788

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To John Adams from Ezra Stiles, 13 September 1788,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-19-02-0244. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 19, February 1787–May 1789, ed. Sara Georgini, Sara Martin, R. M. Barlow, Amanda M. Norton, Neal E. Millikan, and Hobson Woodward. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016, p. 344.]

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