From John Jay to Peter Augustus Jay, 24 October 1811
To Peter Augustus Jay
Bedford 24 Octr. 1811
Dear Peter
I went with Nancy last Friday to Rye, and returned on Monday. As the carriage came to the Door, your uncle asked me what I thought of parting with Peet—1 there was no time to think or say much on the Subject— I observed that it would be difficult to supply his place by a person equally capable of serving in such a Variety of Respects. I had the Day before advised him to make it Cæsars Interest (by Wages) to ^continue to^ behave well— but he doubted the Expediency of it.—2 An entire new Set would probably be better than occasional palliatives as to the present— but we are told “not to throw away a pail of water before we know where to get another” and that “a faulty Servant is better than none”— for my part I do not think that a new Set that would suit him could be had. If Peet is kept he should in my opinion be kept satisfied. If not kept, I would let him chuse his master— what I have written will enable you to explain my Sentiments to your uncle more fully than on leaving him, I had Time to do. The whole of the Business is perplexing, and I fear will become more so.
Mr. Brittain some months ago desired Robt. Mc.Queen,3 of the Manhattan Furnace, and who lives near the water works, to make and send him a machine (for our mill) to grind whole Ears of Corn— He promised to do so, but Brittain has not as yet recd. it, and none of his Messages to Mc.Queen have been answered. perhaps he doubts Brittain’s Credit— If his Delay should turn on that point, tell him to send the machine to Brittain, and that you will on my Behalf pay for it—
Nancy still continues better— Send us by Wm. Watkins some Limes or Lemons— or desire him to bring some with him; in which case I will pay him for them here— I have sent some Buckwheat to mill for you— but I cannot tell you as yet when the meal will go to the Landing— we shall want another Barrel of Sugar— would it not be adviseable to purchase a full Supply at present, or would it be better to delay it? Our Love to Mary, whose kind attentions are mentioned in a late Letter I recd. from Sally— I am Dr. Peter Your very affte. Father
John Jay
[Pete]r Augustus Jay
ALS, NNC (EJ: 11525). Endorsed. “Letter from John Jay / Bedford 24 Oct / 1811”.
1. Probably Peet or Peter Williams, JJ’s enslaved servant who rode circuit with him during his tenure as chief justice and who had accompanied him to Britain when he negotiated a second treaty with Britain. See JJ’s Circuit Court Diary, [11 Oct.–16 Dec. 1791], , 5: 342, 345n42; the editorial note “John Jay’s Mission to London,” and JJ to SLJ, 16 Aug. 1794, and 13 Mar. 1795, , 6: 1, 95, and 303.
2. Cæsar was an enslaved man serving in the Jay household since 1797. For more on Cæsar, see PAJ to JJ, 22 Feb. 1800, note 6, above.
3. Robert McQueen, merchant and owner of an iron casting business. McQueen’s foundry made the machinery and engine parts for Robert Fulton and RRL’s steamboats, as well as the Nautilus. New-York Herald, 26 Sept. 1807; and Ross Thomson, Structures of Change in the Mechanical Age: Technological Innovation in the United States, 1790–1865 (Baltimore, 2009), 36, 39, 43.