John Jay Papers
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Appointment of William Temple Franklin, 1 October 1782

Appointment of William Temple Franklin

[Paris] Oct. 1 1782

To all to whom these Presents shall come, Benjamin Franklin & John Jay1 send Greetings.

Whereas the United States of America in Congress assembled did on the 15th. June in the year of our Lord 1781, appoint and constitute the said Benjamin Franklin and John Jay, & John Adams, Henry Laurens and Thomas Jefferson Esquires, and the Majority of them, and of such of them as should assemble for the Purpose, their Commissioners and Plenipotentiaries to treat of and conclude Peace on their Behalf.2 And whereas the said United States in Congress assembled, did on the 26th June in the Year of our Lord 1781 appoint Mr. Francis Dana, untill he could proceed to the Court of Petersburgh, either in a Public or Private Capacity to be Secretary to the said Plenipotentiaries for negociating a Peace with Great Britain. And in case Mr. Dana should have proceeded or there after proceed to Petersburgh or to any Part of the Dominions of the Empress of Russia the Ministers appointed by the Said Act of Congress of the 15th June 1781, or a Majority of such of them as should assemble, should be & thereby, were authorized to appoint a Secretary to their Commission; and that he be entitled to receive in Proportion to his Time of Service, the Salary of one thousand Pounds Sterling per Annum allow’d to Mr. Dana.3 And whereas His Britannic Majesty hath issued a Commission dated the 21 Sept. 1782 to Richard Oswald Esquire to treat of and conclude Peace with any Commissioners or Persons vested with equal Powers. By and on the Part of the thirteen United States of America. And whereas the said Richard Oswald is at Paris, ready to execute his said Commission; and hath exchanged with the said Benjamin Franklin and John Jay, Copies of their respective Commissions, and enter’d on the Business of the Same; Whereby the Appointment of a Secretary to the American Commissioners hath become necessary. And the said Mr Dana now being at Petersburgh, the right of appointing such a Secretary hath in persuance of the afore recited Act of Congress, devolved on the said Commissioners and on the majority of them and of Such of them as have assembled for the Purpose of executing their said Commission. And whereas Mr Jefferson one of the said Commissioners hath not come to Europe, and Mr Laurens, another of them, hath declined to accept the said Office, and Mr Adams another of them is at the Hague, so that, the said Benjamin Franklin and John Jay are the only Commissioners now assembled to execute the said Commission.

Now Know Ye that they reposing special Trust and Confidence in the Ability and Integrity of William T. Franklin Esqr. to perform and fulfil the duties of Secretary to their said Commission have appointed and constituted And by these Presents do appoint and constitute the said William T. Franklin, Secretary to the said Commission. In Witness whereof the said Benjamin Franklin and John Jay have hereunto set their Hands and Seals this first day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty two and in the seventh Year of the Independence of the said United States.

LS (Signed) B. Franklin
LS (Signed) John Jay

Approved on my part, Mr Franklin having acted with propriety as Secretary to the Commission from the time of my arrival here.—

Paris 10th January 1783.
LS (Signed) Henry Laurens

Approved on my part, Mr Franklin having acted with Propriety as Secretary to the Commission from the time of my arrival here Paris 8 Sep 1783

LS (Signed) John Adams

C, PPAmP: Franklin (EJ: 2691).

1. JJ had come to regret his earlier promise to BF to support this appointment for William Temple Franklin as secretary to the peace commission. He suggested that it was unnecessary as there was not much for a secretary to do. He postponed signing the appointment until after William Temple Franklin swore that he would faithfully perform the duties of the office. In his diary entry for 27 Oct., written the day after his arrival in Paris, JA commented tartly that “The Commission to W. was urged to be filled up, as soon as the Commission came to O[swald] to treat with the Min[ister]s of the united States, and it is filled up and signed.” In a letter to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs of 6 Nov., he commented that BF had obtained JJ’s promise of a vote without saying anything to him. In his 26 Jan. 1783 letter to BF, a copy of which he forwarded to RRL, JJ emphatically denied that BF had pressed him to concur in his grandson’s appointment. See JJ to BF, 30 Jan. 1782, JJSP, 2 description begins Elizabeth M. Nuxoll et al., eds., The Selected Papers of John Jay, Volume 2, 1780–82 (Charlottesville, Va., 2012) description ends : 674–75; and 26 Jan. 1783, C, NHi: Robert R. Livingston (EJ: 839); “Ridley’s Diary,” description begins Herbert E. Klingelhofer, ed., “Matthew Ridley’s Diary during the Peace Negotiations of 1782,” WMQ 20 (1963): 95–133 description ends 117; PBF description begins William B. Willcox et al., eds., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin (40 vols. to date; New Haven, Conn., 1959–) description ends , 38: 164–67; Adams, Diary description begins Lyman H. Butterfield et al., eds., Diary and Autobiography of John Adams (4 vols.; Cambridge, Mass., 1961) description ends , 3: 38; RDC description begins Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States (6 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1889) description ends , 5: 855.

2. JCC description begins Worthington C. Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1904–37) description ends , 20: 652–55.

3. JCC description begins Worthington C. Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1904–37) description ends , 20: 699.

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    Jay Papers
    Title
    Appointment of William Temple Franklin, 1 October 1782
    Authors
    Jay, John
    Franklin, Benjamin
    Laurens, Henry
    Date
    1 October 1782

    Reference

    Cite as
    “Appointment of William Temple Franklin, 1 October 1782,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jay/01-03-02-0053. [Original source: The Selected Papers of John Jay, vol. 3, 1782–1784, ed. Elizabeth M. Nuxoll. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013, pp. 160–162.]