From John Jay to Richard Lawrence, 9 February 1797
To Richard Lawrence
Albany, 9 Feb. 1797
Sir
I have been favd. with yours of the 27 of last month.1 I wish it was in our power and consistent with Prudence to ^we could^ give Relief to all who may be ^are^ in need of it— but if this State should attempt to provide for all the French Refugees without Distinction; those who reside in other States where the like Provision is not made, who would remove to our City for the Purpose of sharing in our Bounty— The present act like the Former means to provide & ^has Respect^ only for ^to^ those whom Providence cast upon us, and not ^to^ those whom Providence cast on other States who ought to take care of them—If the therefore four Families you mention came to New York from any of the other States, they certainly are not Objects of the act. As to the anticipations you mention, I see at present no Objections to them—2
There is in New York a free black man named Peter Williams— he formerly lived with Mr. Amar, and afterwards with ^Mr^ B. Moore, Tobacconists— he has set up and follows that Business— I do not know in what part of the City he lives. I have purchased of Mr. Cor[neliu]s Glen, a negroe woman named Dinah, who whom after serving me faithfully a certain Time, will be ^I intend to^ manumitted. She is a neice of Peter Williams. She has a child going on two Years which Mr. Glen offers to give her, in Case she makes proper Provision for it by the first of May next. She is persuaded that ^hopes & believes^ her uncle will take it— she has written to him on the Subject by the post, but recd. no answer— she is anxious and uneasy and fears some accident has happened to the Letter— Will you be so good as to send for Peter Williams & to inform him of these Circumstances, and to communicate his answer to me.3 I make no appology for giving you this Trouble, because under similar Circumstances I would chearfully do the same Thing on your Request. With real Esteem I am Sir Your obt. Servt
John Jay
Mr. Richd Lawrence
Dft, NNC (EJ: 08969).
1. Richard Lawrence to JJ, 27 Jan., above.
2. In a letter sent later to Lawrence, JJ revised his opinion, noting that “if they arrived at New York from beyond Sea, and not from one of the United States, I think considering their Distress” these four families could be helped. JJ to Lawrence, 24 Feb. 1797, LbkC, N: Governor’s Lbk. 1 (EJ: 03064).
For the refugee matter as a whole, see JJ’s Addresses to the New York State Legislature, 6 Jan. and [1 Nov. 1796]; JJ to Lawrence, 23 Jan. 1797; and Lawrence to JJ, 27 Jan. 1797, all above; JJ to Lawrence, 24 Feb. 1797, LbkC, N: Governor’s Lbk 1 (EJ: 03064), and 6 Jan. 1798, below.
3. JJ’s letter of 24 Feb. thanks Lawrence for obtaining the information from Williams, but does not reveal what that was. Both Blase Moore and Peter Williams (c. 1755–1823) are listed as a “tobacconist” in the 1797 city directory. Longworth’s American Alamanack, 251, 334. Williams had been owned by a Loyalist who trained him as a tobacconist. He was sold to the John Street United Methodist Church congregation, working as the sexton, and eventually bought his freedom. In 1796, he and other African American congregants left the church due to discrimination, and founded the Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. His son, the Reverend Peter Williams Jr., would become the first African American Episcopal minister and a leading abolitionist.
From an 1808 letter written by PAJ to his father, it appears that Peter Williams did not purchase his niece and her child: “P.S. Dinah a negro woman who lived with you at Albany called here a short time ago & told me that you had sold her & her child for a limited time to one Inman, & that you told her at the time of the sale that at the expiration of her service she was to receive a sume of Money from Inman. Inman she says sold her to one Camp & her Child to Mrs. Breeze at Utica. Her time has expired & she now works for herself. But Camp refuses to pay her any thing & her Child is still held as a slave. I promised her to inquire of you if these were the facts in order that if they were true I might write to her former Master in her behalf.” 21 Jan. 1808, ALS, NNC (EJ: 06126). JJ’s reply has not been found.