George Washington Papers
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From George Washington to the U.S. Senate, 10 December 1795

To the United States Senate

United States
December the 10th 1795.

Gentlemen of the Senate,

I nominate the following persons to fill the Offices annexed to their respective names; which became vacant during the recess of the Senate.

John Rutledge, of South Carolina, to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, vice John Jay, resigned.

Elias Boudinot, to be Director of the Mint of the United States, Vice, William H. De Saussure resigned.

John Brooks, of Massachusetts, to be Marshal of and for the Massachusetts District; continued, the legal term of his former appointment having expired.

David Meade Randolph, of Virginia, to be Marshal of and for the Virginia District; continued, the legal term of his former appointment having expired.

Nathaniel Rogers, of New Hampshire, to be Marshal of and for the New Hampshire District; continued, the legal term of his former appointment having expired.

Solomon Porter, of Connecticut, to be Inspector of the Revenue for the Port of Hartford; and Surveyor of the same, vice William Adams, deceased.1

William Fleming Gaines, of Virginia, to be Inspector of the Revenue for Survey No. 1. in the District of Virginia; vice Drury Ragsdale, resigned.2

Joseph Aborn, of Rhode Island, to be Inspector of the Revenue for the Port of Patuxet, and Surveyor for the same; vice Zachariah Rhodes

Joseph Grayson, of South Carolina, to be Collector for the District of Beaufort, and Inspector of the Revenue for the Port of Beaufort, vice Andrew Agnew, superceded.3

Moses Kempton, of New Jersey, to be Collector for the District of Burlington and Inspector of the Revenue for the several Ports within the District of Burlington; except the port of Little Eggharbour, vice John Ross, resigned.

James Benjamin Maxwell, of Georgia, to be Inspector of the Revenue for the port of Savannah; and Surveyor for the District of Savannah, vice John Berrien, resigned

David Wilson Scott, of Virginia, to be Inspector of the Revenue for the Port of Dumfries and Collector for the District of Dumfries including Newport, vice Richard M. Scott, resigned.4

Ebenezer Graham, of North Carolina, to be Inspector of the Revenue for the port of Bennett’s Creek, vice John Baker, resigned

Lawrence Mooney, of North Carolina, to be Inspector of the Revenue for the port of Winton, vice William Winn, resigned.5

Robert Walker, of Virginia, to be Surveyor for the District of Bermuda Hundred; and Inspector of the Revenue for the port of Bermuda Hundred, vice Christopher Roan, resigned.6

Go: Washington

LS, DNA: RG 46, Records of Executive Proceedings, President’s Messages—Executive Nominations; LB, DLC:GW. On 11 Dec. the Senate postponed consideration of these nominations until 15 Dec.; on that date they rejected the nomination of Rutledge but approved the others (Senate Executive Journal, description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America: From the commencement of the First, to the termination of the Nineteenth Congress. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C., 1828. description ends 195–96).

1Solomon Porter (1753–1821) attended Yale College, then taught at Hartford and became a merchant. He served in this post until his death.

2William Fleming Gaines (c.1750–1797) had served as an officer in the Revolutionary War.

Drury Ragsdale (d. 1804) of King William County had served as an officer in the 1st Continental Artillery during the Revolutionary War and been appointed as inspector of the revenue in 1791.

3GW meant to name John Grayson, whom he previously had commissioned for this post.

4Richard Marshall Scott (c.1769–1833), David Scott’s brother, had been appointed collector at Dumfries in 1789 and inspector in 1792. The town of Newport, Va., was established in 1787 at the mouth of Quantico Creek in Prince William County (Va. Statutes description begins William Waller Hening, ed. The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the Legislature, in the Year 1619. 13 vols. 1819–23. Reprint. Charlottesville, Va., 1969. description ends [Hening], 12:603–4).

5Ebenezer Graham and Laurence Mooney had been confirmed as surveyors for these ports in February, and GW apparently appointed them as inspectors in November (see GW to the Senate, 2 Feb. 1795, second letter; and Oliver Wolcott, Jr., to Timothy Pickering, 4 Nov., DLC:GW). John Baker and William Wynns had resigned as inspectors in 1792 (see Tench Coxe to Alexander Hamilton, 10 Nov. 1792, first letter, Hamilton Papers, description begins Harold C. Syrett et al., eds. The Papers of Alexander Hamilton. 27 vols. New York, 1961–87. description ends 13:33).

6Robert Walker (d. 1798) also was appointed postmaster at Bermuda Hundred in October, and he served in both posts until his death.

Christopher Roane (d. 1795) had been appointed as surveyor in 1789 and inspector in 1792.

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