George Washington Papers
Documents filtered by: Recipient="Washington, George" AND Period="Washington Presidency"
sorted by: date (descending)
Permanent link for this document:
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-21-02-0357

To George Washington from Timothy Pickering, 1 March 1797

From Timothy Pickering

Department of State March 1. 1797.

The Secretary of State has the honor to lay before the President of the United States the opinion of the Attorney General, that a secretary may be allowed to a Minister Resident, or Chargé des Affaires.1

The Secretary has considered the situation of our affairs with the Barbary powers, & particularly with Algiers, and the necessity of a consul to reside there. That altho’ Mr Barlow desires to be relieved, that he may return to his former pursuits, yet as he has in fact assumed, by Colo. Humphreys’ advice & appointment, the office of Consul or Consul General for Algiers, and as the enquiries of the Secretary have discovered no fit character for the office, he submits his opinion of the expediency of a formal appointment of Mr Barlow as Consul General for the Kingdoms or Regences of Algiers, Tunis & Tripoli. The seal he has procured is that of Consul General; and it appears to the Secretary that there should be on that coast a person of much respectability who should have the superintendency of the Consuls at Tunis & Tripoli; whose conduct, especially in money matters, may be controuled by a superiour character resident at Algiers; and one such character it is hoped may eventually be found. Mr Barlow does not consider it indispensably necessary that the character of Consul General which he has assumed, should be sanctioned by a formal appointment: yet the appointment now appears necessary, to enable the President to make another appointment in the recess; seeing Mr Barlow intends to leave Algiers as soon as our affairs will admit of it.2

James Simpson, late Consul at Gibraltar, a man very respectable, having been appointed Consul of the U.S. for Morocco,3 the Secretary requested him to mention the name of a gentleman whom he could recommend for his successor at Gibraltar. He has warmly recommended John Gavino, who has resided there a number of years, and is well acquainted with the business of that part of the world, and its relations with America.4

On the recommendation of the Secretary of War, of Mr Frederick Folger late of Baltimore, as a fit person for consul at Aux Cayes, in St Domingo, where he resided, the Secretary of State wrote him a letter the 10th August last, desiring him to render any aid in his power to American Citizens who should visit that port.5 He has since written to the secretary a number of letters, manifesting his attention & good sense; and he now wishes the consular appointment. The Secretary is satisfied of his abilities & attention, & the recommendation of him as a good character, by Mr McHenry, induces the Secretary to mention him to the President as proper to be appointed Consul of the U. States for Aux Cayes & ports adjacent in the Island of St Domingo.6

The only remaining appointment recollected by the Secretary as proper to be immediately made, is that of an Agent to reside in Great Britain, for the relief and protection of American seamen, in the room of Mr Trumbull declined. The Secretary hopes to be able to present a name to the President to-morrow morning, for this office, if the President should not in the mean time have designated any one for it.7

Timothy Pickering.

ALS, DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Letters; LB, DNA: RG 59, Domestic Letters.

1Attorney General Charles Lee’s opinion has not been identified. In a letter of 28 Feb., Pickering wrote Lee to request that he examine Congress’s “Act providing the means of intercourse between the United States and foreign nations,” 1 July 1790. That law had authorized the president to draw $40,000 from the Treasury to compensate U.S. diplomats and their secretaries abroad. Pickering asked Lee “to express his opinion, whether the President can legally authorize a Chargé des Affaires (or Minister Resident) to retain a Secretary, at the public expense for his salary of 1350. dollars, the sum mentioned for the Secretary of a minister plenipotentiary.” Pickering gave the reason behind his request: “Mr [John Quincy] Adams … has been allowed a Secretary at that pay: and it is desirable, as it will be necessary, that his successor have a secretary at the public expense” (DNA: RG 59, Domestic Letters; see also 1 Stat. description begins Richard Peters, ed. The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845 . . .. 8 vols. Boston, 1845-67. description ends 128–29). Pickering’s letter to Lee was written one day after GW appointed William Vans Murray to succeed Adams as U.S. minister to the Netherlands. Vans Murray’s secretary was Bartholomew Dandridge, Jr. (see GW to the U.S. Senate, 27 Feb., and n.1).

2With the backing of David Humphreys, Joel Barlow had begun serving as temporary consul to Algiers in 1796. On 2 March 1797, GW nominated Barlow as official consul general to Algiers. Barlow remained in that post until July 1797, when President John Adams appointed Richard O’Bryen in his place. Barlow subsequently went to France, where he became a patron of the arts and sciences. He returned to the United States in 1804 (see GW to the U.S. Senate, 2 March [first letter], and the source note to that document; Smith, America’s Diplomats and Consuls description begins Walter Burges Smith II. America’s Diplomats and Consuls of 1776–1865: A Geographic and Biographic Directory of the Foreign Service from the Declaration of Independence to the End of the Civil War. Washington, D.C., 1986. description ends , 90; and 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 , 248–49). For more on the relations between the United States and Algiers, see GW to the Dey of Algiers, 3 Dec. 1796; see also Pickering to GW, 6 Jan. 1797.

Joseph Donaldson, Jr., had served since 1795 as consul at Tunis and Tripoli. In July 1797, William Eaton and James Leander Cathcart received appointments as consuls to Tunis and Tripoli, respectively (see Smith, America’s Diplomats and Consuls description begins Walter Burges Smith II. America’s Diplomats and Consuls of 1776–1865: A Geographic and Biographic Directory of the Foreign Service from the Declaration of Independence to the End of the Civil War. Washington, D.C., 1986. description ends , 90; and 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 , 249).

3James Simpson had been appointed as U.S. consul at Gibraltar in 1794, and in May 1796, he was nominated consul for Morocco. Pickering sent him his commission on 20 April 1797 (see GW to the U.S. Senate, 19 May 1796 [second letter]; see also DNA: RG 59, Diplomatic and Consular Instructions, 1791–1801; and GW to U.S. Senate, 2 March 1797 [first letter], and n.1 to that document).

4Simpson had written Pickering in a letter dated 29 Oct. 1796 at Gibraltar: “As you are pleased to Say that a recommendation from me would have much influence in the appointment of a Consul for Gibraltar, I beg leave to recommend my particular friend Mr John Gavino for that Office, as a Gentleman in Every way fully qualified to fulfill its duties in a proper manner he is perfectly well acquainted with the business of this Part of the World & its relations with America for these reasons I propose at my departure for Barbary to Authorise him to Act as Pro Consul untill his Excellency the President’s pleasure be known. In 1783 Mr Gavino Established the House of Gavino Price & Grey at Cartagena, from whence he retired to this place—only on the appearance of War, & means to remain here with his family …” (DNA: RG 59, Consular Despatches, Gibraltar).

John (Don Juan) Gavino, a non-citizen of the United States and resident of Gibraltar, was nominated as U.S. consul there on 2 March and remained in that post until 1815 (see GW to the U.S. Senate, 2 March [first letter], and n.1 to that document; see also Smith, America’s Diplomats and Consuls description begins Walter Burges Smith II. America’s Diplomats and Consuls of 1776–1865: A Geographic and Biographic Directory of the Foreign Service from the Declaration of Independence to the End of the Civil War. Washington, D.C., 1986. description ends , 68–69). At one point, Gavino was a merchant in Cartagena, Spain. After his death, Gavino’s property was donated to charitable causes, including an asylum for paupers and orphans.

5Pickering’s letter of 10 Aug. 1796 to Frederick Folger, then residing at Aux Cayes, Saint Domingue, reads: “mr [James] McHenry, Secretary of war, has informed me that you are a resident at Aux Cayes, in the Island of St Domingo, that the trade of Baltimore in particular with that quarter is considerable, and that a Consul, or public agent, appointed to protect the interest of American Citizens and give them every requisite aid in their transactions at that place might be of general advantage.

“In the recess of the Senate of the United States an appointment of Consul cannot be made: but if one were appointed, he might not be formally admitted by the French Government: the present French minister here, mr [Pierre-Auguste] Adet, having expressed his opinion that the 29th article of our treaty of commerce with France, ‘granting mutually the liberty of having each in the ports of the other, Consuls, vice Consuls, Agents and Commissaries,’ did not comprehend the French Colonies. His opinion, however, I deem erroneous. The Colonial administration may be willing to admit them; and I should be glad to have you, in some proper way, ascertain this point, and communicate to me the result. In the mean time, your establishment at aux Cayes, by giving you an acquaintance with the mode of doing business, and with the Colonial officers, will enable you to render very useful assistance to your fellow citizens; and which it is very desirable that you should afford them, in the same manner, as far as it shall be practicable, as if you were formally a Consul. Such services will place you in a situation to claim a preference to other candidates, in case a Consul should eventually be admitted, and entitle you to receive from the individuals benefited by them, an equitable compensation.

“Under these circumstances, I have thought it expedient to send you the acts of Congress, … our Consular Convention with that nation [France] and the law of the United States to regulate the conduct, duties and fees of American Consuls, to which it may be well for you as far as possible to conform, as so far as any rights are secured to us by treaty, you will thereby be enabled to urge and enforce them” (DNA: RG 59, Diplomatic and Consular Instructions, 1791–1801).

McHenry’s recommendation of Folger may have been verbal. Folger had written McHenry from Aux Cayes in a letter of 3 July 1796, in which he had recommended the appointment of a U.S. consul at that port: “There being no person in any of the Departments of State by whom I had the honor to be Known but yourself—I therefore beg your excuse … Sir for the liberty I have taken in making this Communication to you—and Should there be any Appointment made … I take the liberty to solicit your Interest in my favor that is if you think me Competent to the Duties and trust of such Appointment.” Folger concluded by promising to do his utmost to “preserve and Protect the honor and Interest of my Country, and aid and Comfort Our Citizens” (MiU-C: James McHenry Papers). On 3 Nov. 1796, Folger again wrote McHenry to thank him for the recommendation and to advise him that he had “communicated” Pickering’s ideas (from the 10 Aug. letter) on the need for a consul to “the Executive” in Aux Cayes. While awaiting a final decision on the matter, Folger remained hopeful that he would gain authorization to exercise consular duties (MiU-C: James McHenry Papers).

6Folger had written Pickering from Aux Cayes on 10 Feb. 1797 to advise him of the “Critical and distressing” situation at Saint Domingue, and to inform him “of the Captures made on the Vessells of the United States and brought into the different Ports.” Folger sent Pickering a list of the captured ships and concluded the letter by stating that he had heard “nothing from the Cape respecting” his “Reception” (DNA: RG 59, Consular Despatches, Aux Cayes). On 2 March, GW nominated Folger as U.S. consul at Aux Cayes (see GW to the U.S. Senate, 2 March [first letter], and the source note to that document). Folger, who had served as an agent at Aux Cayes since 1796, died on 5 Aug. 1797, and President John Adams appointed his successor the following December (see 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 , 253; see also Smith, America’s Diplomats and Consuls description begins Walter Burges Smith II. America’s Diplomats and Consuls of 1776–1865: A Geographic and Biographic Directory of the Foreign Service from the Declaration of Independence to the End of the Civil War. Washington, D.C., 1986. description ends , 162).

7On 2 March, GW nominated David Lenox to replace John Trumbull as U.S. agent to Great Britain to aid impressed U.S. citizens (see GW to the U.S. Senate, 2 March [first letter], and n.4 to that document). Trumbull had declined the appointment in a letter to Pickering dated 27 Aug. 1796, in which he cited his need to attend to “private affairs” and his “aversion to public employments.” Trumbull also refused the post upon his appointment as a commissioner under Article VII of the Jay Treaty (Trumbull, Autobiography description begins Autobiography, Reminiscences and Letters of John Trumbull, from 1756 to 1841. New York, 1841. description ends , 194–95; see also GW to the U.S. Senate, 30 May 1796, and n.1 to that document; and Pickering to GW, 15 Oct. 1796, and n.2 to that document).

Index Entries