From Alexander Hamilton to William Edgar, 17 January 1793
To William Edgar1
Philadelphia Jany 17.
1793
Sir
This will be handed you by General Hull,2 whom I have charged with a Commission to be executed in Upper Canada, that is the contracting for supplies for an Indian Treaty expected to be held at Au Glaise the Ensuing Spring. I wish him to be possessed of Letters of Introduction to respectable Merchants of the Country to which he is going and believing that no one can answer this purpose better than yourself & Mr. Macombe I take the liberty to ask the favour of you both to do it. I do not write to Mr. Macombe but I will be obliged to you to mention the subject to him & my request. With much esteem & regard
I am Dr sir Your Obed servant
A Hamilton
Wm. Edgar Esqr
ALS, MS Division, New York Public Library.
1. Edgar was a New York City merchant. Edgar and Alexander Macomb, both of whom had come from northern Ireland, had settled before the American Revolution in Detroit where they became traders and land speculators. During the Revolution they became partners with Alexander Macomb’s younger brother William in the Detroit firm of Macomb, Edgar, and Macomb and conducted a lucrative business supplying the Indian department of the British army.
2. For information on William Hull’s trip, see H to George Hammond, December 29, 1792, and “Draft of Instructions for William Hull,” January 14, 1793.