To James Madison from Hugh Mercer, 27 July 1827
From Hugh Mercer
Fredericksbg, July 27th. 1827.
Dear Sir,
Mr Jos. W. Farnum1 the junior professor in the academy of this place, intending to pass the ensuing month of vacation in travelling beyond our mountains for Health & improvement, is desirous of paying his respects to you & Mrs Madison in the progress of his journey, & has requested a letter of Introduction from me.
Mr Farnum is a native of Providence, Rhode Island—he has resided some years in this place & its vicinity, always in the Character of an Instructor of Youth, & has gained, by his great private worth, the esteem & respect of us all—added to this, he is a young Gentleman of fine classical learning & much literary attainment. I have pleasure in giving him this letter to you. I am with the highest respect, Dear Sir, your friend & St,
Hugh Mercer
I beg my be⟨st⟩ respects & Compliments to Mrs Madison.
RC (owned by Susan Lyman, Boston, Mass., 2001).
1. Joseph W. Farnum (1803–89), an 1822 graduate of Brown University, received his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1830. He had previously served as professor of chemistry at Kenyon College in Ohio. He later became professor of chemistry and natural philosophy at Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. Farnum was appointed assayer for the branch mint at Dahlonega, Georgia, in 1837 and served until 1843 (Historical Catalogue of Brown University, 1764–1914 [Providence, 1914], 107; Providence Patriot, 7 Sept. 1822; Macon Georgia Telegraph, 23 Mar. 1837; Sylvia Head and Elizabeth W. Etheridge, The Neighborhood Mint: Dahlonega in the Age of Jackson [Macon, Ga., 1986], 33, 103–5).