Report on the Petition of the Corporation of Rhode Island College, [31 January 1795]
Report on the Petition of the Corporation of
Rhode Island College
[Philadelphia, January 31, 1795
Communicated on February 2, 1795]1
[To the Speaker of the House of Representatives]
The Secretary of the Treasury, to whom was referred the petition of the Corporation of Rhode Island College,2 respectfully makes thereupon, the following report.
The said petition seeks indemnification for injuries done to, and compensation for the occupation of the Edifice of the college of Rhode Island, from the tenth of December, 1776, to the tenth of April 1780, by the troops of the United States, and from the 20th. of June 1780, to the 27th. of May, 1782, by the troops of France, co-operating in the defence of the United States: in the first instance as a barrack, in the Second as a military hospital.
The principle of this claim is the same with that of the Corporation of trustees of the public grammar School and Academy of Wilmington in Delaware,3 which was provided for by an act of Congress of the 13th: of April 1792.4 The facts appear by the accompanying documents, to be substantiated. And there is no trace of any compensation having been heretofore made.
It is the opinion of the Secretary, as expressed on former occasions, that in this, and all similar Cases affecting the interests of literature, indemnification and compensation ought to be made. He therefore submits it as expedient in this case, to make provision Similar to that which was made in the case above quoted. It will be the duty of the Accounting officers of the Treasury, among other things, to investigate carefully whether Compensation in whole, or in part, has or has not been heretofore made, and to adjust the claim accordingly.5
All which is respectfully submitted,
Alexander Hamilton
Secretary of the Treasury.
January 31st. 1795.
Copy, RG 233, Reports of the Secretary of the Treasury, 1784–1795, Vol. IV, National Archives; copy, RG 217, Miscellaneous Treasury Accounts, 1790–1894, Account No. 11434, National Archives; copy, The John Carter Brown Library, Providence, Rhode Island.
1. , II, 312. For the letter of transmittal, see H to Frederick A. C. Muhlenberg, January 31, 1795.
2. On December 31, 1792, the House referred to H “A petition of the Corporation of Rhode Island College … praying compensation for rent and damages done to the said College, which was taken as an hospital and barracks for the American and French troops, during the late war” (, I, 657).
3. See “Report on Claims of the Lutheran and Calvinist Churches in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and the Public Grammar School of Wilmington, Delaware,” March 16, 1792.
4. “An Act to compensate the corporation of trustees of the public grammar school and academy of Wilmington, in the state of Delaware, for the occupation of, and damages done to, the said school, during the late war” ( 8 [April 13, 1792]).
5. On December 21, 1795, the petition of the Corporation of Rhode Island College was referred to the Committee of Claims (, II, 384). On March 19, 1800, the House “Resolved, That the accounting officers of the Treasury liquidate and settle the claims of the corporation of Rhode Island College, for compensation for the use and occupation of the edifice of the said College, and for injuries done to the same, from the tenth of December, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six, to the twentieth of April, one thousand seven hundred and eighty, by the troops of the United States; and the sum which may be found due to the said corporation for damages done to and occupation of, the said edifice, as aforesaid, be paid them out of any moneys unappropriated in the Treasury” (, III, 634). On April 16, 1800, Congress enacted “An Act for the relief of the corporation of Rhode Island college” ( 40). The account was settled on May 12, 1800, and the sum paid by the United States was $1,434.69 (DS, RG 217, Miscellaneous Treasury Accounts, 1790–1894, Account No. 11434, National Archives).