Alexander Hamilton Papers
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From Alexander Hamilton to Nicholas Cruger, [31 October 1771]

To Nicholas Cruger

Mr Nicholas Cruger   ⅌ Codwise1

St Croix [October 31, 1771]2

Dear Sir

Expecting that Capt Codwise would ⟨have⟩ saild two days ago, I had already wrote & delive⟨red⟩ my Letter3 to him, but the arrival of Capt Lowndes furnishes me with something more to say. By him I receivd sundry Letters;4 one from Mr. Henry Cruger,5 one from Mr. John Cruger,6 one from Mr. John Harris Cruger, and several from Henry Cruger Junior,7 which last are all Copies and have been answerd, except one of the 24 June. I now inclose it to you with an abstract of the substance of your last Letters to him, which perhaps will be requisite in returing an answer.

I also send you the Owners last Letter now arrivd & a list of the Bills; all the protests for Non-acceptance are come to hand.

In Mr. John Harris Cruger’s Letter, he says that he will remit Mr. Teleman Cruger8 for his ⅓ part of the Sloops first Cargo of Mules & should depend upon your Honour for the other two, being £400. in advance for you, exclusive of your part of her Cargo out. I therefore just inclose a little state of matters between you that you might be able more clearly to convince him of his Mistake. There is nothing in the other Letters that require or will even admit of an answer from me, especially as you will be on the spot, ⟨in⟩ fact their Content are of but little consequence, etc.

LC, in writing of H, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.

1George Codwise, New York ship captain. H and Codwise knew each other in later life. H served as Codwise’s attorney in 1784, and Codwise named his son Alexander Hamilton Codwise. See Mitchell, Hamilton description begins Broadus Mitchell, Alexander Hamilton, Youth to Maturity, 1755–1788 (New York, 1957). description ends , I, 484.

2Date obtained from transcript in the writing of Elizabeth Hamilton, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.

3Letter not found.

4Letters not found.

5Father of Nicholas Cruger and an influential New York merchant. The house of John and Henry Cruger, a shipping firm engaged primarily in trade with Bristol and the West Indies, had subsidiary branches abroad managed by the sons of Henry. Henry Cruger was also for many years a member of the New York Assembly and His Majesty’s Royal Council for that province.

6Nicholas Cruger’s uncle, mayor of New York City, member of the Provincial Assembly, and first president of the New York Chamber of Commerce.

7Nicholas Cruger’s brother, a merchant of Bristol, England, who was engaged in trade with the American colonies. He later became a member of Parliament, a defender of the American cause during the Revolution, and a friend of Edmund Burke.

8Brother of Nicholas Cruger, who handled the Cruger mercantile affairs on the Dutch island of Curaçao. His first name was spelled either Tileman or Teleman. Although H frequently used Teleman, Tileman appears to be the correct spelling.

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