Treasury Department Circular to the Superintendents of Lighthouses, 22 May 1792
Treasury Department Circular
to the Superintendents of Lighthouses1
Treasury Department May 22nd 1792
Sir,
Pursuant to the 6th Section of the Act making alterations in the Treasury and War Departments, I have concluded to commit to Tench Coxe Esquire Commissioner of the Revenue, the general superintendence of the Light house and other establishments, relating to the security of navigation according to the powers vested in me by law.2
You will therefore be pleased to correspond in future with the said Commissioner of Revenue, touching all matters relating to the Light House establishment and take his directions thereon.
I am Sir Your most obedt Servt
Alexander Hamilton
LS, to Jedediah Huntington, MS Division, New York Public Library; LS, to Benjamin Lincoln, RG 36, Collector of Customs at Boston, Letters and Papers re Lighthouses, Buoys, and Piers, 1789–1819, Vol. 1, National Archives; LC, RG 26, Lighthouse Letters Received, “Segregated” Lighthouse Records, Hamilton, National Archives.
1. Huntington and Lincoln were both collectors of customs and superintendents of lighthouses.