51To Alexander Hamilton from Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 19 December 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
Annapolis [ Maryland ] December 19, 1801 . Encloses three drafts of eight thousand dollars each payable to Isaac Bronson. ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. Carroll paid Isaac Bronson, a New York City businessman, twenty-four thousand dollars for discharging a lien against twelve thousand acres of land which Carroll had purchased from Robert C. Johnson. For information concerning the...
52Enclosure: [Statement of Ebenezer Purdy], [28 February 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
Some time in the month of January last, I call’d on Jacob Snell, a member of the Council of appointment, where I found Ebenezer Purdy Esqr together with a Mr. Hughes and one or two other Gentlemen whose names I do not recollect (being Strangers to me). Mr Purdy immediately ask’d me if I had any objection to hear an oration read, that was delivered on the 4th. July, by a young irishman who, if...
53To Alexander Hamilton from Richard Peters, 8 January 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
Yours of the 29 Decr. I did not receive ’till the Day before Yesterday. I marvel that you should be a dissappointed Politician. I am a mortified but not dissappointed one. You must have foreseen the Catastrophe which has befallen us. I was a Cassandra because more of a Looker on, than one playing the Game. Much useless Pains did I take in the Case of the House Tax &c &c to earn among my...
54Partition Deed among John Laurance, John B. Church, and Alexander Hamilton, 28 June 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, June 28, 1804. Describes the lots in the townships in Scriba’s Patent which Hamilton, Church, and Laurance had drawn by lot from land which they had purchased from Jacob Mark and Company in 1796 and from Robert Gilchrist and Theodosius Fowler in 1802. Copy, Oneida County Clerk’s Office, Deeds, Vol. X, 499–502, Utica, New York. For background to this document, see “Mortgage by John...
55For the Evening Post, [8 February 1803] (Hamilton Papers)
Since the question of Independence, none has occurred more deeply interesting to the United States than the cession of Louisiana to France. This event threatens the early dismemberment of a large portion of our country: more immediately the safety of all the Southern States; and remotely the independence of the whole union. This is the portentous aspect which the affair presents to all men of...
56Statement on Impending Duel with Aaron Burr, [28 June–10 July 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
On my expected interview with Col Burr, I think it proper to make some remarks explanatory of my conduct, motives and views. I am certainly desirous of avoiding this interview, for the most cogent reasons. 1 My religious and moral principles are strongly opposed to the practice of Duelling, and it would even give me pain to be obliged to shed the blood of a fellow creature in a private combat...
57To Alexander Hamilton from Abraham Ellery, 25 October 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
I snatch the few moments allowed me by a Gentleman, who is going directly to New York, to transmit one of the charts I promised you. The others are not yet completed, as Mr. E who is my Hydrographer Genl. has been obliged to suspend his employment in that line. My intention is, to collect & copy the different charts of the river, that have any character for correctness, to check one by...
58From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, October [1803] (Hamilton Papers)
This morning my b⟨e⟩loved Eliza I leave Albany for C⟨lav⟩erack, my health greatly mended ⟨a⟩nd I hope to make but a short stay there. My plan is to go to Poughkepsie and there embark. I shall be glad to find that my dear little Philip is weaned, if circumstances have rendered it prudent. It is of importance to me to rest quietly in your bosom. Adieu my beloved. Kiss all the Children for me....
59To Alexander Hamilton from Aaron Burr, 18 June 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
I send for your perusal a letter signed Ch. D. Cooper which, though apparently published some time ago, has but very recently come to my knowledge. Mr Van Ness who does me the favor to deliver this, will point out to you that Clause of the letter to which I particularly request your attention. You might perceive, Sir, the necessity of a prompt and unqualified acknowledgment or denial of the...
60From Alexander Hamilton to Rufus King, 28 July 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
You are, I believe, acquainted with The Reverend Mr. Mason who will deliver you this. I could not let him depart without placing him under the protection of your friendship. He is in every sense a man of rare merit . Yrs. Affect. ALS , New-York Historical Society, New York City. John Mitchell Mason became pastor of the Scotch Presbyterian Church on Cedar Street in New York City in 1793. It...
61Daniel Ludlow to Alexander Hamilton and Nicholas Low, 21 June 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
A. Hamilton } Esqrs. N. Low Your favor of the 17th inst. I this day only received and have to assure you that the Settlement of the trust you mention committed to our joint care and under my particular management has been an object I have long had seriously at heart and nothing has prevented the completion thereof on my part but the want of time. The accounts are in hands and nearly arranged,...
62To Alexander Hamilton from John Penn, 21 August 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
A respect for great talents & virtues, under the direction of sound judgement, & long exemplified in times of danger & difficulty, induces me to request that you would do me the honour of accepting the two volumes of poems, illustrated with plates, which will be sent nearly at the time of the present letter, as a tribute due to them. Among the plates are representations of a spot in England,...
63David Hosack to William Coleman, 17 August 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
To comply with your request is a painful task; but I will repress my feelings while I endeavour to furnish you with an enumeration of such particulars relative to the melancholy end of our beloved friend Hamilton, as dwell most forcibly on my recollection. When called to him, upon his receiving the fatal wound, I found him half sitting on the ground, supported in the arms of Mr. Pendleton. His...
64From Alexander Hamilton to Albert Gallatin, 6 August 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, August 6, 1802. On August 13, 1802, Gallatin wrote to Hamilton : “I had the honor to receive your letter of the 6th instt.” Letter not found. ]
65To Alexander Hamilton from Henry Glen, 21 March 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
Albany, March 21, 1801. Repeats earlier requests to Hamilton. States: “I wrote you twice from the City of Washington but mist you going to Alby. & yesterday I came down to this City on purpose But you had Saild. about 2-Hours.” ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. Glen to H, January 27, 1801 . The other letter from Glen has not been found. H had been in Albany attending the New York...
66The Examination Number I, [17 December 1801] (Hamilton Papers)
Instead of delivering a speech to the House of Congress, at the opening of the present session, the President has thought fit to transmit a Message . Whether this has proceeded from pride or from humility, from a temperate love of reform, or from a wild spirit of innovation, is submitted to the conjectures of the curious. A single observation shall be indulged—since all agree, that he is...
67From Alexander Hamilton to George Clinton, 7 March 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
On Saturday last I sent you a letter of which the foregoing is a copy, to which I have as yet received no reply. Intending to leave this place for New York on Saturday next, it is important that I should receive an answer before that day. I have the honor to be Your Excelly’s Obed servt ADf , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. H to Clinton, March 2, 1804 .
68From Alexander Hamilton to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, [15 March 1802] (Hamilton Papers)
You will probably have learned before this reaches you that the act of last Session for the better organization of the Judiciary Department has been repealed, and I take it for granted, that you will with me view this measure as a vital blow to the Constitution. In my opinion, it demands a systematic and persevering effort by all Constitutional means to produce a revocation of the precedent,...
69To Alexander Hamilton from Archibald Gracie, [23 March 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
I enclose a newspaper in which you will find a Copy of the Bill before the Legislature for restraining unincorporated Institutions from Banking. It has occured to me & several Gentlemen with whom I have conversed upon the subject of this bill that it goes much farther than probably the Committee intended it should, and if pass’d into a Law, will prevent Individuals or Partnerships receiving...
70To Alexander Hamilton from William Rawle, 27 June–29 July 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, June 27–July 29, 1803. States: “This morning I received your favor of the 26th. inst.” Answers questions concerning certain aspects of William Duane’s indictment and trial for libel. ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. Letter not found. Duane had been indicted in 1800 under the Sedition Act for libel of the United States Senate. H needed the information concerning Duane’s...
71The Examination Number III, [24 December 1801] (Hamilton Papers)
Had our laws been less provident than they have been, yet must it give us a very humble idea of the talents of our President as a statesman, to find him embarrassed between an absolute abandonment of revenue, and an inconvenient accumulation of treasure. Pursuing the doctrine professed by his sect , that our public debt is a national curse which cannot too promptly be removed, and adhering to...
72To Alexander Hamilton from James A. Bayard, 29 December 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
Washington, December 29. 1801. States that “the cause of Messrs. Graves & Barnwell in which you were so obliging to mention my name as Counsel to the Plaintiffs” was argued in the Supreme Court of the United States and decided in favor of the defendant. ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. The case of Graves et al. v The Boston Marine Insurance Company was heard before the Supreme Court...
73From Alexander Hamilton to George Mitchell, 28 June–10 July 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, June 28–July 10, 1804. Nathaniel Pendleton described the ninth item on a list of ten, which were given to him after Hamilton’s death, as a “Letter to Geo: Mitchell inclosing a lottery ticket, as mentioned on the outside. Sealed.” Letter not found. ] Mitchell, the husband of Ann Mitchell, H’s cousin, had died in the spring of 1797. See “List of Papers Given to Nathaniel Pendleton,”...
74To Alexander Hamilton from John Guillemard, 22 February 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
I take the liberty of introducing to your acquaintance and recommending to your attentions the Earl of Selkirk a young Nobleman whose merits you will soon be able to appreciate and respect. I shall be excused for my motive’s sake, which is not only to render him Service but to assure you that neither time nor distance have diminished the high sense I entertain of the attentions with which you...
75Enclosure: Rufus King to Lord Hawkesbury, 21 April 1802 (Hamilton Papers)
By the Treaty of Alliance concluded at Paris in 1778, between the United States of America and France, with the Exception of New orleans the latter renounced for ever the possession of every part of the Continent of america lying to the East of the course of the River Mississippi. This renunciation, confirming that which had been previously made in the Treaty of 1763, between Great Britain and...
76Statement of my Property and Debts July 1, 1804 (Hamilton Papers)
Real Estate My share of Townships No. 9. 10. 15. 17 and 21 in Scribas Patent in connection with J B Church and John Lawrance viz ¹⁄₆ of the first purchase the whole being 31528 acres & ¼ of an acre & one third of the residuary purchase upon the suit in chancery being together nearly 20000 acres which now stand me in about } 33000 My ¼ of purchase in Nobleborough together with J Laurance Robert...
77From Alexander Hamilton to Harrison Gray Otis, 12 November 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, November 12, 1803. Urges “the utmost caution and care” in preparing John B. Church’s case for hearing before the Supreme Court. ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. This letter concerns the case of John B. Church, Jr. v Tuthill Hubbart . See H to Theophilus Parsons, December 31, 1801 ; H to Otis, October 8, 1803 .
78From Alexander Hamilton to William Rawle, 26 June 1803 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, June 26, 1803. On June 27–July 29, 1803, Rawle wrote to Hamilton : “This morning I received your favor of the 26th. inst.” Letter not found. ] A native of Philadelphia, Rawle studied law in England at the Middle Temple from 1781 to 1782. In 1782 he returned to America, and in 1789 he was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly. He was United States attorney for the District of...
79To Alexander Hamilton from Pierre Charles L’Enfant, 4 September 1801 (Hamilton Papers)
I received your letter of the 18th. ulto (say of the 27. according to post.) which came to hand only last monday. with respect to the Sentiments you manifest I can truely say that if I had not Confided in your good disposition and deed not heighly value to retain your friendship—I certainly would not have writen So freely nor so openly to you as I laterly deed? therefore let those Ideas and...
80William P. Van Ness’s Amendments to the Joint Statement Made by Nathaniel Pendleton and Him on the Duel between … (Hamilton Papers)
The second of G H having considered it proper to subjoin an explanatory note to the statement mutually furnished, it becomes proper for the gentleman who attended Col Burr to state also his impressions with respect to those points on which their exists a variance of opinion. In doing this he pointedly disclaims any idea disrespectful to the memory of G H, or an intention to ascribe any conduct...