Hannah Phillips Cushing to Abigail Adams, 18 December 1801
Hannah Phillips Cushing to Abigail Adams
Washington December the 18th. 1801.
My Dear Madam
We came to the City on the 4th. The weather & roads were as favorable as could be expected for the season. At New-York we had the pleasure to hear from Mrs Smith, that your health was much better than when we were at Quincey. Judge Cranch was so good as to engage us lodgings; they are as agreeable as any here, although not so pleasant to us as the last winter. I have been twice to see Mrs Cranch She looks exceeding well & also the children, except the infant. Her heart is set much upon going to New England the coming summer, I hope she will not be disappointed.
Mr Tracy is a lodger here. He had been confined to the house three months prior to leaving home. We think he has been on the mending hand since he arrived, & I have great hopes of his recovery, although his cough is yet troublesome. He has found the greatest relief from letting blood about once a week, 12 oz at a time, but the necessity becomes less frequent. We have 13 members here, all good Fedts,1 Mr Griswold is one, who by the way pleaded a cause in Court with so much weight & argument that Mr C was highly pleased with him. It might be the more so as it was in support of an opion which my Friend had given at Heartford.2 In the next house adjoining us where the Vice President lodged last winter are gentlemen of another sect The Att’ Genl. &c Dr Eustis whom I always have had hopes of;3 whether they were founded in reason or not is with them; but I have hea[rd] it whispered that he is not satisfied with his company nor with the majority. I fear that we shall leave the City without my having seen the President. The day that Mr C dined with him when the carriage come to the door for us it was raining so violently that my timidity overpowerd my inclination & I let him go without me. When my respects were offered to the President He pleasantly said that he had rather that I had presented them myself. I went with Mrs Maddison to hear the Speech read as She called it I have heard but little said upon the Message.4 However between you & me The C J observed, that it reduced the strength of the Government to the old Confederation. About 20 Members waited on the P on Tuey, supposing that of all the days in the week would be the least acceptable. Mr Dana purposed keeping it up. His dinner parties are small 8 or 10 Persons at a time.5 On the 11th. we dined at the Secrey of State’s where we had the pleasure of meeting Mr & Mrs Murray, who arrived a few days before, after a tedious passage of 11 weeks. The Ship put back to England twice, & had almost constant gales.6 Mr & Madam Pichon was of the party. She has a sweet interesting countenance but 21 years old.7 The Court have this day passed a rule upon the Secry. of State to shew cause next term, why certain commissions for Justices of Peace for Columbia duly authanticated under the late Admõn, but which remained in the Office, should not be deliverd to the Person appointed.8 Before this Mr Gi. had given them the appellation of the six Directory I do not know what he will call them now.9
Congress have done but little except to cut out work; it is said enough of that has been done to keep them imployed till April. The Speaker has conducted to the approbation of the Fedts. hitherto. The Senate have enough to employ them six months, The appointments, will take up much time, Mr Greens Comn. will be largely dwelt upon, & also The Sy of The T——10 But what will all that avail if the Judy. system is destroyed. Mr Griswold is confident it will be attemped, but some of the Ans reject the idea.11 Dr E went “to the other side of the house & asked Mr Dana why they did not take a part in debate, & not sit laughing at hearing us dispute but you will not be silent any longer than it is for your intrest”
Monday the 21st.
Court has finished to day12 On the morrow we intend to set our faces to the North. Judge & Mrs Cranch called on us this morning their little Girl is better. Mr Dexs. grand cause comes on the 28th.13 He has just been in to see us & confidently said “that he is more & more convinced that nothing effectual will be done this session; there are three parties in the May & they must crumble to pieces; the Fedts. have little to do but to keep silent.” My own conscience would condemn me in writing thus freely to any other Friend. I was lately told that the Fedts. had agreed not to write any thing of a political nature to their friends. If they for the two years prior to the last had conducted with so much judgment & prudence the Newhaven Remonstrance &C would have been unnecessary.14 Since the best part of the community have got into limboe they must unite heart & hand in geting out again.
Vanhorns the 23rd.
The weather & roads were fine yesterday & to day we are stoped here by a N-E storm.15 We left Mrs Otis & family well also Mrs Dalton & family They moved last week upon Capl. hill.16
Philadelphia Jany the 4th.
We arrived here on the 31st. the roads were much injured by the rain at the same time they were uncommonly good for the season. Mr Rutledge arrived at Wasn. from R I the day before our leaving it.17 He said he never knew the travelling finer at any time Mart. Street appear’d to great advantage when we entered it about sunset. The houses have progressed much further from the Presidents house than I had apprehended & all of them elegant; But the beauty of the street must always appear greater to a person, coming from the southward, than from the Northward. I was highly diverted an evening or two prior to our leaving Wasn. Mr Upham was reading the Message paragraph by paragraph, & Mr Tracy criticising upon them.18 He said that he had not read it, nor heard it read, since in the Senate, & it then put him in a fever, which lasted 48 hours, & now he should have to be bled. We dined yesterday at Mr Boudinots
Each individual enquired affecy. after you & yours & wished me to remember them to you. In a day or two we intend to proceed to Midn. but are undetermined whether to remain there till the first of June May or return to Scituate. Mr Cushing unites with me in affectionate regards to our friends in Quincy. A letter informing of their welfare will be gratefully received by your Friend
H Cushing
RC (Adams Papers). Some loss of text due to wear at the edge.
1. In Washington, D.C., Hannah and William Cushing and Connecticut senator Uriah Tracy lodged at the residence of justice of the peace Amariah Frost on New Jersey Avenue, along with at least eleven other Federalist congressmen (List of Members of the Senate and House of Representatives with their Places of Abode, [Washington, D.C., 1801], p. 4, , No. 1507; Washington Federalist, 19 June 1801; ; , 33:319–320).
2. On 14 and 17 Dec. representatives Roger Griswold of Connecticut and James Asheton Bayard of Delaware represented the crew of the U.S. frigate Trumbull, Capt. David Jewett, in United States v. Schooner Peggy before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Trumbull captured the French merchant vessel Peggy, master Joseph Buisson, on 24 April 1800. On 24 June it was libeled in the U.S. District Court at New London, Conn., but a day later the court ruled that the Peggy was not a lawful prize because it was an unarmed trading vessel. The U.S. government appealed the decision to the U.S. Circuit Court at Hartford, Conn., and on 23 Sept. William Cushing reversed the decision, ruling that the vessel and its cargo should be condemned and the proceeds divided between the U.S. government and the crew of the Trumbull. Buisson appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. On 21 Dec. 1801—the same day that Thomas Jefferson proclaimed the ratification of the Convention of 1800—the court reversed the lower court decision citing Art. 4 of the Convention, which stipulated the restoration of property that had been captured but not “definitively condemned.” In writing the majority opinion John Marshall added, “The constitution of the United States declares a treaty to be the supreme law of the land” (, 6:99–100; , 25:430; List of Members, p. 4).
3. Conrad and McMunn’s Boarding House in Washington, D.C., was located at the corner of New Jersey Avenue and C Street. Jefferson stayed there between 27 Nov. 1800 and 19 March 1801. In addition to Jefferson, Democratic-Republicans lodging there included Levi Lincoln, Dr. William Eustis, Albert Gallatin, John Langdon, Samuel Smith, and Joseph Bradley Varnum (, 32:260; Richard Mannix, “Albert Gallatin in Washington, 1801–1813,” , 71–72:61 [1971–1972]; ).
4. The 1st session of the 7th Congress met from 7 Dec. to 3 May 1802. On 8 Dec. 1801 Jefferson broke with the precedent set by George Washington and JA of personally delivering the president’s annual message to Congress. Instead, he instructed his secretary Meriwether Lewis to deliver a written address to each chamber, where it was read aloud. Jefferson’s message discussed U.S. actions against Tripoli, the results of the recently completed U.S. census, and his efforts to reduce federal spending. The address was printed in the Washington, D.C., National Intelligencer, 8 Dec., and drew Federalist criticism. Alexander Hamilton as “Lucius Crassus” published an eighteen-part series entitled “The Examination” from 21 Dec. to 8 April 1802 in the New York Evening Post, in which he condemned the message as “a most prodigal sacrifice of constitutional energy, of sound principle, and of public interest, to the popularity of one man.” The essays were republished as a pamphlet, and as JQA later reported to Rufus King, they “find great approbation among the federalists” (, 7th Cong., 1st sess., p. 3–5, 240; , 7th Cong., 1st sess., p. 155, 235; , 36:52–68; , 25:444–457, 458–468, 469–474, 476–480, 484–489, 491–496, 500–511, 514–520, 529–535, 539–544, 546–558, 564–576, 589–598; [Hamilton], The Examination of the President’s Message, N.Y., 1802, , No. 2363; JQA to Rufus King, 18 Jan. 1802, NHi:Rufus King Papers).
5. Jefferson held three or four dinners each week. The gatherings were smaller and less formal than those held by Washington or JA, and the third president often hosted Federalists and Democratic-Republicans separately. Jefferson also did not hold levees, balls, birthday celebrations, or the drawing rooms that AA had previously hosted (Merry Ellen Scofield, “The Fatigues of His Table: The Politics of Presidential Dining during the Jefferson Administration,” , 26:461, 465, 468 [Fall 2006]; , 36:xlvi–xlvii).
6. On 1 June 1801 James Madison recalled William Vans Murray from his post as U.S. minister to the Netherlands. Murray received Madison’s letter on 27 July, and on 16 Sept. departed with his wife, Charlotte Hughins (Hughens) Murray, on the ship Paulina, Capt. Borrowdale. The vessel reached Alexandria, Va., on 2 Dec. (, 1:246, 480; Peter P. Hill, William Vans Murray, Federalist Diplomat: The Shaping of Peace with France 1797–1801, Syracuse, N.Y., 1971, p. 217; Alexandria, Va., Daily Advertiser, 3 Dec.).
7. Louis André Pichon (1771–1854) was French chargé d’affaires to the United States. His wife was Alexandrine Émilie Brongniart Pichon (b. 1780), whom he had married in Dec. 1800 (, 38:376; , 2:203).
8. In its Dec. 1801 term the U.S. Supreme Court heard the case of Marbury v. Madison. The plaintiffs, William Harper, Robert Townsend Hooe, William Marbury, and Dennis Ramsay, were nominated by JA as justices of the peace for the District of Columbia’s Washington County on 2 March and were confirmed by the Senate the next day. After entering office, however, Jefferson instructed acting secretary of state Levi Lincoln to withhold their commissions. After several unsuccessful attempts to acquire their commissions, Marbury informed Madison on 16 Dec. that they planned to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The following day former U.S. attorney general Charles Lee filed a case on their behalf. On 18 Dec. the court accepted the case and ordered Madison to show cause why a writ of mandamus should not be issued against him. The court also directed that the arguments be held during the court’s next term, then scheduled for June 1802. The case was not heard until Feb. 1803, however, due to the reorganization of the U.S. judiciary. Marshall delivered the court’s landmark opinion on 24 Feb. 1803, finding Jefferson’s actions to be illegal but without remedy because the law under which the appointments were made conflicted with the U.S. Constitution. In declaring the law unconstitutional, the court established the court’s power of judicial review (, 2:319–320; , 6:160–165).
9. “Mr Gi.” was probably George Gilpin, who had already received a commission as a justice of the peace for Alexandria County, D.C., when Jefferson took office, and whose commission was not challenged (, 36:314).
10. On 7 Dec. 1801 the House of Representatives elected Nathaniel Macon (1757–1837) of North Carolina as Speaker and during its first two weeks discussed naturalization laws, import duties, and the apportionment of congressional representatives. As Hannah Cushing predicted, the Senate spent considerable time considering presidential appointments. On 6 Jan. 1802 Jefferson submitted a list of ninety recess appointments to replace Federalist candidates appointed at the close of JA’s administration. One of those replaced was Ray Greene (1765–1849), Yale 1784, a senator who had been appointed as U.S. district judge for Rhode Island in Feb. 1801. Greene resigned from the Senate on 5 March, but his commission inadvertently named him to the U.S. Circuit Court rather than the district court. Due to this technicality, Jefferson voided the commission and made a recess appointment of David Leonard Barnes on 30 April. Barnes was confirmed by the Senate on 26 Jan. 1802 and remained in the post until 1812. The 14 May 1801 recess appointment of Albert Gallatin as secretary of the treasury was also confirmed on 26 Jan. 1802 (Biog. Dir. Cong.; Annals of Congress, 7th Cong., 1st sess., p. 9–19, 309–342; , 33:553; 34:132; 36:310, 318, 323, 331–336; AA to TBA, 16 May 1801, and note 2, above).
11. For the repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801, see TBA to William Cranch, 30 Jan. 1802, and note 2, below.
12. The U.S. Supreme Court issued rulings in three additional cases during its Dec. 1801 session. An 11 Dec. unanimous decision in Resler v. Shehee permitted judges’ discretion in accepting or disallowing late filings. Marshall delivered the decision in Wilson v. Mason on 15 Dec., settling competing land claims in Kentucky. On 21 Dec. Marshall also delivered the court’s decision in Turner v. Fendall, which ruled that creditors did not have legal right to assets acquired from insolvent debtors unless they were obtained by court order (, 1:45, 102–103, 110–111, 117–119, 129–137; , 6:538; Erwin C. Surrency, “Minutes of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789–1806,” American Journal of Legal History, 8:336–338, 342 [Oct. 1964]).
13. Hannah Cushing was likely referring to a case filed in December by Joseph Hodgson against former secretary of war Samuel Dexter in U.S. Circuit Court. Hodgson, a hatter, had leased a building to Dexter as a new location for the War Office on the 2100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, but on 8 Nov. 1800 the structure was destroyed by fire. A congressional committee investigated the case and in a 28 Feb. 1801 report declared it an accident. Hodgson sued Dexter, alleging that he had broken the terms of their lease by not keeping the property in good repair and taking steps that would have prevented the fire. Dexter attempted to head off the suit by asking the House to indemnify him based on the report, but his request was referred to a committee on 4 Jan. 1802. The court case was continued to the Dec. 1802 session of the U.S. Circuit Court and decided by William Cranch on 17 Jan. 1803 in a ruling that found Dexter not liable for damages. Hodgson appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court in February; Marshall delivered a unanimous opinion on 2 March, affirming the lower court’s decision (Elaine C. Everly and Howard H. Webmann, “The War Office Fire of 1800,” Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration, 31:26, 29–31 [Spring 1999]; , 36:418; , 6:539; , 7th Cong., 1st sess., p. 30).
14. For the New Haven Remonstrance, see JQA to TBA, 16 Sept. 1801, and note 2, above.
15. A tavern in Vansville, Md., owned by Gabriel Van Horne (, 2:879–880).
16. The family of Ruth Hooper Dalton and Tristram Dalton recently moved from a house on Capitol Hill to a nearby dwelling owned by Daniel Carroll (William Cranch to Mary Smith Cranch, 15 May, MHi:Christopher P. Cranch Papers; Washington, D.C., National Intelligencer, 30 Dec.).
17. Representative John Rutledge Jr. (1766–1819) of South Carolina sometimes spent time in Rhode Island while Congress was not in session (; James H. Broussard, The Southern Federalists, Baton Rouge, La., 1978, p. 19).
18. George Baxter Upham (1768–1848), Harvard 1789, was a lawyer and Federalist representative from New Hampshire ().