To John Adams from Samuel Barrett, 1 June 1789

From Samuel Barrett

Boston 1 June 1789

Honored & dear Sir,

On Advice of my very excellent Friend the honbe Mr Bowdoin I inclose you Copies of my Letter to Major General Knox & his Answer, with a rough Draught of a Letter to his Excellency the President of the United States; requesting you to peruse them & to give me your opinion as to the best Mode of Conducting my intended Application, & if you approve of this mode & see any Prospect of Success to let me know what Alterations are necessary to be made in the Letter that I may perfect it & forward it to you to be presented with such Information as you may think proper to give, as I am a perfect Stranger to the President; but I am persuaded that every Purpose of such a Letter will be better accomplished by your Recommendation alone.1

You Sir will be the earliest acquainted with the Arrangements to be made & can instantly form a Judgment what Place may be suitable for me & what Probability there is of my obtaining it— Your advice & Patronage will be of the first Importance to me, as under the Conduct thereof alone I can ever accomplish my Wishes—& for your Goodness I shall ever esteem myself under the highest Obligations—

I can with Pleasure refer to Governor Bowdoin General Lincoln, Mr Gorham Judge Wendell2 Mr Strong, Mr Dalton, Mr Lowell, Mr Ames, General Knox & Mr Gerry Mr Cranch & to several other Gentlemen, for such Testimonials as may be requisite

I am, / Honored & dear Sir / With the highest Respect / Your very huml Sert

Samuel Barrett

PS. What think you of the Clerkship of the Federal Court, itinerant or domestic?3

With the domestic I might perhaps retain the Office of a Justice of the Peace, & recieve the Benefits of it, without Interference—& both would yield me a competent Support.

The clerkship will probably be in the Gift of the Court; but your Recommendation would give me Favor with the Justices of that Court—

RC and enclosures (Adams Papers).

1. Samuel Barrett (1739–1798), Harvard 1757, of Boston, had served as a judge of the Mass. Court of Common Pleas since May 1787. Barrett enclosed copies of his 11 May 1789 letter to Gen. Henry Knox, the secretary of war; a 24 May recommendation letter from Knox; and a 1 June Dft of his appeal to George Washington (all Adams Papers). JA replied on 11 June, below, prompting Barrett to revise his request. He petitioned the president a week later, soliciting the clerkship of the U.S. Supreme Court and listing JA among his references. Barrett did not earn a federal post. John Tucker was appointed clerk of the Supreme Court on 3 Feb. 1790 (Sibley’s Harvard Graduates description begins John Langdon Sibley, Clifford K. Shipton, Conrad Edick Wright, Edward W. Hanson, and others, Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Boston, 1873–. description ends , 14:135, 140–141; 18:520, 522; Worcester Magazine, 17 May 1787; Washington, Papers, Presidential Series description begins The Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series, ed. W. W. Abbot, Dorothy Twohig, Jack D. Warren, Mark A. Mastromarino, Robert F. Haggard, Christine S. Patrick, John C. Pinheiro, David R. Hoth, and others, Charlottesville, Va., 1987–. description ends , 3:33–35; Doc. Hist. Supreme Court description begins The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789–1800, ed. Maeva Marcus, James R. Perry, and others, New York, 1985–2007; 8 vols. description ends , 1:158, 160).

2. Oliver Wendell (1733–1818), Harvard 1753, of Boston, was a Suffolk County probate judge from 1780 to 1788 and served alongside Barrett on the Mass. Court of Common Pleas (Sibley’s Harvard Graduates description begins John Langdon Sibley, Clifford K. Shipton, Conrad Edick Wright, Edward W. Hanson, and others, Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Boston, 1873–. description ends , 13:367, 371–372, 373).

3. For the evolution of the Judiciary Act of 1789 and JA’s thoughts on the president’s appointments, see his letter of [10 July 1789] to Francis Dana, and note 2, below.

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Source Project: Adams Papers
Title: To John Adams from Samuel Barrett, 1 June 1789
Author: Barrett, Samuel
Recipient: Adams, John
Date: 1 June 1789

Reference

Cite as: “To John Adams from Samuel Barrett, 1 June 1789,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-20-02-0001. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 20, June 1789–February 1791, ed. Sara Georgini, Sara Martin, R. M. Barlow, Gwen Fries, Amanda M. Norton, Neal E. Millikan, and Hobson Woodward. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2020, pp. 1–2.]

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