To Alexander Hamilton from Oliver Wolcott, Junior, 15 January 1796

From Oliver Wolcott, Junior

Treasury Department January 15th. 1796

Sir,

The question upon the Constitutionality of the Act imposing duties on Carriages,1 will I expect be determined by the Supreme Court the next month.2 I request you if possible to attend the trial as Counsel for the United States. Mr. Lee3 the Attorney General is now here & will be able to inform you of the time when the trial will come on, and will concert with you the measures proper to be pursued.

I am with perfect respect Sir, Your Most Obedient Servant

Oliv. Wolcott Jr.

Alexander Hamilton Esquire

LS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress; ADf, Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford; copy, Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford.

1. For information on the Carriage Tax case (Hylton v United States), see 3 Dallas, U.S. Reports description begins A. J. Dallas, Reports of Cases Ruled and Adjudged in the Several Courts of the United States and of Pennsylvania, Held at the Seat of the Federal Government. Vol. III, Second Edition. Edited, With Notes and References to Later Decisions, by Frederick C. Brightly (New York and Albany, 1882). description ends , 171; also in Goebel, Law Practice description begins Julius Goebel, Jr., ed., The Law Practice of Alexander Hamilton: Documents and Commentary (New York and London, 1964– ). description ends , forthcoming volumes. See also Tench Coxe to H, January 14, 19, 1795; H to Coxe, January 26, 28, 1795; William Bradford to H, July 2, August 4, 1795; Edmund Randolph to H, July 21, 1795; Wolcott to H, July 28, 1795; H to Wolcott, August 5, 1795.

2. Hylton v United States was argued before the Supreme Court of the United States at its February, 1796, term. The decision, handed down on March 8, 1796, declared the carriage tax constitutional (3 Dallas, U.S. Reports description begins A. J. Dallas, Reports of Cases Ruled and Adjudged in the Several Courts of the United States and of Pennsylvania, Held at the Seat of the Federal Government. Vol. III, Second Edition. Edited, With Notes and References to Later Decisions, by Frederick C. Brightly (New York and Albany, 1882). description ends , 171–83).

3. For Charles Lee’s appointment as Attorney General, see H to Wolcott, October 3, 1795, note 3.

Index Entries

You Are Looking At

Source Project: Hamilton Papers
Title: To Alexander Hamilton from Oliver Wolcott, Junior, 15 January 1796
Author: Wolcott, Oliver, Jr.
Recipient: Hamilton, Alexander
Date: 15 January 1796

Reference

Cite as: “To Alexander Hamilton from Oliver Wolcott, Junior, 15 January 1796,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-20-02-0014. [Original source: The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 20, January 1796 – March 1797, ed. Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1974, pp. 40–41.]

More between these correspondents