From John Jay to Edward Newenham, 9 February 1787
To Edward Newenham
New York, 9th. Feby 1787.
Dear Sir
It unfortunately so happened that the Letter you did me the Honor to write on the 12 Augt. last,1 did not arrive until the near approach of the ^just before the^ annual Election of Congress. And At that Period Business generally becomes ^& continues^ suspended, until the new Delegates can assemble and choose elect a President. That Event took place last Week, when seven States being represented, they chose Major General St. Clair President for this Year.2—
Your above mentioned letter and one to ^Letter to Congress with the one inclosed with it, to me, together with one for to^ General Washington and another to Doctr. Franklin, were ^then^ taken into Consideration. Altho an universal Disposition prevailed to most cheerfully comply with your Request, to give your Son the Appointment in Question, yet an Act passed some Years past ^,ago,^ ^not^ constrained them would not permiting ^it^ them to have that pleasure, I was directed to inf assure you, that “Congress are well informed of your Character and Attachment to the Liberties of America, and that it would give them Pleasure to manifest the Esteem they entertain for you By complying with your Request, were they not restrained by a Law confining their Appointment of Consuls to Citizens.”—3
^Mrs. Jay joins me in requesting the Favor of you to present our Compliments &^ ^^[at bottom of page] and best Wishes to Lady Newenham4^^ with ^sincere^ great Sentiments of Esteem and Regard I have the Honor to be DrSr. your most obt. and very hble servt.
Sir Edwd Newenham
1. See Newenham to JJ, 12 Aug. 1786, DNA: PCC, item 82, 3: 255–56. Newenham, whom JJ had met in Paris, had addressed appeals to BF on 10 July and 12 Aug., and to GW, to JJ, and to the President of Congress, on 12 Aug. This text to JJ was one BF forwarded together with others from Newenham addressed to GW and to the President of Congress, in his letter to JJ of 21 Nov. 1786, ALS, with enclosures, DNA: PCC, item 82, 3: 253–62. See also LbkC of BF to JJ, 21 Nov., , 3: 103–4 (EJ: 2076), filed with Newenham to BF, 10 July and 12 Aug., and to the President of Congress, to the President and Members of Congress, and to GW, all 12 Aug., and Lady Grace Anna Newenham to BF, 21 Aug. 1786; and GW to BF, 3 Nov. 1786, , 3: 104–13; 1: 405–12; and additional texts of the cover letter to the President of Congress and the enclosed memorial to the President and Members of Congress, 12 Aug., LS, with enclosures, DNA: PCC, item 78, 17: 183–202.
Newenham, noting in his 10 July and 12 Aug. letters to BF that he had also written to “General Washington and Mr. Jay to request their Support,” informed BF that he had fixed his son Robert O’Callaghan Newenham, who was “blessed with the purest Principles of Integrity and Virtue,” at Marseilles, France, with “all his fortune” invested “in the Trade of that rising City.” Moreover, he added that “It will be mine and my Family’s Pride to have my Son distinguished by Congress (that Glorious Assembly of Patriots) in whose cause I so early engaged, whose interests I supported, whose suffering Sailors I often relieved, & I believe the active part I took in preventing more Troops to be sent … is well known to Congress.”
JJ referred Newenham’s letter to him, together with Newenham’s letter to the President of Congress, and his petition to the President and Members of Congress of 12 Aug., in a letter to the President of Congress of 23 Oct. 1786, which was read in Congress on 24 Oct. and referred back to JJ to report. LS, DNA; PCC, item 80, 3: 117–18 (EJ: 259); LbkC, , 2: 473 (EJ: 2053); , 23 and 24 Oct. (EJ: 3768). JJ acknowledged BF’s letter on 30 Dec. 1786, indicating that since Congress had not yet obtained a quorum no action could be taken. LS, PPAmP: Franklin (EJ: 2645); LbkC, , 3: 120 (EJ: 2086). For Newenham’s appeals to GW and the response, see PGW: Confederation Series, 4: 207–8, 327; 5: 81, 151, 508.
Robert O’Callaghan Newenham (1770–1849), was a member of the Marseilles trading firm of Folsch and Hornbostel; his sister, Margaretta (Marguerite) Newenham (1760–1843) had married François Philippe Fölsch von Fels, the consul for Sweden at Marseilles, in January 1783. During the French revolution, Newenham again wrote JJ soliciting his intercession to obtain information from the American consul at Marseilles on the safety of his daughter and her family. See Newenham, to JJ, 15 June and 9 Dec. 1794, and 1 Sept. 1795, ALS, NNC (EJ: 9589, 9592, 9593); and JJ to Newenham, 26 June 1794, Dft, NNC (EJ: 9591). Robert later returned to Ireland where he served as Superintendent General in the Barracks Department for 25 years. In his travels throughout Ireland he made sketches, many of which were published in Picturesque Views of the Antiquities of Ireland, Drawn on Stone, by James B. Harding, From the Sketches of Robert O’Callaghan Newenham Esq. (London, 1830).
2. Arthur St. Clair of Pennsylvania was elected president on 2 Feb. 1787. St. Clair, who retired from the Continental Army in 1783, was a congressional delegate, 1785–87, and served as president until 22 Jan. 1788. He became the first governor of the Northwest Territory in 1789, serving until 1802.
3. JJ’s report of 10 Jan. 1787 stated that Congress’s act of 16 Mar. 1784 ( 26: 144) barred the appointment of noncitizens to ministerial and consular appointments abroad, and recommended retention of the measure. However, he did suggest various other forms of acknowledgement for the contributions of foreigners to the American cause, including land grants and the naming of towns and counties in their honor, and advised forwarding a resolution praising Newenham. On 3 Feb. 1787, Congress referred the report, with the resolution recommended by JJ, back to him “to take order on the last paragraph.” For the report of 10 Jan., see DS, DNA: PCC, item 81, 3: 173–80 (EJ: 3961); Tr, DNA: PCC, item 124, 2: 260–64 (EJ: 4585); 32: 18–21. See also entries for 10 Jan. (EJ: 3771), and 8 and 9 Feb. 1787 (EJ: 3772).
JJ informed BF of Congress’s decision on 8 Feb. 1787, LS, PPAmp: Franklin (EJ: 2646); , 3: 139 (EJ: 2103); and wrote Newenham on 9 Feb., Dft, NNC (EJ: 5885); LbkC, , 242 (EJ: 2491). In a letter to the President of Congress of 24 Feb. 1787, LbkC, , 3: 149 (EJ: 2112), JJ, after receiving a letter from Lady Newenham, suggested Newenham’s son could become eligible by coming to America and becoming a naturalized citizen, but that he would not propose this to Newenham without congressional authorization. Newenham responded that it was too expensive for his son to travel to America, and suggested that his son be made a citizen of some state in a letter of 31 Mar. 1787, ALS, NNC (EJ: 9596). No such action was taken.
4. The former Lady Grace Anna Burton, daughter of Sir Charles Burton of Ireland, whom Newenham married in 1754. They had eighteen children.