To George Washington from Alexander White, 11 January 1797
From Alexander White
Washington [D.C.] 11th January 1797
Sir
Previous to Mr Scotts setting out for Annapolis, it was mentioned by him and not controverted by Doctor Thornton, that a full Board would not be necessary till about the tenth of this month, and that I might with propriety remain in Virginia till that period, unless something should occur to render my presence sooner necessary, in which case they would give me notice.1 By a letter put in the Post-office of Washington on Friday, or of Alexandria on Monday I might have received that notice in the evening Wednesday, and I held myself in constant readiness to set out as soon after the receipt of notice as the exigency of the case might require—The resolution authorising the Loan from the State of Maryland passed on the 17th of December,2 Yet my Colleagues gave me no information of that event; indeed I had no knowledge of it until the Arrival of the Express mentioned in their letter to you of the 2d instant; had they written to me from Washington at any time previous to the 24th Ulo or sent a letter to Alexandria on or before the 26th I should certainly have been in Washington on the first of January, the earliest period according to their letter to you of 26th Ulo at which the Stock could be transferred—Or had they sent a letter to Alexandria the day on which they wrote you they would send an Express it would have reached me five hours sooner than the Express arrived3—It is not my business to criminate; but the letter of my Colleagues to you of the 2d instant carries with it such an implication of neglect of duty on my part, and states such evils resulting from that neglect, that I conceive justice to myself requires that I should make known the truth of the case.4 I am with Sentiments of the highest Respect, and most sincere Regard Sir Your most Obt Servt
Alexr White
ALS, DLC:GW. White wrote “Private” on the cover.
1. D.C. commissioner Gustavus Scott may have verbally discussed White’s absence from Washington; no letter from him on that subject has been identified. Appointed to negotiate a loan for the Federal City from the Maryland legislature, Scott had set out for Annapolis sometime on or just after 3 Dec. 1796, the day he last attended a meeting of the commissioners before he secured the loan on 14 Dec. (see DNA: RG 42, Records of the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, Proceedings, 1791–1802). White had been at his estate near Winchester, Va., and had returned to the Federal City by 9 Jan. (see his letter to GW, 15 Dec. 1796; see also GW to the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 1 Dec. 1796, source note).
2. For the $100,000 loan to the commissioners from the Maryland legislature, see John Hoskins Stone to GW, 12 Dec. 1796, and n.2; see also the commissioners to GW, 26 Dec. 1796, and n.4 to that document.
3. The commissioners wrote White on 2 Jan. to request his immediate return to the Federal City and to inform him that they had dispatched an express with the bonds to secure the Maryland loan. The commissioners wrote GW on the matter the same day (see Commissioners for the District of Columbia to GW, 2 Jan., and n.3; and the commissioners to GW, 26 Dec. 1796, and n.3).
4. No reply to White from GW has been found. GW next wrote him on 13 Jan., but did not address the topic of this letter (see White to GW, 15 Dec. 1796, and the source note to that document). White again wrote GW on 18 January.