To George Washington from Timothy Pickering, 11 July 1796
From Timothy Pickering
Department of State July 11. 1796.
Sir,
Agreeably to the intimation in your letter respecting a surveyor general,1 I take the liberty to inclose the application of Israel Ludlow, with the certificates of recommendation which he has this morning delivered to me. He is about twenty nine years of age, of a good person and agreeable manners.2
I have thought it proper on this occasion to inclose the applications of Mr John Hall & Joseph Ellicott,3 whose names were formerly mentioned as applicants. Mr Hall, I understand, is of a respectable family in Maryland; which I suppose has led Mr Murray to urge his appointment. He married a daughter of Dr Ewing, is upwards of thirty years old, and now I take it resides in Pennsylvania. His politics, I am assured, are perfectly correct. Personally I know nothing of him.4
I have yet heard nothing from Mr Adet.5 With the highest respect, I am, sir, your most obt servant
Timothy Pickering
ALS, DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Letters; LB, DNA: RG 59, Domestic Letters; LB, DNA: RG 59, GW’s Correspondence with His Secretaries of State. GW received this letter on 15 July (see his letter to Pickering, 18 July).
1. See GW to Pickering, 1 July.
2. Israel Ludlow had written Pickering from Philadelphia on 9 July seeking appointment as surveyor general. He based his qualifications on having “been employed by the General Gove[r]nment for a number of years to conduct and compleat certain surveys and to ascertain the exterior lines or boundaries of the purchases made of the United States by the Ohio, the Scioto, & the Miami Company.” Ludlow enclosed recommendations from Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Robert Patterson, and Elias Boudinot and noted that Alexander Hamilton “was good enough to give me a certificate of my services with his opinion concerning my abilities which was handed the President by Mr Wolcott.”
Wolcott’s certificate, dated 9 July, listed Ludlow’s various public employments and stated “that all these services so far as I know or am able to judge have been performed to public satisfaction & with fidelity industry and ability—Of his skill in the business of Surveying lands, I am no personal judge, but in this and other respects he has been well recommended to me, by persons in whom I place confidence.”
The certificate from Patterson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, also dated 9 July, stated that Ludlow had studied mathematics and “practical astronomy” under him “and that from the abilities which he then discovered, as well as his subsequent application, and experience in the business of Surveying, I have no doubt of his being well acquainted with whatever relates to that branch of practical science.”
Boudinot’s certificate, dated 11 July, stated “that I have been acquainted with Mr Israel Ludlow from his childhood—He is the Son of a worthy Citizen of New Jersey and has been well educated in the principles of the Mathematics as a Science, particularly in that part of it, relative to Surveying & Mensuration—That he has been engaged for several Years in practical Surveying & plotting of Lands in the Western Country, on behalf of the Government as well as for Individuals, and from my knowledge of his Conduct, he has given general Satisfaction to his employers” (all DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Papers; see also Wolcott to GW, this date, and Pickering’s second letter to GW, 19 July).
3. Joseph Ellicott had written Pickering from Philadelphia on 25 May: “I am Embold[e]ned to make this Application, from a persuasion that my Knowledge of the Science of Surveying, is Commensurate to the Object, Both as to ascertaining Astronomically the Latitudes of places, and Running the true instead of the Magnetic Courses.” He mentioned David Rittenhouse among witnesses to his abilities (DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Letters; see also Pickering’s second letter to GW, 19 July, and GW’s first letter to Pickering, 25 July).
4. John Hall (1760–1826) was the son of Elihu Hall, a Cecil County planter who served in the Maryland House, 1779–80. In 1783 he married Sarah Ewing (1761–1830), daughter of John Ewing, a clergyman and provost of the University of Pennsylvania. Sarah Ewing Hall later gained recognition as an author, perhaps most notably for Conversations on the Bible (Philadelphia, 1818). John Hall was secretary of the Pennsylvania land office and remained in that position until President John Adams appointed him federal marshal for Pennsylvania in 1799.
Hall’s letter of application has not been identified, but Pennsylvania congressman John W. Kittera and Maryland congressman William Vans Murray had written Pickering on 23 May to recommend Hall. Kittera “always entertained a very favorable opinion both of his integrity & his abilities.” Murray recommended Hall as “a sensible and worthy man, & one who has been a good deal engaged in that sort of business—I believe him to be well qualify’d in all respects to serve the public in that character & should be gratify’d if this application should meet with your approbation” (both DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Letters).
5. Pickering probably is referring to French minister Pierre-Auguste Adet’s response to questions regarding French interruption of U.S. commercial shipping (see Cabinet to GW, 2 July, n.2; see also Pickering to GW, 15 July, and his third letter to GW, 19 July). Pickering also sought to learn Adet’s intentions with regard to visiting Mount Vernon (see Pickering’s second letter to GW, 4 July, and his first letter to GW, 13 July; see also James McHenry to GW, 16–17 July).