1Call for a Meeting, [4 June 1798] (Hamilton Papers)
Card. The officers of the late army and navy of the United States are requested to meet at Gautier’s, on Tuesday evening, 7 o’clock, to consult on the subject of measures for the immediate security of our port and city. [New York] Argus. Greenleaf’s New Daily Advertiser , June 4, 1798. For background to this document, see the introductory note to H to James McHenry, June 1, 1798 . The report...
2Théophile Cazenove to Egbert Benson and Alexander Hamilton, 29 May 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, May 29, 1797. “The enclosed extract of a Letter lately received from General Schuyler will create much uneasiness amongst the Dutch proprietors who have obtained the faculty to hold their Lands in the state of New York ’till the 11th. April 1803. A Law passed in the last Session extends that faculty ’till 1816. provided the Dutch Proprietors shall interest themselves as...
3Théophile Cazenove to Egbert Benson and Alexander Hamilton, 5 July 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, July 5, 1797. States: “Mr. Benson’s absence retarding the answer upon my letter of the 29 May, which answer I have sollicited from your friendship, permit me to add to that letter some observations relative to the same Subject.” Asks if the Holland Land Company “is allowed to sell at 10 & 12 years credit;… will She be allowed to hold the mortgage upon the Land as a pledge for the...
4From Alexander Hamilton to Barent Bleecker, [5 April 1797] (Hamilton Papers)
The fourth & last installment of the purchase money of the Cosby Manor Lands has become due. It is 1655 Dollars & 50 Cents of which your ¼ is 413. Dollars & 87 Cents. I beg the favour of you to lose no time in forwarding this Sum to me. With esteem Yr very hum ser ALS , Detroit Public Library. For an explanation of the contents of this letter, see the introductory note to Philip Schuyler to...
5Simeon DeWitt to Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, and Ebenezer Stevens, 18 June 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
Albany, June 18, 1798. “Mr. Abraham Bloodgood will … exhibit to you a model of a floating battery of his own invention.…” ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. DeWitt was surveyor general of New York State. He addressed this letter to H, Burr, and Stevens in their capacity as members of the Military Committee of New York City. See “Call for a Meeting,” June 4, 1798, note 2 . See also the...
6From Alexander Hamilton to Jonathan Burrall, [17 May 1798] (Hamilton Papers)
Of the sum deposited in the Office of the B of the U States in my name in trust for Louis LeGuen you will please to cause to be paid upon his orders or Checks as they may be presented The excess beyond thirty thousand Dollars, which 30000 Dollars are to remain in deposit until a further communication from me. With esteem Yr Obd Svt. ALS , from a typescript supplied by the Lincoln Library,...
7From Alexander Hamilton to Théophile Cazenove, 14 October 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, October 14, 1797. States: “The question of interest on the contract with Mr Morris of the 24th of December 1792 is not free from difficulty and doubt. I however think it the better opinion that interest is payable until the 24th of December 1795 and no longer .” Gives reasons for this opinion. ALS , Gemeentearchief Amsterdam, Holland Land Company. These documents were transferred in...
8From Alexander Hamilton to Théophile Cazenove, [14 October 1797] (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, October 14, 1797 .] Answers Cazenove’s letters of May 29 and July 5, 1797, concerning ownership of lands in New York State by aliens. ADf , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress; two copies, Gemeentearchief Amsterdam, Holland Land Company. The Holland Land Company documents were transferred in 1964 from the Nederlandsch Economisch-Historisch Archief, Amsterdam. H wrote this letter...
9Conveyance from Alexander Hamilton, Elizabeth Hamilton, Isaac Bronson, and Ann Bronson to John B. Church, 24 May 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, May 24, 1798. Convey two and one-half lots of land in New York City to Church. Copy, Conveyances in the Office of the Register, City of New York, Liber 60, 176–79, Hall of Records, New York City. Bronson, a prominent New York City moneylender and land speculator, had been a surgeon’s mate in the American Revolution. For information on this conveyance, see “Receipt from Morgan Lewis,”...
10Jacob Mark and Company to John B. Church, Alexander Hamilton, and John Laurance, 30 May 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
We are sorry to find that owing to the embarrassed situation of the Land You purchased from us last Year so great an inconvenience and loss shou’d arise to You as well as ourselves in being retarded in the settlement; and as we are particularly anxious to remove the most distant hard thought from You towards us, we think it proper to make You such proposals as are not only founded on fair and...
11Enclosure: Robert Morris to John B. Church, 1 November 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
I informed you some time since that I was in Treaty for money to pay the interest due to you, it so happened that I could not bring the agreement to a close before the Citizens of Philadelphia began to disperse on account of the Yellow fever, and since they did so, it has been next to impossible to get any business done. They are now returning to their homes and I shall renew my negotiations...
12From Alexander Hamilton to Jeremiah Condy, 22 November 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, November 22, 1797. Hamilton endorsed the letter Condy wrote to him on November 21, 1797 : “Ans 22 Nov.” Letter not found. ]
13From Alexander Hamilton to Simeon DeWitt, 28 June 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, June 28, 1797. “I am applied to, to examine the Title to a tract of land described in the extract A, which is inclosed. It appears from the papers put into my hands, that a Map of the intire tract patented to John W Watkins the 25 of June 1794 as surveyed is on file in your office. By the extract from the patent, which is also herewith, it is found that a number of tracts...
14From Alexander Hamilton to John Fenno, [17–22 July 1797] (Hamilton Papers)
It has been a general maxim with me, to leave the evidence of my conduct and character to answer the calumnies which party spirit is so incessantly busied in heaping upon me; nor should I have deviated from this course in the present instance, had it not been, that the names of three citizens of political and personal importance in the community appeared to give sanction to the slander. But...
15From Alexander Hamilton to John Fenno, [6 July 1797] (Hamilton Papers)
I have seen in your paper of 27th June past, the advertisement of a new publication, being No. V of the History of the United States for 1796, and containing these paragraphs: “This number likewise contains some singular and authentic papers relative to Mr. Alexander Hamilton, late Secretary of the Treasury. No greater proof can be given of the value which is attached to their suppression than...
16To Alexander Hamilton from Robert Morris, 9 September 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
I have received your favour of the 29th. with the Papers enclosed therewith and should have acknowledged the receipt of them immediately but that I observed you had inserted a larger Sum as the bala. of my Note than I thought could be due thereon & lest you may not have kept a regular acct of the payments I have made on that account I wrote Mr Cottringer to make an extract from My Books & you...
17To Alexander Hamilton from Robert Morris, 2 October 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
I cannot help feeling some chagrin when I find you constantly treating the debt I owe you as if you were in danger of loosing it, because I wish to stand higher in your confidence than it seems is the case. I have assured you that you should not loose and I am happy to see my way clear to effect the payment pretty soon, perhaps some influen⟨ce o⟩n your part over those who are to pay may ⟨b⟩e...
18To Alexander Hamilton from James McHenry, 15 May 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
I wrote you a line yesterday acknowleging the receipt of your late letters from Albany. I expect that there will be a quorum of both branches to-day. It appears that the news of the Emp. of Germ. having signified his intention to make peace was unfounded. Had it even been so, it ought to have augmented our endeavours to meet hostility. It is probable that a new character will be given Pinckney...
19To Alexander Hamilton from Cornelius I. Bogert, 1 January 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York ] January 1, 1798 . “Permit me to request your attention to the case of Bull agt Armstrong & Barnewall.…” ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. Bogert was a New York City attorney. This is a reference to the case of Henry Bull v William Armstrong and George Barnwall . For a discussion of this case, along with the relevant documents, see Goebel, Law Practice Julius Goebel, Jr.,...
20To Alexander Hamilton from Isaac Gouverneur, 7 January 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, January 7, 1798. “The cause which has been so long depending between Louis le Guen and my commercial house in this city, has excited so much attention … I can only address you on the subject through the medium of a public newspaper.… To satisfy me more fully on the subject … I resorted to Philadelphia to take further advice from three more gentlemen that were thought most eminent in...
21To Alexander Hamilton from Edward Jones, [29 July 1797] (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia, July 29, 1797. On July 30, 1797, Jones wrote to Hamilton and referred to “my letter of yesterday.” Letter not found. ] Jones was a clerk in the Treasury Department.
22To Alexander Hamilton from Jeremiah Wadsworth, 2 August 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
your favor of the 28th July arrived late last evening. I have not the least knowledge of Mrs. Reynolds’s hand writing nor do I remember ever to have recd a line from her if I did they were destroyed but a letter or two for you which by Your request I returned to her or destroyed. The first time I ever saw or heared of her She came to my lodgings one Morning —and stated the Situation of her...
23To Alexander Hamilton from Oliver Wolcott, Junior, 7 July 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
I send you the residue of the pamph[l]et. I am astonished at the villany of Munroe—a more base, false, & malignant suggestion than is contained in his Note of Jany 2d 1793. was never uttered. I am yrs ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. For background to this letter, see the introductory note to Wolcott to H, July 3, 1797 . Wolcott enclosed pamphlet No. VI by James Thomson Callender....
24To Alexander Hamilton from Uriah Tracy, 6 April 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
I thank you for your Letter of the 1st inst. —but as Johnson of Salisbury teazes to purchase for him the Land, which lies in that Town, in your care, I will thank you to write me or him, whether you mean he should have it. Your plan you say respecting our public affairs is to move together till common danger rouse to common Action. I am perfectly in sentiment with you—provided we can rouse...
25To Alexander Hamilton from Rufus King, 2 July 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
France will pursue with us the Plan that she has elsewhere found successful. She will endeavour to overthrow us by the Divisions among ourselves which she will excite and support by all the means of which she is mistress. The Paris Papers of the 18. ulto. say le Citoyen Roziers est nommé Consul Genl. aux Etats unis. Gamier (en convenl. de Saintes) consul, & Boscq vice consul à Wilmington,...
26To Alexander Hamilton from Robert Morris, 20 May 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
I cannot account for the little notice that has been taken of some of my latest letters to you, but I hope the present will obtain your favourable attention. When Capt. Williamson agreed to give up the Lien which my Deed gave to Colo Smith, it was expressly mention’d by me & agreed by him that the Suit which had been Commenced in the Court of Chancerry by Colo Walker should be withdrawn & the...
27To Alexander Hamilton from Isaac Gouverneur, 9 January 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, January 9, 1798. “I had the honor to pay my respects to you on the 7th inst. to give the opinions of the able counsellors at the bar in Philadelphia, on the case of Le Guen’s.… I think you, as a professional man of the law, should act with more caution in committing yourself with a mistaken opinion; for it frequently acts as a spur to make individuals unreasonably obstinate...
28To Alexander Hamilton from William Jackson, 31 July 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
Your letter to Mr. Monroe, which I received under cover on Saturday last, was delivered to him on that day—he said he should not leave Philadelphia until thursday, and gave me to understand that he would write to you. It appears to me that your publication must go on, as Mr. M did not seem willing to grant the certificate, and I confess I should be unwilling to recommend any compromise short...
29To Alexander Hamilton from Egbert Benson, 4 August 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York ] August 4, 1797 . “I take the first leisure moment to write to you on the Subject you mentioned to Me on Tuesday last, as to the Probability, whether after the Expiration of the seven Years granted by the first Law, the Legislature would prolong the Term for which the Dutch Gentlemen might hold the Lands they have purchased in our State? For four successive Sessions of the...
30To Alexander Hamilton from James Monroe, [10 July 1797] (Hamilton Papers)
Mr. Monroe readily consents to an interview with Colo. Hamilton tomorrow at ten in the morning at his lodgings with Mr. Knox in Wall Street. He will bring whom he pleases. AL , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. For background to this letter, see the introductory note to Oliver Wolcott, Jr., to H, July 3, 1797 ; H to Monroe, July 10, 1797 . Thomas Knox, a New York City merchant, lived at 46...
31To Alexander Hamilton from Elisha Boudinot, 10 April 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
New Ark [ New Jersey ] April 10, 1797 . “I have considered your propositions in the business of Col. Fays and reflected on the situation of his partner, and would rather sacrifice what is my right—then bare hard on him.… If he will take up two Notes which I have given, and are lodged in Mr. Seatons hands the one for two hundred & thirty four dollars payble 10 May—the other for seven hundred &...
32To Alexander Hamilton from Robert Morris, 27 October 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
In my last letter to you I said I saw the means of discharging my debt to you in consequence of the purchase made of the Indians and that your influence might be usefull in the recovery of the money, it is thus; Doctor Craigie in Co with Watson & Greenleaf purchased of Mr Saml. Ogden with my consent 100000 acres of Genesee land for which they paid, except $12500 Watson and Greenleaf were half...
33To Alexander Hamilton from Robert Morris, 23 May 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
Your letter of yesterday is arrived and the Contents are very Acceptable, I hope the business in the Chancerry Court will soon be dismissed and the Certificate returned to me with that addition. Accept my Congratulations on the arrival of Mr Church & his Family and I will thank you to present Mrs Morris’s & mine to Mr & Mrs. Church with the Assurance of the pleasure it will give us to See them...
34To Alexander Hamilton from Henry A. Williams, 31 March 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
New York, March 31, 1798. “I am again necessitated to write you from this gloomy place (Viz. the Goal) where a trifling sum … holds me. You will therefore I hope excuse me for Troubling you and as Imediately as possible take the Necessary Steps to Recover that Money.…” ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. When he was not in jail, Williams was a grocer at 102 Broad Street in New York...
35To Alexander Hamilton from Francisco de Miranda, 6 April [–7 June] 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
Celle-ci vous sera remise, mon Cher et respectable Ami, par mon Compatriote D. Pedro Josef de Caro, chargé des Depéches de la plus haute importance pour le President des Etats Unis: il vous dirà Confidentiellement ce que vous voudrez apprendre sur ce Sujet. Il paroit que le moment de nottre emancipation aproche, et que l’etablissement de la Libertè sur tout le Continent du Nouveaumonde nous...
36To Alexander Hamilton from Robert Morris, 17 January 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
I have been a long time possessed of your letter of the 26 Decemr without replying, which has been Occasioned by my waiting to hear from my Son Thomas whether he had made any arrangement for paying the debt I owe you. It seems he wrote to me at New York on the 4th. inst but his Servant instead of putting the letter in the Post Office, put it with some others into his Trunk and took it to...
37To Alexander Hamilton from Pierre Charles L’Enfant, 6 July 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
Perceiving from your letter of the 3d instant that there must have been some misconception of misrepresentation of what you mentioned, respecting me, to M. Soderestrom, and your explanation upon the whole shewing there was nothing contained in your conversation with that gentleman to Injure me nor that could impeach my Integrity or honor—I here testify this to be satisfactory. only as you...
38To Alexander Hamilton from James Thomson Callender, [10 July 1797] (Hamilton Papers)
I have seen your letter of the 6th inst. in Mr. Fenno’s Gazette. An answer seems requisite. It shall be as concise as possible. With regard to the anecdote of the Minerva, you affirm it to be Wholly False . Information, which I sincerely credit, states it as being strictly true. There the story may rest. As for what you say of the papers signed by Messrs. Muhlenberg, Venable, and Munroe, I...
39To Alexander Hamilton from Abraham B. Venable, 10 July 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
I had written you yesterday in answer to your letter of the fifth, in which I informed you that I had no copy of the papers in question, the transaction took place at Mr Monroes, where I left the papers, since which I have not seen them. The paper alluded to as well as I can recollect was in the nature of a memorandum for our own use, to refresh our memories in case we Should ever be called...
40To Alexander Hamilton from Rufus King, 6 June 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
We have certain intelligence that the Toulon expedition has sailed. The number of Troops, of Transports, and of men of war are variously stated, but it is known that Buona parte commands and that the fleet is a very great one—its Destination is the subject of inquietude and of conjecture. A few Days will bring us more perfect accounts, and from the Force and Position of the Br. fleet under Ld....
41To Alexander Hamilton from James McHenry, 14 April 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
The letter you sent me has been confined to myself; but the other letters you have written on the same subject, has in your successor at least created some unpleasant feelings. Where opinions clash, and where superiority is made too apparent something a little like envy will come into play especially should a suspicion take place that pains are used to gain proselites. I have this moment...
42To Alexander Hamilton from David Ross, 16 October 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
The subject of the letter I alluded to in my last, did not relate to Colo. Mercer but to a public assertion of a letter of yours, being seen in one of the West India Islands in favour of a change of our Government to Monarchy. I had concluded you had agreed with me in sentiment that nothing Co. Mercer could say was worth your notice after I had furnished you with Capt. Campbells & my answer to...
43To Alexander Hamilton from Ambrose Spencer, 30 October 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
Hudson [ New York ] October 30, 1797 . Discusses a case involving a land dispute between William Proctor, for whom Hamilton was counsel, and “Avery & others,” who were represented by Spencer. ALS , Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress. Spencer was a Hudson, New York, attorney. In 1794 he represented Columbia County in the New York Assembly, and from 1796 to 1802 he was a member of the state...
44To Alexander Hamilton from Robert Morris, 2 June 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
Your letter of yesterday is this moment recd and I take my pen upon the first impulse to tell you not to be uneasy, I will pay you every farthing principal & interest, have patience for my measures to operate & rely yourself with Confidence. The Nature of your debt ties me at all events & it shall be paid. As to Mr Church’s Security how can it be doubted. I told you before that Mr Marshall is...
45To Alexander Hamilton from Timothy Pickering, 9 April 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
This morning the dispatches from our envoys are published, and I inclose a copy. In your letter of March 27th in answer to mine of the 25th just then received, you say, “I shall write again to-morrow.” I have received no letter from you since that of the 27th. which I mention on the presumption that you may have written, and because if you have, it is important on every account that it should...
46To Alexander Hamilton from Rufus King, 6[–10] August 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
No satisfactory Opinion can yet be formed concerning the termination of the negotiations for Peace. Even those who are supposed to have the best information are without confidence—on the one Hand peace may be concluded sooner than any one thinks probable, on the other the negotiations at Lisle and montebello may be suddenly broken off, and France again engaged with austria as well as England....
47To Alexander Hamilton from James McHenry, [7 August 1797] (Hamilton Papers)
I have recd and read the enclosed. I think the advice contained in the last paragraph ought to be adopted. Mr J—— will say to Dawson “that inasmuch as you have expressly told Mr M—— that in your opinion his motives were malignant and conduct dishonorable, that he would advise you against throwing it into a more formal challenge, it resting with Mr Munroe to submit it to the expressions or...
48To Alexander Hamilton from John B. Church, 12 July 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, July 12, 1797. On July 13, 1797, Church wrote to Hamilton : “I wrote you a few Lines hastily Yesterday at the Post Office.” Letter not found. ]
49To Alexander Hamilton from James McHenry, 6 June 1798 (Hamilton Papers)
I had reckoned upon the immediate arrival of the Secry. of Marine when I wrote you that I should leave this City for New York to-day. He will not be here before Friday. I cannot of course set out sooner than monday. I have requested Lt. Col. Doughty to join me at Brunswick, and will bring with me one Hill who possesses information which may be useful. Yours sincerely ADfS , James McHenry...
50To Alexander Hamilton from John Girard, 17 April 1797 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, April 17, 1797. “As I wish to have the Suit against Armstrong & Barnwall Brought to an end, I wrote to Capn Briggs at New London to be ready for this next court. I received: Last saturday his answer was that tho’, he was just from Sea, that he was forced to Sett off immediately for Jeremie.… Pray what and how Shall I do? It is indispensable for you to take the properest means So...