To Thomas Jefferson from Samuel Meredith, 29 August 1801
From Samuel Meredith
Washington August 29th. 1801
Sir,
The precarious state of Mrs. Meredith’s health, which has been injured by change of situation, the anxious desire she and the family have to be with their Friends & relations, as well as the necessary attention to my private affairs, which are suffering by my absence from Philada.; have induced me to offer you my resignation, to take place if you think proper about the last of October, or beginning of November, which I think will give me time to receive returns from the most distant Banks, make up my Quarterly Accounts to the 30th: September, and hand them to the Auditor for settlement: And for you Sir, to fix on a successor, to whom I may deliver over the funds in my hands, giving him every information I am capable of;
With offers of service, & thanks for your polite attention;
I am Sir, with perfect respect Your Mo: huml Servt.
Sam Meredith Tres
of the United States
RC (DLC); in a clerk’s hand, signed by Meredith; at foot of text: “The President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 3 Sep. and so recorded in SJL. FC (PWbH); in same clerk’s hand; lacks signature.
Philadelphia merchant Samuel Meredith (1741–1817) was appointed the first treasurer of the United States in 1789 and retained the post until his retirement in 1801. A veteran of the American Revolution, he served in the Pennsylvania legislature and Confederation Congress prior to his appointment, and was also among the initial directors of the Bank of North America. Following his departure from the Treasury Department, Meredith retired from public life and spent most of his remaining years at his rural estate in Wayne County, Pennsylvania ().
Mrs. Meredith: in 1772, Meredith married Margaret Cadwalader, who survived her husband and died in 1820 (; New-York Evening Post, 3 Oct. 1820).