1. In her letter of 4 Oct., Cranch seemed puzzled by AA’s comment about her niece’s imminent marriage: “What did you mean about Lucys going to be married there never was the least probability of it— She is a good Girl & I hope Will have a good husband Sometime or other but I Should not know What to do Without her at present” (Adams Papers). Lucy Cranch would not marry until 1795.

2. Not found.

3. On 21 July 1790, Creek chief Alexander McGillivray and a delegation of approximately thirty other Creek leaders and warriors arrived in New York City to negotiate a permanent treaty with the U.S. government. McGillivray (b. ca. 1759), the son of a Scottish trader and a woman of French and Creek ancestry, was classically educated in Charleston and Savannah prior to the Revolution. When his father, a loyalist, abandoned the colonies for Scotland, McGillivray rejoined the Creeks and eventually became the chief spokesman for the Indian tribes of the South. In frequent negotiation with the governments of Spain, Georgia, and the United States, McGillivray remained a shrewd and powerful advocate for the Creek people until his death in 1793.

The visit took place at the invitation of George Washington and Henry Knox, who sought to assert executive control over Indian policy by designating each tribe as a sovereign nation with whom the United States must negotiate at the federal level. Of immediate concern was recent action by the Georgia legislature to sell large tracts of Creek land to private companies, raising the prospect of an expensive Indian war on the southern frontier.

The Creek leaders were received with great fanfare as they traveled to the nation’s capital. Upon arriving in New York, they were greeted by the St. Tammany Society and paraded through the city past Federal Hall. One newspaper reported, “Col. McGillivray was dressed in a suit of plain scarlet; and the other Chiefs and Warriors in their national habits. They appear to be men of the first distinction, and their behaviour indicated strong marks of their approbation of the reception which they met with in this city.” The members of the delegation stopped at the homes of Washington and Gov. George Clinton before dining at the City Tavern, where they would lodge during their stay.

Following several weeks of negotiations and ceremony, an agreement that became known as the Treaty of New York was approved by the Senate on 7 Aug. 1790. According to the treaty, the United States displaced Spain as the Creeks’ main ally and, in return, promised to protect a large area of Creek land from encroachment by white settlers. During a formal signing ceremony on 13 Aug., the treaty was read aloud before a large audience. According to one report, “The President then signed the treaty—after which he presented a string of beads as a token of perpetual peace; and a paper of tobacco to smoke in remembrance of it; Mr. McGillivray rose, made a short reply to the President, and received the tokens. This was succeeded by the shake of peace, every one of the Creeks passing this friendly salute with the President; a song of peace performed by the Creeks concluded this highly interesting, solemn and dignified transaction.” The Creeks left New York shortly afterwards on 19 August. Within two years, the treaty had been rendered meaningless; the U.S. government was unable to halt white settlement in Creek territory, and McGillivray signed a new agreement with Spain in July 1792 (DAB description begins Allen Johnson, Dumas Malone, and others, eds., Dictionary of American Biography, New York, 1928–1936; repr. New York, 1955–1980; 10 vols. plus index and supplements. description ends ; New York Daily Gazette, 22 July 1790; New York Gazette of the United States, 14, 21 Aug.; Joseph J. Ellis, American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic, N.Y., 2007, p. 135, 149–154, 156–159).