To Thomas Jefferson from Gideon Granger, 14 September 1802
From Gideon Granger
Suffield Sept: 14. 1802
Dear Sir.
In a packet which will go by this days mail, I have forwarded a copy of Mr. Wolcots late pamphlet and Two Letters which were forwarded to me evidently with a view of Submitting the same to your perusal, which I think it my duty to do without remark. I understand we have completely triumphed in Rhode Island. The news from Vermt. continues favorable—The Slanders which are in circulation agt. you exceed every thing you can possibly conceive of. I have had a Swelling in My Throat which came to a head yesterday & I hope soon to be in Health.
Your Affectionate friend
Gidn: Granger
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “The President”; endorsed by TJ as received 23 Sep. and so recorded in SJL.
LATE PAMPHLET: Oliver Wolcott’s An Address, to the People of the United States, on the Subject of the Report of a Committee of the House of Representatives, Appointed to “Examine and Report, Whether Monies Drawn from the Treasury, Have Been Faithfully Applied to the Objects for which They Were Appropriated, and Whether the Same Have Been Regularly Accounted for.” Which Report was Presented on the 29th of April, 1802 (Hartford, 1802; No. 3285). The pamphlet, dated 12 July 1802, defended the previous administration against the accusations made in the 29 Apr. 1802 congressional report, that discussed inappropriate expenditures and misapplication of public monies. John Steele, the comptroller, also criticized the findings (see Steele to TJ, 28 June 1802). Wolcott sent Alexander Hamilton a copy of the pamphlet, noting that it furnished several useful truths “to those who wish to comment upon the conduct of our present administration” ( , 26:44–5). For the call for the investigation, see Vol. 36:212n. The congressional report is printed in , Finance, 1:752–821.
The TWO LETTERS which Granger forwarded have not been identified.
In the election held on 7 Sep., voters in RHODE ISLAND chose Republicans Nehemiah Knight and Joseph Stanton, Jr., to represent the state in the Eighth Congress. The Republican newspapers noted that, except for the merchants of Providence, the Rhode Island voters were “firm and numerous in favor of Republicanism” ( ; Boston Mercury and New-England Palladium, 10 Sep. 1802; Newport Rhode-Island Republican, 9 Oct. 1802).