Memorandum on Consuls and Consular Appointments, 15 February 1793
Memorandum on Consuls and Consular Appointments
Consuls remaining in office. Feb. 15. 1793.
- Marseilles. Stephan Cathalan of France. vice-consul
- Bordeaux. Joseph Fenwick. of Maryland. Consul
- Havre. M. de la Motte of France. vice consul
- London. Joshua Johnson. of Maryland. Consul. He refuses to give bond.
- qu. therefore if a successor must be appointed?
- Bristol. Elias Vanderhorst of S. Carolina. Consul
- Liverpool. James Maury of Virginia. Consul.
- Pool. Thomas Auldjo of Gr. Britain. vice consul.
- Lisbon. Edward Church. of Massachusets. Consul.
- Madeira. John Marsden Pintard of New York. Consul.
- Fayal. John Street of Fayal. vice consul.
- Copenhagen. Hans Rodolph Saabye of Denmark. Consul.
- Morocco. Thomas Barclay of Pensylva. Consul.
- Calcutta. Benjamin Joy. of Massachusets. Consul.
- Canton. Samuel Shaw. of Massachusets. Consul.
- Martinique. Fulwar Skipwith of Virginia. Consul.
Consuls &c. who have resigned or abandoned their Consulates.
- Nantes. Burrel Carnes. resigned.
- Rouen. Nathaniel Barrett. abandoned, and settled at New York.
- Dublin. William Knox. resigned.
- St. Domingo. Sylvanus Bourne. resigned.1
- Santa Cruz. James Yard. resigned.
- Surrinam. Ebenezer Brush. abandoned.
Candidates for appointments.
| Havre. | Nathaniel Cutting of Massachusets to be Consul. |
| Falmouth. | Edward Fox. of Gr. Britain. to be Consul. Our ships often touch at Falmouth for orders, and have occasion for patronage to prevent their being forced to enter. A safe person there also for taking care of letters, is important. Fox recommended by Mr. Morris and Mr. Meade. |
| Cadiz. | Joseph Yznardi. of Spain. to be Consul. One very much wanting both for commerce and intelligence. He is recommended by Mr. Harison (Auditor) and N. Cutting. See the letter of the latter. He speaks English very well, and appears to Th:J. to be sensible and discreet. |
| Alicant. | Robert Montgomery. of to be Consul.2 This candidate has been very pressing for many years. His zeal has prompted him to try to serve us with the Barbary states, where however he has done us more harm than good. His character and circumstances are understood to be good, and an appointment at Barcelona becomes less indifferent since Mr. Barclay’s information of the number of our vessels which now venture into the Straights. |
| Teneriffe.3 | |
| Hamburg. | John Parish of Gr. Britain. to be Consul. He was formerly appointed viceconsul, but would not accept that. A consul at that port is of some importance to our commerce; and may be so to our mint, as the convenient port for obtaining copper from Sweden. |
| Santa Cruz. | M. Furant. of to be Consul. Mentioned by Mr. Yard. |
| Henry Cooper. Recommended by John Wilcocks. See his letter. | |
| St. Eustatius. | David Matthew Clarkson. Pennsylva. to be Consul. Recommended by his father in Philadelphia and by a Mr. Godin, whose letter is to be noted. |
| William Stevenson. of New Jersey. to be do. Recommended by Mr. Wilcocks, Mr. Gouverneur, Mr. Yard, and objected to by Godin. | |
| Curaçoa. | Benjamin Hamnell Philips of Pensylvania. to be Consul. Strongly recommended by Messrs. Meade, Wolne, Vaughan, Nesbitt, Pickering and others. See the letters. |
Th: Jefferson
Philadelphia. Feb. 15. 1793.
PrC (DLC). Entry in SJPL: “Consuls.”
TJ prepared this document for the use of the President, to whom he submitted it this day. Washington returned it on the 16th, and two days later TJ prepared another memorandum for the President in which he recommended the appointment of consuls for all the places listed above except Tenerife (, 55; Memorandum on Consuls Recommended for Appointment, 18 Feb. 1793, and note).
Nathaniel Cutting’s letter to TJ recommending Joseph Yznardi is dated 30 Jan. 1793. Concerning the candidacy of Furant, see note to James Monroe to TJ, 3 Jan. 1793. The letter from John Wilcocks to TJ on behalf of Henry Cooper is dated 17 Sep. 1792 (Tr in DLC: Washington Papers, Applications for Office; in Wilcocks’s hand and signed by him; at foot of text: “(Copy) Original forwarded to Monticello”; endorsed by TJ as received 6 Oct. 1792 and so recorded in SJL). P. N. Godin’s 28 June 1791 letter to Robert Morris on the subject of a consular appointment for St. Eustatius is in Vol. 20: 581–2. Isaac Gouverneur’s letter of recommendation in favor of William Stevenson was enclosed in Richard Harrison to TJ, 28 Nov. 1792. James Yard’s 27 Dec. 1792 letter to James Monroe on Stevenson’s behalf (DLC: Washington Papers, Applications for Office) was enclosed in Monroe to TJ, 3 Jan. 1793. George Meade’s letter to TJ in favor of Benjamin Hamnell Philips is dated 24 Jan. 1792. The other letters of recommendation mentioned by TJ have not been found.
1. Beneath this line TJ canceled “Martinique Fulwar Skipwith resigned.”
2. Preceding three words interlined.
3. Here TJ canceled “John Culnan. of to be Consul. Recommended by John and James Moylan and others. See the papers. There is rather more reason for than against the appointment, tho it is not very important.” Culnan was not nominated and confirmed as consul at Tenerife until May 1794 (, i, 158).