John Adams to Abigail Adams, 28 March 1777

John Adams to Abigail Adams

Philadelphia March 28. 1777

“A Plott! a Plott! an horrid Plott, Mr. A.” says my Barber, this Morning.—“It must be a Plott 1. because there is British Gold in it. 2. because there is a Woman in it. 3. because there is a Jew in it. 4. because I dont know what to make of it.”

The Barber means, that a Villain was taken up, and examined Yesterday, who appears by his own Confession to have been employd by Lord Howe and Jo. Galloway to procure Pilots to conduct the Fleet up Delaware River and through the Chevaux de Frizes. His Confidant was a Woman, who is said to be kept by a Jew. The Fellow and the Woman will suffer for their Wickedness.1

RC (Adams Papers).

1. “The Fellow” was James Molesworth; he was executed three days later. See JA to AA, 31 March, below; William B. Reed, Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, Phila., 1847, 2:30–33; Burnett, ed., Letters of Members description begins Edmund C. Burnett, ed., Letters of Members of the Continental Congress, Washington, 1921–1936; 8 vols. description ends , 2:333, and references in note there.

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Source Project: Adams Papers
Title: John Adams to Abigail Adams, 28 March 1777
Author: Adams, John
Recipient: Adams, Abigail
Date: 28 March 1777

Reference

Cite as: “John Adams to Abigail Adams, 28 March 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-02-02-0141. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Adams Family Correspondence, vol. 2, June 1776 – March 1778, ed. L. H. Butterfield. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963, pp. 188–189.]

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