To James Madison from the House of Representatives, 13 January 1807 (Abstract)
From the House of Representatives, 13 January 1807 (Abstract)
§ From the House of Representatives. 13 January 1807. “Mr. Clinton presented to the House a petition of James Jay, of the state of New York, which was received and read, praying the adjustment and settlement of his claims against the United States, for monies advanced, and for services rendered, during the revolutionary war with Great Britain, which were of a peculiar, secret and interesting nature.1
“Ordered that the said petition be referred to the Secretary of State, with instruction to examine the same, and report his opinion thereupon, to the House.”
MS (DNA: RG 59, ML). 1 p.; marked “Extract from the Journal” and signed by John Beckley; docketed by Wagner, with his note: “Memorial of John Jay.”
1. Sometime before 1776, James Jay (1732–1815), brother of John Jay, invented invisible ink that was used by Continental spies during the Revolutionary War (Weber, United States Diplomatic Codes and Ciphers, 59). In his 13 January 1807 petition, James Jay sought to settle his accounts for money advanced to the states and for the government’s use of the ink. The memorial was printed in the Report from the Committee to Whom Was Referred on the Fourth Instant, the Petition of James Jay, of the State of New-York (Washington, D.C., 1807; Shaw and Shoemaker 14077). For the resolution of James Jay’s claim, see Jay to JM, PJM-PS, 3:364 n. 1.