From Tench Coxe to John Adams, 3 November 1793
From Tench Coxe
near Philada. Novemr. 3d. 1793
Sir
As the time fixed by the constitution for the meeting of Congress is approaching, I presume it will be interesting to you to know the Situation of things here. I therefore do myself the honor to write to you—
I have the authority of three Physicians of the city for assuring you that for several days prior to last Night (the date of my information) no person has died in Philada. of the Yellow fever—and that no person has taken the disease for several days— Those, who have gone in from the Country have been found, in the dangerous times, to have taken the fever immediately, but none, who have returned to the city in the last ten days are known to have caught it.—1
Two of the Physicians, who had left the city, have returned.—
It does not appear, that the President, who is at German Town, intends to take any measure, formal or informal, to produce a meeting of Congress elsewhere than in Philada. 2 Among the Reasons for this line of Conduct, I believe, an actual one is, that there does not appear any reason to suppose that there will be danger in the beginning of Decr. in that city.
The three Secretaries are in the vicinity of Phidelphia—as are most of the other officers usually residing at the seat of Government—all indeed I believe, but one. The Postmaster Genl. is in the City—3
Trade is returning fast into its ordinary Channels—
There has been a renewed report of the resignation of Mr. Jefferson, who, the Attorney general was of opinion, would not return to Phidelphia, as I learn from Mr. Hamilton. The Secretary of State is however arrived— Conjectures have been that Mr. Randolph will succed, if Mr. J. should resign—4 The times require the best talents, and as much weight of Character in that office, as can be found.
It is supposed that the friends of Mr. Wm. Lewis of Philada. will suggest his Name for Consideration, among others, to succeed Mr. Randolph, if the latter is moved to the Department of State.—5 The law Adviser of the Chief Magistrate of the U. S, especially if he is continued, as it were, in the situation of a cabinet Minister, ought to be a very learned, wise, and firmly honest man— It is peculiarly important now when a military gentleman is in the chair, and when the U.S. are called upon for the first time to settle their line of conduct in a general and angry war—
With perfect respect, I have the honor to be, Sir / your most obedient / & most humble servant
Tench Coxe
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “The V. President of the United States—”; docketed by JA: “Tenche Coxe / Nov. 3. 1793.”
1. The yellow fever epidemic of 1793 broke out on Philadelphia’s Water Street in August. Dr. Benjamin Rush identified the disease on the 19th. Infected mosquitoes spread yellow fever, but citizens instead pinned the outbreak to a variety of factors: dry heat, unsanitary conditions, and an influx of refugees from St. Domingue. Approximately 5,000 people died before December, when cold weather ended the city’s surge. Newspapers reported casualties and advertised possible cures. Rush tried treating patients with mercury and bloodletting. For the Adamses, the rapid spread of yellow fever was a constant worry. TBA fled the city and traveled ten miles south to Woodbury, N.J. Writing to AA on 1 Dec., JA observed, “The greatest Mortality appears to have been in bad Houses and among loose Women and their gallants among the Sailors and low foreigners,” adding, “if, however the Contagion was imported the State of the air and of the Blood, which was prepared to catch like tinder was not imported” (J. H. Powell, Bring Out Your Dead: The Great Plague of Yellow Fever in Philadelphia in 1793, Phila., 1949, p. 9, 10, 12, 13–14, 115; , 9:447, 459–460).
2. Evading the threat of yellow fever, George Washington left Philadelphia on 10 September. He asked Thomas Jefferson and Edmund Randolph if the U.S. Constitution permitted the president to move the seat of government while the epidemic raged. Washington suggested Germantown, Penn.; Wilmington, Del.; Trenton, N.J.; Annapolis, Md.; and either Reading or Lancaster, Penn., as safer sites to conduct government business. The president remained at Mount Vernon until 28 Oct., then traveled to Germantown, Penn., where he met with his cabinet. By late November, after receiving reports that the epidemic had ebbed, Washington made his way back to Philadelphia (, 13:560; 14:197–198, 439).
3. Washington and Jefferson both reached Philadelphia by 30 Nov., where Timothy Pickering, the U.S. postmaster general, had remained since early fall. Randolph stayed in Germantown ( , 27:467; , 11:38).
4. For Jefferson’s long-anticipated resignation and Randolph’s new role, see John Trumbull’s 25 Feb. letter, and note 1, above.
5. William Lewis (1751–1819), a Philadelphia lawyer, was serving as the U.S. district attorney for Pennsylvania (, 5:311).