Account with Robert H. Dunkin, [30 March 1798]
Account with Robert H. Dunkin1
[New York, March 30, 1798]
Upon an Order of R H Dunkin & Wife dated the 14 of March for £384.10 NYC—I have paid Mrs. Watkins 936 Dollars & 25 Cents this being the sum actually received by me on her account.2
A Hamilton3
ADS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.
1. Dunkin (or Duncan) was a Philadelphia attorney and notary public.
2. This is a reference to the case of Elisha Lamoreux v Robert Henry Duncan and Elizabeth his wife. On August 31, 1786, Lamoreux, a resident of Rensselaerville in Albany County, New York, borrowed £384.10 New York Currency from Elizabeth Watkins, who later married Dunkin. As security for this debt, Lamoreux gave Elizabeth Watkins a mortgage on a tract of land in Philipse Manor in Westchester County, New York. In 1795 Lamoreux filed a bill in the New York Court of Chancery to prevent Dunkin from selling the mortgaged land (Bill, filed January 22, 1795 [Chancery Decrees Before 1800, L-244, Historical Documents Collection, Queens College, New York City]). On December 13, 1797, with H as counsel for the defendants and Peter J. Munro for the complainant, the Court of Chancery ordered Dunkin to reconvey the land to Lamoreux upon receipt of $961.25 (or £384.10, which was the original debt), plus $31.81 for “Costs at Law” (MS Minutes of the New York Court of Chancery, 1793–1797 [Hall of Records, New York City]).
An entry in H’s Cash Book, 1795–1804, under the date of January 4, 1798, reads: “Cash Dr. to Robert H. Dunkin received of A Brown on his Account 936.25” (AD, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress). Andrew Brown was a New York City merchant. A second entry in H’s Cash Book, 1795–1804, under the date of March 24, 1798, reads: “Robert H Dunkin Dr to Cash paid C. Watkins ⅌ his order 936.25” (AD, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress). Charles Watkins was a New York City merchant.
3. An endorsement on the back of this document reads: “Recd. New York July 12 1799 of A Hamilton Esqr Twenty five Dollars Being in full of the within A/c for Mrs E. Dunkin $25.”