In May 1801, John Jay stepped down from his office as governor. This occasion marked not only the end of six years in office as the state’s chief executive, but also nearly three decades of public service on behalf of both New York and the young United States. As early as September 1783, after successfully completing his duties as American peace commissioner in Paris, Jay expressed a longing for home and family and admitted that “Retirement is what I most ardently desire.”1 These sentiments intensified with the passage of time and extended periods away from loved ones. Over a decade later, Jay wrote to Sally during his London mission, envisioning their future together: “much of our Lives is spent— a few years of Leisure and Tranquility are very desireable— Whether they will fall to us our Lott cannot be known— as they are the objects of my wishes and Desire, so shall they be my Endeavours—”.2

Jay finally realized his vision of “Leisure and Tranquility” with his decision in the fall of 1800 not to seek a third term as governor. His previous two years in office had proven particularly grueling as Jay steered New York through the dual crises of the Quasi-War and the devastating yellow fever outbreak of 1798.3 More recent challenges in the forms of an ascendant Republican Party and a prolonged dispute with the Council of Appointment added to Jay’s weariness of contention and conviction that his choice of farm and family was a correct course of action.4 Manifestations of Jay’s fatigue did not go unnoticed by those who observed him during his final years in office. After visiting Jay in February 1800, Gouverneur Morris noted in his diary that the governor “appears to bend beneath the Weight of Age. I am told that his Mind is also enfeebled.”5

As rumors circulated as to whether Jay would seek reelection, New York’s Federalists worried that his departure from politics would both diminish the reputation and damage the prospects of their party. Even before he had left office, Jay was already pulling away from Federalist politics, and his reticence was having a demoralizing effect on his colleagues. In June 1800, Robert Troup complained to Rufus King that “Jay’s seclusion from the world and his distant manners have been constantly diminishing the popularity of our party.”6 Peter Augustus Jay pointed out that his father consider continuing as governor in order to offset the recent Democratic gains in the state assembly.7 A Federalist supporter in Union, New York, pled with Jay to remain in office, asserting, “pray My Dear Sir— Should You Wish to retire! Who is the man fit for so important a station (that is likely to Succeed) except your Self.”8

Such anxieties were not unfounded. In the ensuing gubernatorial election of 1801, Republican George Clinton, Jay’s predecessor, defeated his Federalist opponent, Stephen Van Rensselaer, by a tally of 25,243 to 20,794 votes.9 Some Federalist officials who had worked closely with Jay threatened to resign their posts, believing that it would prove too difficult to serve under a different administration, particularly one led by a Republican governor. For instance, when Matthew Clarkson, a leading figure in the efforts to fortify New York City harbor, heard of Jay’s possible retirement, he informed Jay that he wished to be relieved of his duties if this proved the case.10 Moreover, when the Republican-led Council of Appointment met during Clinton’s governorship, they removed numerous Federalists office-holders throughout New York from their posts and replaced them with party loyalists.11

When asked in the summer of 1800 about his future plans and “whether he was preparing to retire to private Life”, Jay begged off the question, but allowed that he was “inclined to think that the ensuing session of the Legislature, will be the proper Time” to divulge this information.12 It was not until early November that Jay publicly confirmed that he would not stand for a third term as governor. When approached by a group of Albany citizens who wished to nominate him as the Federalist candidate, Jay responded that “The Period is now nearly arrived, at which I have for many years intended to retire from the cares of public life, and for which I have for more than two years been preparing. Not perceiving after mature Consideration, that any duties require me to postpone, I shall retire accordingly”.13

Jay received a spate of private salutations and public testimonials in the months that followed. Former colleagues and friends, including John Murray Jr. and Philip Schuyler, wished Jay and his family health and happiness as they entered a new phase of life.14 The Common Council of Albany, along with the Federalist leadership of New York City, lauded Jay for exemplifying civic virtue during his decades of public service during the war of independence and the nation’s founding.15

A situation arose in late 1800 that forced Jay to reconsider his plan for retirement. In December, John Adams asked him to resume his position as

Jay House, Bedford. (From Robert Bolton Jr., A History of the County of Westchester, from Its First Settlement to the Present Time, vol. 1 [New York, 1848]; Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York)

chief justice on the Supreme Court Bench.16 His resolve to lead a private life was undoubtedly shaken as Jay felt honor bound to accept this post. He therefore waited a few days before offering a response. Although most of Jay’s contemporaries, including John Adams, expected that he would turn down the request, his brief indecision took some by surprise. Thomas Boylston Adams admitted to his father that “I had been so habituated to the idea of his fixed determination, to seek retirement from public life, that his pretentions did not occur to me, when contemplating this subject.”17 Jay eventually did inform Adams that he would not be taking up the appointment, citing his poor state of health as the primary reason for refusing to do so.18

In addition to seeing to the welfare of his constitution, Jay anticipated spending his twilight years with wife and three younger children (Ann, William, and Sarah Louisa) at their new home in Bedford, located some fifty miles north of New York City. Jay had spent well over a decade planning and building his estate on land that he had inherited from his father. The two-and-a-half-story brick home was mostly constructed between 1787 and 1790, with additions and improvements completed between 1799 and 1801; the farm and surrounding landscape were developed between 1788 and 1794; a number of mills, including a gristmill and sawmill, were repaired and maintained between 1792 and 96; and a brick cottage for the farm manager was built between 1798 and 1800.19 The recent work done on his grounds indicated Jay’s intention to retire. As Jay noted, “The Repairs and addition making to the House on my farm in west Chester County, have, with other Circumstances, naturally led to the opinion you mention; that I was preparing to retire to private Life.”20

Jay lived out his remaining years, nearly three decades, at his Bedford homestead. His newfound domestic situation, however, was soon disrupted by a devastating blow. In May 1802, the Jay family mourned the passing of Sarah Livingston Jay.21 Months following this tragedy, Jay wistfully acknowledged, “My Expectations from Retirement have not been disappointed; and had Mrs. Jay continued with me, I should deem this the most argreable part of my Life.”22 Even without the presence of his beloved wife, Jay still enjoyed a degree of contentment. In the summer of 1805, he expanded on his earlier view of retirement, summarizing it thusly, “For a long Course of Years, I had been looking forward with Desire to the tranquil Retiremt. in wh I now live; and Expectations from it have not been disappointed. I flatter myself that this is the last Inn at which I am to stop in my Journey thro’ Life— How long I am to ^shall^ be detained before I is uncertain, but I rejoice in ^the^ Prospect & Probability of my being permitted to pass my remaining Time in a Situation so agreeable to me—”.23