To James Madison from William Neilson, 20 February 1803 (Abstract)
§ From William Neilson
20 February 1803, New York. “We transmitted our friend Elias Backman Esqr the state of his Acct. render’d us & he relents [sic] that his services have not been properly estimated by this Government otherwise the small pittance of £150. Sg to reimburse his Charges to & from Stockholm, would not have been withheld from him.1 He wishes to know to whom the Secretary of the Treasury paid $105:78 on 17th Sepr 1801, for none of his friends have acknowledged the receipt of any such sum.”
RC (DNA: RG 59, ML). 1 p. Docketed by Wagner. On 19 Mar. 1803 Wagner wrote Neilson that the money had been paid to John Murdock of Virginia (DNA: RG 59, DL, vol. 14).
1. For Backman’s earlier claim for reimbursement, see William Neilson & Company to JM, 18 Nov. 1801 (, 2:251, 252 n.).