Sarah Livingston Jay’s Invitation Lists, [8–17 April 1788]
Sarah Livingston Jay’s Invitation Lists
[New York, 8–17 April 1788]
the 8th. invited for the 15th. of April
Mr. & Mrs. Paradise—, French Ministers—, Mr. x & Lady M. Watts—, Mr. & Mrs. J. Watts—, Sir John & Lady Temple—, Mr. Mrs. White & Miss Cortlandt—, The President of Congress—, Mr. Gardoqui—, Genl. Armstrong—, Mr. A. Lee—1
11th. invited for the 17th.
Mrs. Kean & Mrs. Ricketts—, W. Livingston—x, P. Phil. Livingston—x, Otis, Dane, Cook, Clarke—, Mitchell, x Elmore, Dayton x—, Erwin—Bishop—Rogers—3, Brown—Huger—Parker x—, Tucker x—, Chief Justice—, Steuben—, Walton White x—, Mayor & Major North x—2
AD, NyKaJJH. Columns of names have been consolidated into paragraph form with added punctuation. Numbers indicating the number of guests in a party and the total number invited have been omitted. The symbol “x” after a guest’s name, apparently indicating nonacceptance of the invitation or nonattendance at the event, has been retained. The abbreviation “Do.” has been replaced with the name intended. Persons not previously identified or whose names are obscure are identified in the end notes whenever possible.
1. On 13 Apr. JJ was injured in the Doctors’ Riot, and these dinner parties were cancelled. See SLJ to Susannah French Livingston, 17 Apr., below; and the editorial note “The Federalist”, and note 5, above. John Paradise, whom JJ had met in France, was an Englishman who married Virginian heiress Lucy Ludwell Paradise (1751–1814) in 1769. They resided mainly in London until financial difficulties forced them to remove to the United States. See 3: 9, 10n6, 226–28, 251n3.
2. Probably Joseph Platt Cooke (1730–1816), congressional delegate from Connecticut, 1787–88. Anthony Walton White (1750–1803), who was married to Lewis Morris’s daughter Elizabeth.