From Joseph Priestley to John Adams, 5 February 1794

From Joseph Priestley

Clapton Feby. 5. 1794.

Dear Sir,

I take the liberty to introduce to you Mr Henrry Wansey, a person of the most respectable character and connexions among the Dissenters. He is also a man of considerable property, and a principal manufacturer, and wishes to establish himself in America.1 Any information, or assistance, that you can give him, I am confident you will not withhold.

My sons being now with you,2 I am at length come to a resolution to cross the Atlantic myself; and if you be at all informed of the state of things here, you will not wonder at it, as great an admirer as you are of our constitution. Besides giving up about thre hundred a year, I do assure you that, on several other accounts, I take this step with great reluctance. My present situation is greatly to my wish. I have replaced my library and apparatus, at least in a great measure, and have just begun to resume my favourite pursuits, with such advantages as I know I cannot have with you. Also at my time of life, I cannot expect to find any substitute for the connections I leave here, and all my habits are wholly English.

I prepose to come in the April packet, the American vessells being subject to capture by the Algerenes, who, I fear, are encouraged by our court.3

Hoping to have the pleasure of seeing you soon, I am, / Dear Sir, / yours sincerely

J Priestley.—

RC (MHi:Adams-Hull Coll.); addressed: “His Excellency / John Adams Esq / Vice President of the / United States”; endorsed: “Dr. Priestley 1794”; notation by Priestley: “By favour of Mr H. Wansey.”

1. English clothier and antiquarian Henry Wansey (ca. 1752–1827), of Warminster, published observations from his 1794 tour as An Excursion to the United States of America, 8 vols., Salisbury, Eng., 1796 (DNB description begins Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee, eds., The Dictionary of National Biography, New York and London, 1885–1901; repr. Oxford, 1959–1960; 21 vols. plus supplements; rev. edn., www.oxforddnb.com. description ends ).

2. For the family’s immigration to the United States, see Priestley’s 20 Dec. 1792 letter, and note 1, above.

3. Priestley and his wife, Mary Wilkinson, received a warm welcome on their arrival in New York City on 4 June 1794. Newspaper reports touted his supposed purchase of 300,000 acres of land in Pennsylvania, noting that “the Doctor will felicitate himself on finding in the United States, no persecution of opinions” (Hamilton, Papers description begins The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Harold C. Syrett, Jacob E. Cooke, and others, New York, 1961–1987; 27 vols. description ends , 16:225; Washington, Papers, Presidential Series description begins The Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series, ed. W. W. Abbot, Dorothy Twohig, Jack D. Warren, Mark A. Mastromarino, Robert F. Haggard, Christine S. Patrick, John C. Pinheiro, David R. Hoth, Jennifer Stertzer and others, Charlottesville, Va., 1987– . description ends , 16:321).

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Source Project: Adams Papers
Title: From Joseph Priestley to John Adams, 5 February 1794
Author: Priestley, Joseph
Recipient: Adams, John
Date: 5 February 1794

Reference

Cite as: “From Joseph Priestley to John Adams, 5 February 1794,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-21-02-0184. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 21, March 1791–January 1797, ed. Sara Georgini, Sara Martin, R. M. Barlow, Gwen Fries, Amanda M. Norton, and Hobson Woodward. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2022, pp. 256–257.]

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