From John Adams to Thomas Seymour, 10 March 1794

To Thomas Seymour

Philadelphia March 10. 1794

Sir.

I received this morning your Letter of the 26th. of February, and while I feel for you under the Misfortune of your gallant son, I regret that it should be so little in my Power to assist him, in obtaing Some Consolation for this honourable Wound in the service of his Country.1 The request you make is however easily granted, and if any thing Should be done in the House of Representatives I shall not fail to attend to the subject when it comes before the Senate, and if any thing in my Power consistent with Justice, could contribute to forward his Request, it would give me great Pleasure to do it.

I will take an opportunity to Speak with my Honourable Friends Elsworth and Wadsworth and endeavour to learn from them the particulars.

In these Days of unexampled human Calamity, it will require much Wisdom, Patience and firmness to keep this Country in Tranquility: but, although there are numbers sufficiently thoughtless to endeavour to plunge Us, as deep in guilt and misery as any of the European Powers, yet with the Blessing of Providence and the generous support of the sound and prudent part of the Community We hope to be able to preserve our Neutrality.

Those who are ever clamouring about our present Debt, Seem to be very ready to adopt Measures, which must necessarily increase it ten fold.

I am sir with much respect and Sincere / Esteem your most obedient

John Adams

RC (Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York); internal address: “The Honourable Thomas Seymour”; endorsed: “John Adams.”; docketed: “while Vice President.—”

1. Thomas Seymour of Hartford, Conn., wrote to JA on 26 Feb. (Adams Papers), seeking compensation for his son William, “for relief in the total loss of his leg, above the knee, at the Storm made by the Brittish Troops” during the 1781 Battle of Groton Heights. Seymour’s request echoed those of many Revolutionary War veterans who had been appealing directly to the federal government for pensions and aid, although the system of payment lagged in distributing funds. Seymour was granted his pension on 14 Feb. 1795 (vol. 12:92; U.S. Statutes at Large description begins The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, 1789– , Boston and Washington, D.C., 1845– . description ends , 1:243–245; 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 , 11:282–287; U.S. House, Jour. description begins Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1789– . description ends , 3d Cong., 2d sess., p. 327).

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Source Project: Adams Papers
Title: From John Adams to Thomas Seymour, 10 March 1794
Author: Adams, John
Recipient: Seymour, Thomas
Date: 10 March 1794

Reference

Cite as: “From John Adams to Thomas Seymour, 10 March 1794,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-21-02-0192. [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. 267–268.]