Adams Papers

From Hezekiah Balch to John Adams, 21 December 1795

From Hezekiah Balch

philada.— Decembr. 21st—95

Sir,

Learning in our country has been hitherto Sadly neglected— Those of us who wish to promote it, are very poor—Providence has inclined the hearts of a number to help us— I intend to wait on the members of Congress with our Subscription—1

We have understood, that you, Sir, are very friendly to the promotion of learning—

Your name at our Subscription, would be of unbounded Service—

I am, Sir, with profound respect your most obednt. & very humble Servt.

Hezekiah Balch—

RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “The Vice President of the united States”; internal address: “The Vice President / of the United States—”; endorsed: “The Reverend / Hezekiah Balch”; notation by JA: “The President subscribed an hundred Dollars and / I subscribed twenty which is in the Proportion of / our Salaries. I pd the Money on subscription.”

1. Presbyterian minister Hezekiah Balch (1741–1810), originally from Deer Creek, Md., Princeton 1766, toured the eastern states from 1794 to 1796 soliciting funds to establish Greenville College near Greenville, Tenn. He raised $1,352 in cash and $350 in subscriptions (Princetonians description begins James McLachlan, Richard A. Harrison, Ruth L. Woodward, Wesley Frank Craven, and J. J efferson Looney, Princetonians: A Biographical Dictionary, Princeton, N.J., 1976–1991; 5 vols. description ends , 1:545, 546–547, 548).

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    Source Project
    Adams Papers
    Title
    From Hezekiah Balch to John Adams, 21 December 1795
    Author
    Balch, Hezekiah
    Recipient
    Adams, John
    Date
    21 December 1795

    Reference

    Cite as
    “From Hezekiah Balch to John Adams, 21 December 1795,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-21-02-0310. [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, p. 437.]