Adams Papers

From John Adams to Oliver Wolcott Sr., 9 March 1796

To Oliver Wolcott Sr.

United States, In Senate March the 9th. 1796—

Sir,

The Senate of the United States have requested me to notify your Honor, that the Seat of the Honorable Oliver Ellsworth in the Senate, is vacated by his acceptance of the Office of Chief Justice of the United States; as is stated in the Journals of Senate; an authenticated copy whereof, I have directed to be made out, and herewith transmit for your information, and for that of the Legislature of the State of Connecticut.1

With great and sincere esteem, / I have the honor to be, / Sir, Your Honor’s / most obedient and most hble. Servt.

[. . . .]
Vice President of the United States
and President of the Senate.

RC (CtHi:Oliver Wolcott Sr. Papers); internal address: “His Honor / Oliver Wolcott / Lieut. Governor of the State of / Connecticut. / Litchfield.” Some loss of text where the signature was removed.

1. South Carolina politician John Rutledge lobbied George Washington for the post of chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, earning a nomination. The Senate rejected Rutledge based on his strident opposition to the Jay Treaty. Washington next solicited William Cushing, whose refusal cleared a path for Oliver Ellsworth, whom the president nominated on 3 March. The Senate approved his nomination the next day, and Ellsworth served until he retired in 1800 (AFC description begins Adams Family Correspondence, ed. L. H. Butterfield, Marc Friedlaender, Richard Alan Ryerson, Margaret A. Hogan, Sara Martin, Hobson Woodward, and others, Cambridge, 1963– . description ends , 11:75, 202).

Index Entries

    You Are Looking At

    Source Project
    Adams Papers
    Title
    From John Adams to Oliver Wolcott Sr., 9 March 1796
    Author
    Adams, John
    Recipient
    Wolcott, Oliver Sr.
    Date
    9 March 1796

    Reference

    Cite as
    “From John Adams to Oliver Wolcott Sr., 9 March 1796,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-21-02-0329. [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. 460.]