Adams Papers

From the American Philosophical Society to John Adams, 13 December 1796

From the American Philosophical Society

Philadelphia, Dec. 13th. 1796

The American Philosophical Society, desirous of expressing due Regard for Preeminence in Science and Virtue, have directed an Eulogium to be prepared to the Memory of their late President Dr. David Rittenhouse; which is to be pronounced before the Society, on Saturday next, the 17th instant, in the Presbyterian Church, in Market Street, at 12 o’clock.

With the highest Deference, it is requested, that the Vice-President of the United States, and the Members of the Senate, may honour the occasion with their Presence.1

Jn. Vaughan

Sam. Magaw

Rt. Patterson

C W Peale

John Bleakeley—

Committee of Arrangement—

RC (DNA:RG 46, Records of the U.S. Senate); internal address: “Vice-President of the U. States, / and Members of the Senate.”; docketed: “Invitation of the / Phylosophical / Society of Pennsylva. / to / Attend the Eulogium / on Doctr Rittenhouse / Decr 13th. / 1796. / 4th Cons / 2d Sess.”

1. David Rittenhouse died on 26 June. Joining George Washington, members of Congress, and foreign dignitaries, JA attended a memorial service held on 17 Dec. at the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. JA concurred with Benjamin Rush’s eulogy for Rittenhouse, confiding to AA that “he made him out to be a good Man and a great Astronomer & Philosopher. This I agree and if he had not betrayed Jacobinical Weaknesses I should have liked him very well.” Members of the American Philosophical Society elected Thomas Jefferson as president on 7 Jan. 1797 (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 , 11:446–447, 448; Jefferson, Papers description begins The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, James P. McClure, and others, Princeton, N.J., 1950– . description ends , 29:276).

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    Adams Papers
    Title
    From the American Philosophical Society to John Adams, 13 December 1796
    Authors
    American Philosophical Society
    Vaughan, John
    Magaw, Samuel
    Patterson, Robert
    Peale, Charles Willson
    Bleakeley, John
    Recipient
    Adams, John
    Date
    13 December 1796

    Reference

    Cite as
    “From the American Philosophical Society to John Adams, 13 December 1796,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-21-02-0363. [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. 519–520.]