Alexander Hamilton Papers

To Alexander Hamilton from Robert Morris, 18 May 1796

From Robert Morris1

Alex Hamilton Esqre. New York

Philada May 18, 1796

Dear Sir

I wrote a letter last night to you & one to Mr Church,2 but as these must go by some private hand who will carry Safe my Bond & Mortgage3 I send this by Post to let you know that those papers are duly executed & the Mortgage acknowledged by Mrs Morris & myself before Judge Wilson.4 They shall be sent by the first safe Conveyance I can meet with by

Dr Sir   Yrs

RM

LC, Robert Morris Papers, Library of Congress.

1This letter concerns Morris’s efforts to secure his debt to John B. Church. For this debt and Morris’s efforts to meet his obligations to Church, see the introductory note to Morris to H, June 7, 1795. See also Morris to H, July 20, November 16, December 18, 1795, January 15, March 6, 12, 14, 30, April 27, May 3, 10, 17, 1796; William Lewis to H, May 4, 1796; H to Charles Williamson, May 17–30, 1796.

2Morris’s letter to Church is printed as an enclosure to Morris to H, May 17, 1796.

3This is a reference to the mortgage on one hundred thousand acres of Morris’s lands in the Genesee country. This mortgage was to secure Morris’s debt to Church. See the introductory note to Morris to H, June 7, 1795. See also Morris to H, July 20, November 16, December 18, 1795; January 15, March 6, 12, 14, 30, April 27, May 3, 10, 1796.

4James Wilson, a resident of Philadelphia, was one of Morris’s oldest and closest friends. Wilson had served successively as a member of the Continental Congress, Constitutional Convention, and Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention. From 1789 until his death in 1798 he was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. For “the Mortgage acknowledged … before Judge Wilson,” see Morris to H, May 17, 1796, note 2.

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