To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 4 December 1823
From Peter Augustus Jay
New York 4 Dec. 1823
My dear Father
I have recd. your letters of the 25 Novr. & 2d. instant—1 the first did not come to hand until the last weeks Mail had closed.
I cannot say that I was detained from the Bedford Court by important Business— But I had nothing to do there & I have lost so much business by Absence from my Office during the Convention, & while I was recorder2 & I regain it so slowly that I am now unwilling to be unnecessarily absent— I mean however to have the pleasure of being with you at Christmas—
Sarah was delighted with your letter, & began an Answer to it in French which is not yet finished.3 She & Helen are now doing very well at School. Mary remarkably well—
Mr. Thorne has executed the new leases—but he is still in arrear for rent.4
I have bought for you two bundles of Quills—the one of the best & dearest in the city—the other almost as good tho’ only one fourth as dear— the best are feathers of the wild Goose—
I have not yet had an opportunity of seeing Mr Bayard about the wine since I recd your letter. I have repeatedly asked him when it would arrive & he has always told me that he had sent for it to the Messrs. Casenaves— Yet I begin to suspect that he has singularly neglected it.5
I am in hopes the Corporation will soon repay the canal street assessment— a Resolution to that effect has passed their Canal Finance Committee, but must still be passed by the Common Council.6
All the considerable proprietors affected by that assessment agreed to contest it except yourself & Trinity Church— I was applied to on your behalf, but declined joining, partly because being then a Member of the common council I did not think it expedient, & partly because I did not believe that the Court of Chancery to which it was intended to apply had jurisdiction on the subject. They then proposed to undertake the suit at their own risk provided all concerned would agree that if it succeeded all who were benefitted by it should contribute to the Expence in proportion to their Assessments— to this Trinity Church, & I believe all who were not parties agreed, & I told them that tho’ I had no authority to bind you, yet I believed that you would do so also— By the event of this Suit I think you will save at least five thousand dollars— I do not know the amount of the expence but, it is very heavy. As soon as the money is repaid by the Corporation I shall be called upon— Will you instruct me what to do.7
I am now persuaded that Mr. Clinton will be a candidate for the Presidency, & if he can carry this State his chance is not desperate. This he hopes to do provided the electors are chosen by the people8 In this city Mr Crawford is losing ground. Mr Adams is supported merely because he is an eastern man, very few appear to feel for him personal Attachment or even Esteem— The other Candidates are not formidable— Mr Jefferson has expressed an Opinion in favor of Mr. Clinton— his son in law Gov. Randolph has been here (I believe) ^to^ assist Mr. C.— A Mr Williams of Ohio9 has also been here on the same errand— But how it will all end no one can predict—10
Harriet Munros Wedding is to take place next Wednesday11 & I hope to meet at it some of the family— My best love to William Sisters & the Children— I am my dear father Your very Affectionate Son
Peter Augustus Jay
John Jay Esqr.
ALS, NNC (EJ: 06273). Addressed: “John Jay Esqr / Bedford / Westchester County / N.Y.” Stamped: “New York / 5 / DEC”. Note: “10”. Endorsed: “… ansd. 8—1823—/ new Lease to Mr. Thorn—”.
2. For PAJ’s roles as city recorder, and as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, see PAJ to JJ, 28 Jan. 1819, and note 4; and MJB to JJ, 19 June 1821, notes 5 and 6, both above.
4. See JJ to PAJ, 23 Sept. 1823 and note 4, above. PAJ’s plan for Thorne in missing letter from 28 Nov. mentioned in JJ to PAJ, 2 Dec. 1823, ALS, NNC (EJ: 11502).
5. Possibly William Bayard Jr. (1761–1826), or his son Robert Bayard (1797–1878). Bayard may have been referring to the import firm John Casenave & Co., founded by John Casenave (died c. 1815), wine merchant, playing-card manufacturer, and importer of various goods from Europe and South America.
6. A resolution from the Finance Committee in support of a petition for refunds by William Paulding Jr. (1770–1854), former New York Congressman and future mayor, and Isaac Ammerman, was approved 8 Dec. 1823. See MCCNYC 13: 386–87.
7. A resolution, citing the Paulding petition, proposed by Alderman Henry J. Wyckoff (1768–1839), merchant and governor of New York Hospital, that the Commissioner of Streets apply for refunds to the Canal Street owners who had been assessed, was passed on 15 Dec. 1823. An audit recorded on 5 Jan. 1824, lists PAJ and 32 other residents’ accounts. The Jay account was the highest, $14,688.70, the rest being much lower, the next highest being Stephen Van Rensselaer’s at $827.46. PAJ’s estimate may be a net figure. See MCCNYC, 13: 392, 460. For JJ’s instruction to hold onto the assessment refund until “the Deductions for the new one, and for our Proportion of the Cost of Suit, shall be ascertained,” see JJ to PAJ, 12. Jan. 1824, ALS, NNC (EJ: 11499). The letter of 8 Jan. 1824, by PAJ informing JJ has not been found.
8. DeWitt Clinton did not run for President. He was removed as Canal Commissioner by the Bucktail dominated state legislature on 12 April 1824. The popular reaction to Clinton’s removal resulted in his nomination to the New York governorship, which he would win in November. See Albany Argus, 13 Apr.; National Advocate, 16 Apr.; and New-York Observer, 24 Apr. 1824.
9. Micajah Terrell Williams (1792–1844), Ohio canal commissioner. Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. (1768–1828), governor of Virginia (1819–22), married to Martha Washington Jefferson (1772–1836). Virginia voters backed William H. Crawford (1772–1834).
10. New York was one of six states where electors were chosen by the legislature. Despite Van Buren’s Bucktails having control of the Assembly, their favored candidate William H. Crawford secured only 7 electors unanimously (95 votes), JQA secured 25 electors because the ballots had “three blanks” and a number of electors for JQA achieved the necessary 79 vote threshold at the expense of many other Crawford supporters. After two more ballots, 4 more electors were added. In the general election, the New York delegation voted JQA 26, Crawford 5, Henry Clay 4, and Andrew Jackson, 1.
11. Harriet Munro (1798–1836), a daughter of PJM, married Augustus Frederick Morris (d. 1855). See Evening Post (New York), 11 Dec. 1823. Augustus was one of two grandsons of Augustus Van Cortlandt (1728–1823), the other being Augustus White, who had their surnames changed by the legislature to Van Cortlandt to satisfy his last will and testament, 20 Jan. 1824. See Laws of the State of New York passed at the Forty-Seventh Session (Albany, 1824), 7. On the death of the senior Van Cortlandt, see James Morris to JJ, 20 Dec. 1823, ALS, NNC (EJ: 09121).