Thomas Jefferson Papers

To Thomas Jefferson from Joseph Lewis, Jr., 27 March 1804

From Joseph Lewis, Jr.

March 27. 1804

J. Lewis presents his respects to Mr. Jefferson, and assures him of his particular attention to the Letter from Germany—He has some recollection of the Family alluded to, and will take the earliest opportunity after his return to Loudoun of waiting upon them

RC (MHi); addressed: “The President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 27 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not identified, but see below.

Joseph Lewis, Jr. (1772-1834), of Clifton in Loudoun County, Virginia, was a Federalist member of Congress from 1803 to 1817. He had previously served in the Virginia House of Delegates (Biog. Dir. Cong. description begins Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-1989, Washington, D.C., 1989 description ends ; Leonard, General Assembly description begins Cynthia Miller Leonard, comp., The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619-January 11, 1978: A Bicentennial Register of Members, Richmond, 1978 description ends , 290; Alexandria Gazette, 5 Apr. 1834; Vol. 40:335n).

letter from germany: TJ possibly conveyed to Lewis a letter of 18 July 1803 from Sofia Hartman, which has not been found but is recorded in SJL as received from Brunswick on 25 Sep. 1803, with a duplicate of the same date, also not found, recorded as received on 21 Mch. 1804. She probably inquired about the status of her brother, George Frederic Charles Hartman, a former soldier with the Brunswick troops in America. In 1787-88, TJ received correspondence about similar efforts to locate the man (William A. Weaver, ed., The Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States of America, from the Signing of the Definitive Treaty of Peace … to the Adoption of the Constitution, 3 vols. [Washington, D.C., 1837], 3:577-8; Vol. 11:397n; Vol. 12:523-4, 599; Alexander McClean to TJ, 18 May 1805).

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