To Thomas Jefferson from John Rowan, 19 October 1804
From John Rowan
Frankfort Octr 19th 1804
Sir
Having been informed that Mr. John Clay is a Candidate for the office of Collector at the port of Orleans and having been for a long time intimately acquainted with Mr. Clay I feel no hesitation in certifying that Mr. Clay is in My opinion well qualified for the office of Collector
He is a prompt & accurate accomptant—a man of good information and General acquaintance with Men and things—of Gentlemanly Deportment and Strict integrity—I do not know that the office coud be better filled—
I have the Honor to be Sir yr. Obt. Hble Srvt
John Rowan
RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR); at foot of text: “President of the U. States”; endorsed by TJ as received 3 Dec. and so recorded in SJL with a brace connecting it to letters received on the same date from John Breckinridge of 22 Oct., Thomas Hart and others of 20 Oct., and Christopher Greenup of 18 Oct., and the notation “John Clay to be Collector or Surveyor N.O.”
John Rowan (1773-1843) was a lawyer and politician, born in Pennsylvania but raised in Bardstown, Kentucky. He served as a member of the state constitutional convention of 1799 and was Kentucky’s secretary of state from 1804 through 1806. In 1807, he won a seat in the House of Representatives. Although often identified with the Republicans, Rowan did not always follow party line. He voted against the Embargo Act and in early 1808 called on the House to investigate James Wilkinson for corruption. After his congressional term ended, Rowan continued intermittently to represent his district in the Kentucky legislature, for a short time was an appellate judge, and returned to Congress for one term as a senator in 1825 (; ; , 6:127; Charleston Carolina Messenger, 8 Mch. 1808).