James Madison Papers

To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 7 February 1787

From Thomas Jefferson

Paris Feb. 7. 1787.

Dear Sir

I leave the inclosed open for your perusal & that of your Collegues & others to whom you may chuse to shew it; only taking care that neither copies nor extracts be taken. Be so good, when you are done with it, as to stick a wafer in it and forward it to the Governor.1 I am with sincere esteem Dr. Sir Your friend & servt

Th: Jefferson

P. S. I do not know whether you are acquainted with young Bannister who goes by the packet.2 He is of good understanding and of infinite worth.

I have letters & papers to the 15th. of Decemb. yet neither these nor those of any person I can meet with inform us who is President of Congress.3

RC (DLC). The enclosures were forwarded to Randolph and are now at Vi.

1. Jefferson’s letter to the governor of Virginia, Edmund Randolph, also dated 7 Feb. 1787, which concerned the Lafayette bust ordered by the Virginia General Assembly as a gift to the city of Paris, and several French documents related to its presentation (Boyd, Papers of Jefferson description begins Julian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (19 vols. to date; Princeton, N. J., 1950——). description ends , XI, 104, 105, 124–25).

2. John (“Jack”) Banister, Jr. (d. 1789), the son of Col. John Banister (1734–1788), a former delegate to Congress. At the time of his death the younger Banister owed Jefferson 3,173 livres (Boyd, Papers of Jefferson description begins Julian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (19 vols. to date; Princeton, N. J., 1950——). description ends , XVI, 311).

3. Jefferson assumed Congress had met early in November, as scheduled, and proceeded to choose a presiding officer. In fact the required number of state delegations was not present and voting in a majority until 2 Feb. 1787, when Arthur St. Clair was elected.

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    Madison Papers
    Title
    To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 7 February 1787
    Author
    Jefferson, Thomas
    Recipient
    Madison, James
    Date
    7 February 1787

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 7 February 1787,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-09-02-0130. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, vol. 9, 9 April 1786 – 24 May 1787 and supplement 1781–1784, ed. Robert A. Rutland and William M. E. Rachal. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1975, pp. 257–258.]

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