To James Madison from Martha Daingerfield Bland, 2 February 1791
From Martha Daingerfield Bland
⟨ca⟩wson1 Feby. 2d. 1791
Sir
As a representative from the State of Virginia, I take the liberty to ⟨e⟩nclose you a parcel of papers. The ⟨c⟩laim I have upon the United States is ⟨ce⟩rtainly a Just one and perhaps under ⟨y⟩our patronage may meet with success. ⟨The⟩ president advised me to write to Colonl ⟨Lu⟩tterlow who he informd me resided in ⟨W⟩ilmington (N C)—but looking over ⟨a⟩ philadelphia paper the other day I observd ⟨his⟩ Name in the business of Congress ⟨so⟩ that ’tis probable he is now in phila⟨d⟩elphia.2 I have the honour to be sr yr Obdt Servt
M Bland
RC (NN); enclosure (DLC). Enclosure docketed by JM. Whether JM was the intended recipient of this letter is uncertain, but what appears to be one of its enclosures is in the main body of his papers (see n. 2).
1. The Bland estate in Prince George County, Virginia.
2. The widow of Theodorick Bland, Martha Bland was seeking recompense for her late husband’s military services during the Revolutionary War. One of the papers she enclosed was a certificate in the hand of Theodorick Bland, dated 20 Sept. 1788, in which he recounted his capture of an enemy boat during the British evacuation of New Brunswick in June 1777. Bland sought to recover his share of the proceeds from the sale of the booty (DLC). Shortly after her husband’s death in June 1790, Mrs. Bland forwarded this claim to President Washington, who suggested in his reply of 25 Aug. that she write former deputy quartermaster general Henry Emanuel Lutterloh. The president, however, doubted the claim would be favorably received because too much time had “elapsed without any enquiry having been made into the subject.” Lutterloh’s own military claim had been rejected at the last session and Congress refused to reconsider it at the present session (, XXXI, 96–98; VIII, 180–81, 328; , III, 366, 418, 523, 545, 632).