1. The committee enclosed a broadside, At a Meeting of a Number of Inhabitants of the Territory of Columbia, on the 4th of February 1794 … (Georgetown, 1794; Evans description begins Charles Evans, ed., American Bibliography … 1639 … 1820 (12 vols.; Chicago, 1903–34). Roger P. Bristol, ed., Supplement to Charles Evans’ American Bibliography (Charlottesville, Va., 1970). description ends 46966). Robert Peter, mayor of Georgetown, presided at the meeting where a resolution passed “that a Seminary of Learning … be established in the City of Washington, on the heights near Rock-Creek.” JM was named on a list of forty-six “gentlemen [to] be solicited to take charge” of raising $50,000 by selling shares at $20 each. The meeting appointed Stoddert, James Maccubbin Lingan, and John Mason (three of the original proprietors of the federal district) as “a committee to cause these proceedings to be printed and copies sent to the different gentlemen named to solicit subscriptions.” In a 15 Dec. 1794 letter to Edmund Randolph, Washington asked the secretary of state to consult with JM about “the measures which will be proper for me to pursue” regarding the “plan … for establishing a Seminary of learning upon an extensive scale in the Federal city” (Fitzpatrick, Writings of Washington description begins John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington, from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799 (39 vols.; Washington, 1931–44). description ends , 34:59). The project was unsuccessful.