Francis Bailey to James Madison, 23 October 1803 (Abstract)
§ From Francis Bailey1
23 October 1803. “The death of Col. Bauman of New-York2 has lef[t] the Post-Office without a Master. I know of no man in the United-States, who would fill that office, with more ability, or greater integrity, than Philip Freaneau.”
RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1801–9, filed under “Freneau”). 1 p.; docketed by Jefferson. Printed in Fred Lewis Pattee, ed., The Poems of Philip Freneau (3 vols.; Princeton, N.J., 1902), 1:lxxx.
1. Francis Bailey (ca. 1735–1815) was a Revolutionary War veteran and the editor of several newspapers, including the Philadelphia Freeman’s Journal. Bailey was also for a time official printer for Congress and the state of Pennsylvania.
2. Sebastian Bauman (1739–1803) was a German-born Revolutionary War veteran who served as New York City postmaster from 1789 until his death (, 1:458; Prince, Federalists and the Origins of the U.S. Civil Service, pp. 188–89).