To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 14 March 1807
From Thomas Jefferson
Mar. 14. 1807
On further enquiry and examination, I find it necessary to correct the list of justices before given in for Alexandria county.1 Commissions are therefore desired for Washington & Alexandria counties according to the subjoined lists, giving to all those who were in the former commissions the order in which they were therein placed, and adding the new names to the end.
| Justices for Washington county | Justices for Alexandria county. |
| Robert Brent | George Gilpin |
| Thomas Peter | Charles Alexander junr. |
| William Thornton | Jonah Thompson. |
| Joseph Sprigg Belt | Abraham Faw. |
| Thomas Corcoran | Cuthbert Powell |
| Samuel N. Smallwood. | Alexander Smith. |
| Robert Alexander | Jacob Hoffman. |
| Richard Parrott | George Slacum |
| Thomas Fenwick | Elisha Cullen Dick |
| John B. Kirby | John Mc.Kinney |
| John Ott | Robert Young |
| Samuel Harrison Smith | Joseph Dean. |
| Daniel Rapine | Richard Dinmore. |
| Nicholas Young | Amos Alexander |
| John Threilkeld | Clement Sewell |
| Richard Libby | |
| John Richards. | |
| Henry O’Reily. |
Th Jefferson.
RC (DLC: Jefferson Papers). Unaddressed; recipient assigned based on JM’s secretary of state role in delivering commissions. In the right margin is a note in pencil in an unidentified hand: “{Inclosed in list on next page}.” Enclosure not found, but see n. 1.
1. In a 13 March 1807 letter to Jefferson, John Mason returned a list in Jefferson’s hand of twenty-eight “Justices for the ⟨co⟩unty of Washington” that Mason had received “the Evening before last.” On Jefferson’s list, Mason noted the location of residence and party affiliation for each candidate and crossed out three names. Mason offered detailed comments on the suitability of many of the candidates; suggested “distributing as to Residence, the Magistrates, with some Regard to population, in the different parts of the County”; and recommended that Jefferson also consider four candidates Mason named for “the County of Alexandria.” Filed with these documents is a second list, “Magistrates of Alexandria County,” that includes eight names in an unidentified hand and on which Jefferson made notes (DNA: RG 59, Misc. Commissions & Lists, 1789–1841; 5 pp.; docketed by Jefferson). These documents are likely those referenced in the note in the margin of Jefferson’s letter.