To James Madison from Ann Cary Randolph Morris, [post–6 November 1816]
From Ann Cary Randolph Morris
[post–6 November 1816]
My dear Sir
God will, no doubt, reward you for getting some of your Friends to see Mr Randolph read the two enclosed letters. Oh, Sir, in this alone can you serve the Injured innocent Babe of an afflicted widow her darling Child whom Mr. Ogden has Swindled out of half his patrimony and tries to Rob him of his home also.1 Most respectfully your humble Servant
Ann C. Morris
P. S
Let some person write me a line, to say this is done; I pray you, if Beverley Randolph is in Washington he will do it: If Jack Randolph will not read my letter and Mr. Shorts I will pay for inserting both in the Intelligencer.
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM “Morris Ann C. & answer.” Undated; conjectural date assigned based on evidence in n. 1. Enclosures not found.
1. On 6 Nov. 1816 Gouverneur Morris died, leaving his widow to execute and defend the terms of his will, which were under challenge from several of Morris’s nephews, most notably David B. Ogden of New York. Ann Cary Morris believed that Ogden had already defrauded the estate, which should have been inherited by her son, Gouverneur Morris Jr., by a sum in excess of $100,000. In order to challenge Morris’s will, Ogden revived stories dating from the 1790s to the effect that the former Ann Cary Randolph, whom Morris had married in 1809, was an “unchaste” woman. John Randolph of Roanoke also backed this campaign against the reputation of his sister, who, in response, wrote and circulated a lengthy letter in defense of her character. Ann Cary Morris may well have included a copy of that letter to JM, who returned it to her (Kierner, Scandal at Bizarre, 144–57).