To James Madison from William Prentiss, 23 November 1816
From William Prentiss
Washington 23d. Novr. 1816
Sir
My Son will wait on you for your Patronage to a usefull and necessary Establishment in this City.
My attempt to support a Reading Room falls heavy on me, which I can very Ill bear. I shall be sorry to be under the necessity of giving up so usefull an Institution for want of a part of support to pay the Expenses.1
In 1803 and 1806 I carried dispatches to Mr Monroe then in London.
I refer you to Mr Meigs of the Land office and others for the usefulness of such a room. His Brother (the Indian Agent) told me he would not have been without the use of my Room the short time he was in the City for twenty dolls. I am respectfully Sir yours with much Esteem
Wm. Prentiss
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.
1. William Prentiss, a longtime resident of Washington, D.C., regularly advertised the services of a reading room for newspapers, maps, and other publications he had opened near Heronimus’s Tavern in March 1816. He promised to make available “at least two of the best papers from the principal cities in the Union, and not less than one from each state.” He sought subscriptions of $10.00 per annum to maintain it. On 3 Feb. 1817 Prentiss announced that he was closing the room, having expended “about $500 and received only about $60.” He regretted that “the Metropolis of the Union has not, generally, yet reached that stage of society calculated to foster such an undertaking; it must, therefore, perish like a tender plant when attempted in an uncongenial soil” (Daily National Intelligencer, 21 Aug. 1816 and 2 Feb. 1817).