To James Madison from John Nicholas, 20 June 1823
From John Nicholas
Milton June 20th 1823.
Dear Sir,
I observe your name, among many others, on the lists of seasons of Lightfoots Horses Hamilton & Jack Andrews, Kept by James Kinsolving Albemle. some years ago, for several Mares, & that by the leap at $10 each only.1 As I have discovered many errors in other similar cases, I do not believe you would be at the trouble & expence of sending valuable Mares so far & trusting to such slight chances for profitable returns, you will do me a favor & orphan heirs a justice by writing to my son George W. Nicholas, here, & informing how many Mares in all you put to both horses in all the years, & What you paid in all to Mr. K. & if the mares were put otherwise than the leap, that you would be so good as to enclose the Rects. to prevent your being sped. to Alble. Augt. Cts. with many others—& I pledge myself as friend & agent for Lightfoots heirs & Exrs, by this letter which you will keep, that they shall be returned, or if lost, that you never shall or can be called on again about them, & much oblige, Respectfully, Yours
John Nicholas2
RC (DLC). Postmarked Milton, Virginia, 25 June; docketed on cover sheet by JM.
1. James Kinsolving (d. 1829) was the owner of Temple Hill, a plantation in Albemarle County on Meachum’s River (Woods, Albemarle County in Virginia, 247). William Lightfoot (d. 1809) of Sandy Point, Charles City County, Virginia, a wealthy planter, imported a number of storied horses from Great Britain in the 1790s and early 1800s, including Jack Andrews and Hambleton (Richmond Enquirer, 25 July 1809; Lyon G. Tyler, “The Lightfoot Family,” , 2nd ser., 3 [1894]: 108; Patrick Nisbett Edgar, The American Race-Turf Register … [2 vols.; New York, 1833], 1:37, 39).
2. John Nicholas (ca. 1757–1836), a Revolutionary War veteran, was clerk of the Albemarle County court, 1792–1815. An avid Federalist, Nicholas was instrumental in completing the estrangement of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in 1798 (Dauer, “The Two John Nicholases,” American Historical Review 45 [1940]: 342–48). Nicholas should not be confused with his cousin, the former congressman John Nicholas, of Geneva, New York (see , 1:582 n.).