George Clinton to George Washington, 22 March 1781
From George Clinton
Albany 22d March 1781
Dear Sir,
Robert Morris Esqr. late Chief Justice of the State of New Jersey has requested my Consent for him to have an Interview on the Lines with Laurence Kortright, John DeLancey and John Zobricski for the Purpose of receiving Information respecting the Title of some Lands in this State—the two former are Subjects of this, the latter of the State of New Jersey1—If your Excellency can consistently grant Permission I shall have no Objection and it will much oblige Mr Morris—he would I believe prefer Elizabeth Town for this Interview and as I am uncertain how far it would be consistent with the Laws of this State for Kortright & Delancey to come within our Jurisdiction I should also wish that some Place in Jersey might be appointed for this Business. I am with the most perfect Respect and Esteem Your Excellency’s Most Obedt servt
Geo: Clinton
LS, DLC:GW; ADf (partially burned), N-Ar: Clinton Papers. GW’s aide-de-camp Tench Tilghman docketed the LS: “passports granted to meet at Elizabeth town.”
1. Lawrence Kortright (1728–1794) was a merchant in New York City whose fortunes declined during the Revolutionary War. His daughter married James Monroe in 1786, and the Virginia politician eventually served as executor of his father-in-law’s diminished estate (see , 62, 110).
John De Lancey belonged to a prominent New York family and was sheriff of Westchester County, N.Y., in 1769. He became a Loyalist politician whom the Provincial Congress reprimanded in 1775 for attempting to strike another legislator. De Lancey spent most of the war with the British in New York City but subsequently served in the New York legislature from 1792 to 1795.
John (“Jan”) Zabriskie, a Loyalist miller and official in Bergen County, N.J., was arrested in 1777, but he fled to the British in New York City and entered their service. New Jersey officials confiscated his estate, known as Zabriskie’s Mill, in 1781 and granted it to Major General Steuben in 1783. Zabriskie returned to Bergen County after the war.