George Washington Papers

To George Washington from William Shute, 4 August 1790

From William Shute

Elizabeth Town [N.J.], 4 Aug. 1790. Having just learned from Senator William Paterson that application for the office of New Jersey loans commissioner should be made directly to the president, notes that he had earlier forwarded to Alexander Hamilton character references,1 which he trusts will be laid before GW in support of his candidacy for the position.

ALS, DLC:GW.

William Shute (1750–1841) of Elizabethtown, Essex County, N.J., served in the Revolution as a captain, ensign, and paymaster of the 2d New Jersey Regiment and as a colonel and assistant commissary general in the 2d New Jersey Battalion. After the war he opened a general store and became the town’s first federal postmaster. Shute did not receive the desired position and served as postmaster until 1793 (GW to the U.S. Senate, 6 Aug. 1790 [second letter]; William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War [Trenton, 1872], 355; D.A.R. Patriot Index, description begins D.A.R. Patriot Index. Centennial Edition. 3 vols. Washington, D.C., 1990. description ends 3:2663).

1. These letters have not been found.

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    Washington Papers
    Title
    To George Washington from William Shute, 4 August 1790
    Author
    Shute, William
    Recipient
    Washington, George
    Date
    4 August 1790

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To George Washington from William Shute, 4 August 1790,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-06-02-0083. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 6, 1 July 1790 – 30 November 1790, ed. Mark A. Mastromarino. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1996, p. 188.]