July 21, 1790

Pendleton, Edmund, 1721-1803

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Madison re: news, capitol coming to the Potomac

The letter discusses local news, Pendleton's pleasure with the capitol coming to the Potomac, discussion of American pre-war debts to Britain, and constitutional defining of treaties.

GLC00099.144

August 12, 1790

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Document signed

Title: An Act making Provision for the Reduction of the Public Debt.

Official act of Congress, signed by Jefferson as Secretary of State. Enacts provisions made by the second session of Congress on 4 January 1790 for deceasing the national debt of the United States. Printed names of Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Adams, Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate, and George Washington as President of the United States.

GLC00003

May 5, 1805

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas M. Randolph

A business letter concerning the management of Monticello while Jefferson served as president. Jefferson writes that he cannot increase an employee's wages from 60 pounds to 100, and asks Randolph to find a replacement. Thomas Randolph and Jefferson's daughter Martha married in 1790.

GLC00032

March 31, 1787

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Printed document signed

Title: [Society of Cincinnati membership certificate for George Ogier]

Countersigned by Henry Knox. Washington as president of the Society of the Cincinnati, attests to the membership of George Ogier. Partially printed. Notations in bottom left and right corners stating artisans of print as Aug. L. Belle, Del. and J.J. LeVeau, Sculp.

GLC00033

December 27, 1811

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Letter signed

Title: to Thomas Rutter

Secretary of State Monroe transmits to "The Marshal of the District of Maryland" a printed copy of the record of the third Congress of the United States. Monroe states that he knows Rutter will find it gratifying since Rutter "participated in the Labors of this work." Rutter was marshal in Maryland from 1804 to 1817.

GLC00043.03

February 23, 1813

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Letter signed

Title: to Thomas Rutter

Secretary of State Monroe transmits a printed copy of a notice to foreign nationals living near coastal areas. Rutter was marshal of Maryland from 1804 to 1817.

GLC00043.04

March 12, 1813

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Letter signed

Title: to Thomas Rutter

Secretary of State Monroe elaborates on what course of action is to be taken involving "peculiar and extraordinary cases of hardship, and where the character and deportment of the parties entitle them to peculiar consideration..." Rutter was marshal of Maryland from 1804 to 1817.

GLC00043.05

August 24, 1785

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Richard Price

Written by Jay as Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Confederation government to Price, a dissenting minister and moralistic pamphleteer in Britain who supported American independence. Apologizes to Price for being tardy in responding and thanks him for sending pamphlets (Price wrote several pro-American pamphlets in Britain, the most famous of which was "Observations on Civil Liberty and the Justice and Policy of the War with America," which was published in 1776). Echoing the weaknesses of the Confederation and foreshadowing the creation of the Constitution in 1787, Jay says "I am not…

GLC00013

February 12, 1811

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter

Title: to Timothy Pickering

Responds to former Senator Pickering's request for information regarding monetary aid the United States received from Spain in 1780. Mentions a letter he received from Spain's minister of state in 1780, Count Floridablanca, confirming Spain's good intentions toward the United States. Refers to a discussion of aid received by the United States from Spain in a 1780 conference with the Spanish official Don Diego de Gardoqui.

GLC00023

April 28,1785

Adams, John, 1735-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Elbridge Gerry

Writes that although he lacks any sympathy for the "philanthropy" of slavery, he will not violate the treaty requiring the enslaved people who sought freedom to be returned to enslavers. One black and white bust engraving of John Adams included.

GLC00024

May 20, 1813

Taylor, Zachary, 1784-1850

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Hancock Taylor

Expresses his disappointment that they have not yet taken offensive action against "some of the Indian Towns on the Wabash." Indicates that the rains had caused the delay. Discusses other news, including the appointment of Brigadier General Benjamin Howard to command in the Indiana Territory (and all the forces west of the Mississippi), General Green Clay's defeat at the siege of Fort Meigs, Commodore Isaac Chauncey and Brigadier-General Zebulon Pike's capture of York (the capital of upper Canada), and Pike's demise in an explosion. Notes that the Indians continue to steal horses, but no…

GLC00040

May 19, 1800

Adams, John, 1735-1826

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Pardon of George Rice for piracy].

Countersigned by Acting Secretary of State Charles Lee. Rice had been convicted of piracy aboard the ship Unicorn in Maryland in 1797. Pardoned by Adams because circumstances had shown that a pardon could be extended in a way that was consistent with the public good.

GLC00043.01

December 18, 1794

Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804

Document signed

Title: [Decision in the cases of Munnikhuysen and Sadler, owners of the schooner Martha].

Signed by Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury. Munnikhuysen and Sadler were convicted of violating "...'An Act concerning Spirits distilled within the United States' and 'An Act for enrolling & licensing Ships or Vessels employed in the Coasting trade & fisheries and for regulating the same'..." Penalites and forfetiures remitted, as the violations were unintentional, but ordered to pay costs.

GLC00043.25

December 15, 1793

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Frances "Fanny" Basset Washington re: adding another story to home

Written from Philadelphia. Frances Basset Washington was niece by marriage and a favorite of George Washington's wife ("Your Aunt"); she died of tuberculosis, just as her husband, George Augustine, did.

GLC00077

March 25, 1808

Clinton, George, 1739-1812

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Theodorus Bailey

George Clinton in his letter, cynically assesses the recent unproductive negotiations with a British envoy, citing that the United States was not redressed for wrongs committed and the British gained time to shore up their defenses. He critically examines the Embargo Act of 1807 but asserts that he is not opposed to it. He anticipates further aggression, which later erupted in the War of 1812. Clinton was then vice president and Bailey was a senator from New York.

GLC00087.01

circa 1792

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Madison

President Washington transmits dispatches to Madison from Gouverneur Morris, United States Minister to France. States that Morris' dispatches "unfold ... the disposition of the British Ministry."

GLC00092.01

1809-1811

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Document signed

Title: [Portion of ship passport printed in both English and Dutch]

Also signed by Robert Smith as Secretary of State. Used to certify that a vessel was owned solely by citizens of the United States. Blanks not filled. Date inferred from Smith tenure in office.

GLC00092.02

1787-1789

Russell, Benjamin, 1761-1845

Newspaper

Title: Massachusetts centinel. [Vol. 8, no.1 (September 19, 1787) - v. 10, no. 52 (March 14, 1789)] [Incomplete]

One newspaper of the Massachusetts Centinel dated September 19, 1787 to March 14, 1789. There are 152 issues. Lack: vol.9 no.1 and 6 and vol.10 no.2 with printings of Federalist and no. 12. The Massachusetts Centinel, printed by Benjamin Russell, features a series of federalist style essays and articles focused on current domestic events as well as reports on international affairs such as treaties and European naval activity. The Centinel also included advertisements for store goods, religious musical performance, and available land. The Centinel includes the first printing of the…

GLC00080

September 17, 1798

Morris, Gouverneur, 1752-1816

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Pierre Chassanis [in French]

Written in French. Previously cataloged as being to Rudolph Tillier, a land agent. The letter possibly discusses the land that is now Lewis County, New York. Place written is illegible.

GLC00087.02

February 11, 1799

Tillier, Rudolph, fl. 1793-1799

Letter

Title: to Gouverneur Morris [copy]

Copy of a letter from Tillier and Morris' response, dated February 11, 1799. Tillier complains of unjust treatment by "the Company of Peter Chassanis and others," particularly the protestation of bill issued for the payment of advances he made. He seeks to settle the problem promptly. Morris' response suggests arrangements for resolving the dispute. Tillier was then the agent for the Castorland colony, on land purchased by Chassanis in 1792.

GLC00087.03

June 30, 1799

Morris, Gouverneur, 1752-1816

Letter

Title: Copy of letter to Pierre Chassanis (in French)

Copy of a letter to Pierre Chassanis written in French, possibly from Gouverneur Morris. Was included in a letter from Rudolph Tillier to Morris.

GLC00087.04

August 25, 1799

Morris, Gouverneur, 1752-1816

Letter

Title: to Rudolph Tillier [copy]

Terminates Tillier's position as agent for Peter Chassanis, who purchased the land that became the colony of Castorland, New York, in 1792. Includes a copy of Tillier's response in which he states the matter will be addressed in court, dated August 29, 1799. Also includes a copy of Richard Coxe's account of a meeting with Tillier, dated September 7, 1799, in which Coxe indicated Morris had given him power of attorney and he demanded all papers pertaining to Castorland, but Tillier refused and denied Morris' ability to replace him as agent. Tillier became the agent for Castorland in 1796, he…

GLC00087.05

September 16, 1799

Morris, Gouverneur, 1752-1816

Letter

Title: Copy of letter to [Pierre] Chassanis (in French)

Copy of a letter to Pierre Chassanis written in French, possibly from Gouverneur Morris. Was included in a letter from Rudolph Tillier to Morris.

GLC00087.06

April 3, 1784

Morris, Gouverneur, 1752-1816

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Anthony White

Sends White his family's heraldic arms via White's cousin, John Tudor of Bermuda. "No. 103" appears at the top of the page. The recipient is possibly Anthony Walton White, an adjutant general during the Revolutionary War.

GLC00092.03

February 12, 1813

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Document signed

Title: [Pardon of marines Thomas Potts and George Allen for desertion].

Countersigned by Secretary of State James Monroe. Potts had been convicted of desertion in June 1812. Allen had been convicted of desertion in August 1812. Both had been sentenced to be shot. Pardoned by Madison for "divers good causes and considerations."

GLC00049