13 December 1794

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Livingston Jay

Writes to his wife about family matters. Hopes to be with her in a few months. Expresses considerable pleasure over a letter written to him by his daughter Maria. Remarks that they have many reasons to be pleased with their children.

GLC02987

15 June 1785

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Letter signed

Title: to Samuel Johnson

Also signed by James Duane and Walter Livingston with Jay as agents for New York, and Elbridge Gerry, Samuel Holton, and Rufus King as agents for Massachusetts. Discusses Johnson's appointment as a judge in a boundary dispute between Massachusetts and New York. Urges him to accept the nomination and informs him that compensation will be satisfactory. Tipped to a border.

GLC03381

14 August 1779

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Letter signed

Title: to George Clinton

Signed by Jay as President of Congress to Clinton as the Governor of New York. Closing in Jay's hand. Circular letter. Congress is informing the country that the British are reinforcing themselves. Says 7,000 troops are coming from Europe and another 3,000 from the West Indies. Claims America's allies - mainly the French - are concerned that better preparations were not made for a vigorous campaign. Says America needs to exert itself more. Wants Clinton to comply with Congress's wish to have battalions filled and militia ready. Says forces might be called forth to operate offensively.

GLC03709

6 September 1796

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Letter signed

Title: to Thomas Mifflin

Discusses the issue of Connecticut claimants to the Western Reserve lands taking refuge from Pennsylvania authorities by entering New York State. Expresses his opinion that the states have relations between them far more intimate than those between separate nations. Believes that new laws are necessary to handle the relations and that laws already in place do not properly address the issue of the intruders. Informs that the Attorney General Josiah Ogden Hoffman, will return soon and Jay will turn this problem over to him.

GLC03710

9 April 1794

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Jay

Refers to his wife Sarah as Sally. Comments to his wife that he dined with President Washington. Relates there is a suspenseful atmosphere in the capital over a possible war with Britain. He says peace will probably prevail, but that war should be prepared for. Fears that the anger over British seizures at sea and their continued presence in the Northwest will lead to intemperate actions on the part of the government. Continues the letter on 10 April 1794. Mentions that he is glad boards were sent to his brother's house at Rye, New York and says he will have to attend to personal business…

GLC04011

1 May 1765

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert R. Livingston

Written in response to a letter from Livingston, who was still attending King's College: "I have often remarked Ambition to be one of your strongest Passions, and have as often been misprised that instead of attending to such Persons as are most capable of gratifying so noble a Passion, you seem [illegible] o counteract your own Purposes, and to destroy those very Hopes which you are desirous to establish...." Admonishes him to "reject the Invitations of Syren Pleasure, and fly with hasty Steps the flowerly Vale of Insubstantial Joys." Jay graduated from King's the year before.

GLC07320

13 March 1776

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander McDougall

Encloses articles (not present) in reply to McDougall's questions about Seamans wages. Informs that a model of a pike will be sent to him. Hopes that he has received word of the resolution of Congress restraining military officers from offering oaths to inhabitants as a test. Remarks, " ... to impose a Test is a sovereign Act of Legislation - and when the Army becomes our Legislators, the People that moment become Slaves."

GLC07489

18 November 1780

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Elbridge Gerry

Jay agrees to attend to Mr. Warren (the son of the late General Joseph Warren, killed at Bunker Hill), should he visit Madrid. He also refers to passage of the Massachusetts Constitution and asks Gerry to send him a copy. Jay states that he has been "led to entertain high Expectations of your form of Government." Docketed by Gerry. Gerry's draft autograph letter response is penned in the left margin to Jay. Gerry writes back from Marblehead, Massachusetts on 20 September 1781, enclosing a copy of Massachusetts' new constitution and some newspapers [not present]. He concludes by predicting…

GLC07490

December 23, 1776

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph manuscript

Title: To the inhabitants of the State of New York

Delivered at Fishkill, New York, to the state's constitutional convention shortly after the American defeats at Long Island, Manhattan and White Plains, and a few days before Washington surprised the Hessians at Trenton. As such, Jay addressed his fellow Americans disillusioned by British victories and questioning the moral rightness of the American cause. Speech explains why he felt it was necessary to fight against the British in the cause of liberty, even unto death. The unsigned manuscript is written and corrected entirely in Jay's hand. There are many corrections, strike outs as well as…

GLC00006

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

circa December 10, 1778 - September 28, 1779

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Document signed

Title: Instructions to the commanders of private ships or vessels of war, which shall have commissions or letters of marque and reprisal, authorizing them to make captures of British vessels and cargoes.

Broadside with printed date of 3 April 1776. Signed by Jay as President of the Continental Congress (indicating that the signature and printed date do not coincide). Contains eleven articles created by Congress authorizing private American ships to capture British vessels. Instructs American captains to bring captured goods, ships, and persons to court in the colonies following capture. Forbids torture of captured persons, demanding civilized conduct. Requires captains to transmit a written account of capture to Congress. Demands that one third, "at the least, of your whole Company…

GLC00038.03

March 1776

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Livingston Jay

Written by Jay as a member of the Continental Congress to his wife Sarah, who he refers to as "Sally." References Sarah's letter from March 17, 1776 (date of creation inferred from this reference), which gave news of her and their son's improved health. Tells the story of the "Conch Shell Beauty" - a beautiful young woman he met in November 1775. Said he was traveling with Lewis Morris and that the good weather and roads induced them to walk to Gray's Ferry to dine. As they were having a fire made in a private room, they sat in the common room and spoke to people coming back from the market.…

GLC01220

December 24, 1779

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Document signed

Title: [Appointment of John Wheelwright as Commander of the privateer ship The Neptune]

Countersigned by Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, and John Avery.

GLC01450.002

5 September 1780

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Livingston Jay

Written by Jay as Minister to Spain to his wife, who he refers to as Sally, in Madrid. Mentions he received her letter of 1 September 1780, as well as the bundle of letters she sent along. Says she did well in opening the bundle of letters. Also mentions "poor Morris" - referring to Gouverneur Morris, who had recently been criticized by his localist opponents in the New York Assembly for his inattention to New York land claims in what would eventually become Vermont. He was removed from Congress on 1 October 1779. Refers to the British capture of Charlestown, South Carolina and says Generals…

GLC02312

December 5, 1783

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Livingston Jay

Letter written by Jay, three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, to his wife Sarah, who he refers to as "Sally," while she was in Paris. Says last letter he received from her was from November 18. Says his trip to the spa town of Bath has improved his health greatly. Says he will spend another 8-10 days and see where that leaves him. Says he misses her and fears his daughter will forget who he is. Jay's formal, straight-laced personality comes through when he says "in a Letter by the post I must not indulge these Emotions as in confidential Conversations." Says he has received…

GLC01610

4 May 1798

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William North

Written by Jay as Governor of New York, offering a U.S. Senate seat to North. He was being offered the seat vacated by Judge John S. Hobart who had accepted a judgeship for the District of New York. Is very pleased to be able to offer this honor to North saying it is "a proper Mark of Respect to the opinion of the many members of both Houses, whose Votes would have assigned that place to you last winter, had not Judge Hobart been a Candidate." Would like an answer with the return of the express.

GLC02528.01

25 June 1798

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William North

Arrived in New York on 23 June 1798 and received North's letter of 22 June 1798. Written by Jay as Governor of New York to North as Senator from New York. North wrote soliciting advice on foreign affairs from Jay. Says the French alliance of 1777 should be considered void, but advises that a declaration of war should be avoided. Says war must seem unavoidable and necessary before the general public will give its approval of such drastic measures. Regrets the drastic measures of the Jacobins in France. Believes Elbridge Gerry's decision to remain in France after the XYZ Affair, while done out…

GLC02528.02

13 October 1803

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William North

Written by Jay in retirement to North, a former brigadier general and U.S. Senator working on his farm. Says he received North's letter of 22 September 1803 which stated Mr. Verplank would not authorize North to pay the creditors of Mr. DuBois's estate from the sale of his land. North had requested Jay's advice on how to proceed. Jay says he cannot form a proper judgment having not seen the papers concerning the trust. Says he should submit the matter to "two of our most eminent Counsellors at Law, and steadily and strictly follow their advice."

GLC02528.03

9 April 1796

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Document signed

Title: [Appointment of William North to New York militia]

Signed by Jay as Governor of New York, countersigned by Lewis A. Scott as Secretary. Document appoints North as a Major Commandant of a Battalion of Militia in the County of Albany, New York. Note on verso, dated 16 July 1796, and signed by "R. Lush" as "Clk. & one of the Commisr &c." Note says that North was qualified as a Major, agreeable to law. Embossed paper on recto.

GLC02542.13

19 October 1798

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Daniel Hale

Asks Secretary of State Hale to prepare a pardon for Jacobus J. Low. Low had been convicted in Ulster County of receiving two barrels of stolen flour, and sentenced to pay a $50 fine and serve 4 months in jail. Written by Jay as Governor of New York. Two seated black and white engravings, one right profile engraving, and one bust engraving of John Jay included.

GLC02482

22 June 1776

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Warrant for the arrest of the traitor John Campbell]

Cosigned by Gouverneur Morris and Philip Livingston. Authorizing the arrest of the Campbell for "treasonable conspiracies" and the seizure of his papers.

GLC00679

February 13, 1798

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Document signed

Title: [Appointment of Richard Varick, Mayor of New York]

Appointment of Varick to the positions of Mayor, Water Bailiff, and Clerk of the Market. Includes large pendant seal attached with ribbon. Modern mounting.

GLC00740

30 October 1800

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Document signed

Title: [Appointment of John Millspaugh]

Appoining Millspaugh as a cavalry major in the New York state militia. Partially printed document signed. Affixed with the seal of the state of New York. Also signed by Daniel Hale as "Secretary."

GLC00945.03

May 26, 1798

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Daniel Hale

John Jay asks Secretary of State Hale to prepare a pardon for Robert MacBraire. MacBraire had been convicted of assault with intent to rob, and sentenced to pay a $25 fine and serve 9 months in prison. Letter written by Jay as governor of New York.

GLC00961