Williams, Jonathan (1750-1815) to Henry Knox
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.05018 Author/Creator: Williams, Jonathan (1750-1815) Place Written: Richmond, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 22 June 1791 Pagination: 2 p. ; 23.5 x 18.6 cm. Order a Copy
Williams says the information on "military movements" he is enclosing (not included) was given to him by General Wood who received it from a Mr. [Crous]. The Virginia Attorney General has letters that back up Crous's information. Says that Crous came to Richmond on business with the governor and appears to be an intelligent man.
Williams was born on May 26, 1750 in Boston; son of Jonathan Williams, merchant, and Grace (Harris) Williams, daughter of Benjamin Franklin's sister, Anne; educated in Boston schools; in 1770 went to London to complete training and to make contacts under Franklin's tutelage; in 1776 joined Franklin in France and was immediately appointed by the commissioners of the Continental Congress to France as their agent at Nantes; became involved in a controversy between Silas Deane and Arthur Lee and resigned as agent, but remained in Europe engaged in various business ventures until Franklin returned home in 1785; married Marianne Alexander of Edinburgh, Scotland, on September 12, 1779; in 1796 became associate judge in the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia; served at different times as secretary, councillor, and vice-president of the American Philosophical Society; scientific interests brought him into contact with Thomas Jefferson, who appointed him Inspector of fortifications and superintendent at West Point with the rank of major in 1801; resigned, 1803; reappointed in 1805 with the rank of lieutenant colonel of engineers; planned and supervised the construction of defenses of New York Harbor; resigned from army, July 31, 1812; in War of 1812 served as brevet brigadier general of New York Militia and on a committee in Philadelphia for preparing defenses for the Delaware River; elected to Congress in 1814 but died on May 16, 1815 before taking office.
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