Papers of John Adams, volume 19
We had the pleasure of waiting on you in may & in Octr. Ao
.Do: in forming you by the latter of your good luck of your number 995. of the Obligats. of 4 per Ct. whch. had a price drawn of f1000:— one thousand Guilds. among those drawn Last Year conform the agreemt. whch. Should be at your disposal by Sending us a Receipt for the Same.1
tho’ We Continue Without any of your esteemed favors, we embrace this Opportunity to Congratulate You on your Election whch. we are persuaded will prove to the benifit & dignity of the United States & hope it will likewise be to your satisfaction after all the trouble you take on you
We always flattered ourselves we Long ago should have heard from you, and we hope not by the distance you now are at, to be entirely out of your Remembrance, we beg Leave to pay Our Respectfull Compliments to Mrs. Adams & have the honor to Remain with great esteem / Sir / Your most obedient servants
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “The Honl John Adams Esqr. / Newyork.”
For the loan consortium’s letter of 26 May 1788, when it informed JA that it had distributed copies of JA’s
Defence of the Const.
, see JA’s letter to the consortium of 2 Dec., and note 1, above. No October letter from the consortium has been found.
JA’s obligations not only earned 4 percent interest but were eligible for a private lottery, according to the terms of the fourth Dutch loan of [13 March], above. His number, 995, was drawn, entitling him to a prize of 1,000 florins. Writing to JA on 1 Feb. 1790, and again on 2 Dec., the consortium asked JA what he wished to do with his prize (both Adams Papers). JA, in a letter of 30 April 1791 to the consortium (private owner, 2017), directed it to use the money to buy another obligation. Writing to JA on 5 July 1791 (Adams Papers), the consortium included an account that showed it had done so, for which JA thanked the consortium in his letter of 30 April 1792 (FC, APM Reel 375).
I have received the letter you did me the honour to write me, on the twenty Seventh of last month, inclosing the Freedom of the City of New Haven, elegantly engrossed on Parchment, and authenticated under the Signature of the Mayor, City Clerk and Seal of the City1
May I request of you, Sir to present my best respects and most Sincere Thanks to the Mayor, Aldermen and Common Councill and Freemen of the City of New Haven for the distinguished honour they have done me by this obliging mark of their affection. A testimony which was highly and Sincerely esteemed when it was presented to me by you, Sir. authenticated by your Senior Alderman. is now rendered more dear to me, by the Signature of your Mayor. of whom I have long boasted as my Friend, and whom I have long admired as one of the most Stedfast and meritorious Friends of our common country.
I ought not to conclude this Letter Sir, without expressing to you, my Sincere acknowledgements for the generous and obliging manner in which you have communicated to me, at first, in person and Since by Letter this Interesting resolution of the Corporration.
With great Esteem I have the Honour to be / Sir, your most obedient and obliged / Servant
RC in an unknown hand (CtY:Roger Sherman Papers); internal address: “The Honourable / P. Ed. Esqr.”
Edwards (1750–1826), Princeton 1768, represented Connecticut in the Continental Congress in 1788 and served as speaker of the state’s house of representatives from 1787 to 1790 (
Princetonians
, 1:637, 639, 641). With his 27 April 1789 letter (Adams Papers), Edwards enclosed a [16 April] memorial signed by New Haven mayor Roger Sherman, conferring upon JA “all the rights, Privileges and immunities of a free Citizen of our said City” (MQA).