Diary of Charles Francis Adams, volume 2
1826-12-27
The weather has turned bitterly cold. I went to Mrs. Clay’s alone. So very few there however that it was quite dull. I was quite disposed to be prosaic and was glad to get home. Satterllee Clark who is here, told me the particulars of an affair which had occurred in the morning which is likely to create a very considerable sensation. It related to Calhoun’s administration of the War Department.2
CFA worked on the Executive Record and continued reading Voltaire and Spenser in the morning (D/CA/1).
In this and later entries CFA refers to the scandalous “Mix contract” to supply stone for fortifications. An earlier 96investigation had cleared Calhoun but had disclosed that his chief clerk was Mix’s brother-in-law and business partner. The issue was again raised when, through the machinations of the dismissed army paymaster Satterlee Clark, Mix was persuaded to publish a letter charging Calhoun with sharing the profits of the fraud. Calhoun was again exonerated, but his old clerk was fired (Wiltse, Calhoun
, 1:203–205, 253, 344–346).