Adams Family Correspondence, volume 14
th1799
Mrs smith Louissa Mrs Otis Rush Peters & a number of young Ladies are just gone to Congress to hear the Speech which is deliverd at 12 oclock to day; I should have liked well enough to have been of the Party, but it would not have been proper— You will see it, as soon as you will get the Letter I presume some people will not be pleased, I suppose, because it will not disclose enough about the mission to France. others will Growl because war is not waged against England, in Words at least; they will grumble at all events, and under all circumstances, and so let them.1 but their brightest 67 best, and Most peacefull days they now see; such at least are my predictions—
I have to request You my dear sister to look in my
large Hair cloaths Trunk which stands in the Garret for My White
Lutestring Gown & coat which is trimd with silver, and for a Napkin
in which is a plain Muslin Gown Embrodered with silk, which belongs to
Mrs smith, indeed all that is pind in the Napkin belongs to mrs smith.
these dresses I request you to have done up in the safest Manner and
take them to Mr smiths, with a request to send them to Me if possible by
some private conveyance; I sent Betsy yesterday to My Trunk to get them
and found to my great mortification that she had omitted to put them
up—or rather that she had by mistake put up what I did not want in lieu
of them. mrs smith is more dissapointed than I am, as she wants hers
more; if they should not be in that trunk they Must be in the imperial.
I had depended upon mine for fryday Evening next and as they wanted a
little alteration, I discoverd that they were missing by sending to my
Trunk for them;— it is like there will be persons comeing on from Boston
who will in the course of the Winter take them on for me Gen’ll Lincoln designs to come about Christmass
but that may be uncertain. I will trust to mr smith care to convey them
for Me. sew them in a coars cloth as well as a Napkin.— and I will give
who ever brings them safe; as many good dinners as they will Eat—
I should certainly use some Red Broad cloth if I could come at it, for red cloth Cloaks are all the mode, trim’d with white furs— this is much more rational than to wear only a shawl in winter; I wish any thing would persuade the Ladies that Muslin is not a proper winter dress— so far as example goes; I shall bring in the use of silks— at my Age I think I am priviledged to Sit a fashion. the real truth is that Muslin is new every time it is clean, & new trim’d, so that it is, they say upon a principle of oconomy they use it, fewer changes being required—
I have not had a Letter from You for some time. I communicated to the President mr J Cranchs Letter and he gave it to the secretary of war to see what can be done. I shall ask the Secretary soon respecting it, and then will write you.—2
I learn from some of the Essex leaders that Judge Dana is to be Sit up for Govenour.3 he will make a very able one. the Bench will also lose a learned Judge. I Question however whether Judge dana is sufficiently popular for that place he wants the amiable & 68 concilitating Manners of Sumner— alass I know not where, is to be found all the qualities which he possess’d, concentered in any person who will be held up as a canditate
upon Mr sheaf
the Member from Portsmouth will be like to come soon. he will call at Mr
Storers no doubt, and I have been thinking if you was to buy Me a small
trunk just large enough to hold the articles whether Mr sheaf would not
take charge of it for me, & bring it within the carriage.4 the sooner you can get the
things to Town the better.
Mrs smith is very well and sends her duty to you, so does Mr Adams mr shaw & Louissa. the City is now said to be very healthy. the Members of both Houses have been punctual to a day, a sufficient Number to make both houses I inclose the speech— with hopes of hearing from You this week I close, adding Love to mrs Norten & Greenleaf / affectionatly Your sister
please to send all you find in the Napkin belonging to Mrs smith
RC (MWA:Abigail Adams Letters); addressed: “Mrs Mary Cranch / Quincy.”
JA in a 3 Dec. opening speech to
Congress called for a restructuring of the U.S. judicial system as
“indispensably necessary” to ensure that “individuals should be guarded
from oppression.” He reiterated his confidence in the second mission to
France and the resumption of trade with St. Domingue and commented on
recent Anglo-American disagreements over the Jay Treaty. The speech was
printed in the Philadelphia press on the same day and as a pamphlet, Speech of the President of the United States to
Both Houses of Congress, 3d December, 1799, Phila., 1799, Evans, No. 36589
(
Annals of Congress
, 6th Cong.,
1st sess., p. 11, 188–190; Philadelphia
Gazette, 3 Dec.; Philadelphia Constitutional Diary, 3 Dec.).
For the patronage appeal on behalf of Joseph Cranch, see Elizabeth Palmer Cranch to AA, 27 Dec., and note 1, below.
The Essex Junto was a group of New England
Federalists with ties to Essex County, Mass., that originated as a group
opposed to the proposed Massachusetts constitution of 1778. More than a
dozen prominent adherents, including Fisher Ames, George Cabot, and
Timothy Pickering, aligned themselves with the Hamiltonian faction of
the Federalist Party. In the April 1800 Massachusetts gubernatorial
election, members of the Junto supported Francis Dana’s unsuccessful
candidacy (vol. 13:493; David H. Fischer, “The Myth of the Essex Junto,”
WMQ
, 21:195, 196, 213–214, 221,
223 [April 1964]; A New
Nation Votes).
James Sheafe (1755–1829), Harvard 1774, was a
Federalist who represented New Hampshire in the House of Representatives
during the 6th Congress and in the Senate from 4 March 1801 until his
resignation on 14 June 1802 (
Biog. Dir.
Cong.
).
I feel an inclination to write you every week athough I have nothing new to inform you of
I know you are as interested as I am in know the result of the present
negotiation about mr Whitney we have so far gone on very 69 Smoothly. The committee met as I told
you they were to—nine of them—mr. Cranch mr Black, Capt. Beal mr Spear & Cary: these were the old ones who invited
mr whitney. to these the Town when they meet added Mr Bicknell Capt Jo Baxter capt
Adams I Should have Said first, & capt Hall to fix consult what might be proper to
offer Mr whitney.1 mr Spear
thought 500 dollars a year & 800 Settlement—would be reasonable mr
Bicknell 500 a year, & 500 Settlment & ten cord of wood— Capn. Adams that 500 doll. was as much as was
offer’d mr Whitman & he was a man of as great abilities as mr Whitney
but & he was not willing to add
the othe 500—Capt. Baxter thought mr whitman a
much greater man than the present candidate & that 500 was enough
Without Settlement. upon the whole 500 Sallary & 600 Settlement was
agreed upon to be reported— I do not think it enough considering the high
price of Land here & the Stile he must live in to be respected— I Wish
the Town may add more when this report is made which will be tomorrow—but I
have no expectation of it— I dont believe he will Settle for it—& Sure I
am it would be a Shame to lose him for two or three hundren Settlement. we
Should give him as much as Milton does their Minister Who in my mind is not
half so good or great as mr whitney has a popularity which will last—2 Capt Adams was very mild he certainly lik’d him Mr Wy formerly. capn Beal & Baxter were Sour had it not been
for them the highest proposal would have been agree’d on. so far we have got
along pretty peacably
yesterday we had the first Snow which has fallen this winter it was follow’d by a hard rain which has carried it almost all of—& tis very cold
I have receiv’d a long Letter from My Son he appears to be in much better Spirits.3 he thinks he has got thro the Worsts of his difficulties. His Books & Furniture have been taken by execution at the suit of General Forest & sold at aucttion the General Purchased them for £193-0-04 & left them in my sons possession till he can pay for them. this is treating him like a Gentleman
He expects to be set free from all his other debts of Moores in a very little time The poor child has liv’d in fear of a Prison for many months— I hope there is tranquility in store for him yet— they were all well
I sent a Letter to you from J. cranch to his Uncle I thought it would do as well to send it to you as to the President. or Would it be best for him to apply immediately to the President? I have had another Letter from his Wife since She is very anxious least they 70 Should lose some appointment for want of being in season with their application— as dismal a place as Harper’s Ferry is She is willing to go to it rather than Mr Cranch Should be out of business— She is very anxious to know whether there is any prospect of there being any work for them. if you can find out do let me know tis a dreadful thing to be Out of imployment & have no other Means of Support
I could hear from the Moon almost as Soon as from Atkinson I have no inteligence since Mr S[mith] was there I Wrote to Sister Soon after you left us
we are expecting to see the Presidents Speech—5 […] have Sad Tydings from Liverpool tis Shocking to humanity to think of—6 I am glad to find you have heard from or of your son abroad. Mrs welsh told me she thought there must be some Mistake as they had Letters from her son which said that Mrs Adams had recover’d her health finely
you my dear Sister will I hope continue to keep well thro the winter. do you Sleep better than you did here mr Cranch & I have had bad colds but we are better mr cranch has gain’d a great deal of Flesh
when I write again I hope I shall be able to tell mrs
Smith about her Sons health my Love to her & the Sweet little Caroline I
long to hear her tongue run & see her Sing a song to her Grandpapa—
Cousin Thomas is with you I suppose. my Love to him & cousin willm. & Louissa The President is always
included in the Love & affection / express—for you by your ever /
grateful Sister
RC (Adams Papers); addressed by Richard
Cranch: “To / Mrs: Adams / the President’s
Lady / at / Philadelphia.”; endorsed: “Mrs Cranch Decbr / 8th 1799.” Some loss of text where the seal
was removed.
The committee tasked with the search for a new Quincy
minister included Richard Cranch, Moses Black, Capt. Benjamin Beale Jr.,
Lt. Seth Spear, and Alpheus Cary (1761–1816), a former surveyor of
highways and fence viewer who was elected a Quincy selectman in 1800.
They were joined by Peter Boylston Adams, Capt. Joseph Baxter, Capt.
John Hall Jr., and Lt. Peter Bicknell (1759–1831), a Germantown resident
since 1789 who served as a surveyor of highways in 1790 (vol. 12:181, 275; Sprague, Braintree Families
).
The pastor of the First Church of Milton was Rev. Joseph McKean, for whom see vol. 12:276.
For William Cranch to Mary Smith Cranch, 23 Nov. 1799, see TBA to William Cranch, 25 Nov., note 3, above.
Mary Smith Cranch originally wrote “192-0-0” then changed the third numeral to “3.”
JA’s 3 Dec. speech to Congress was first
reprinted in the Boston Constitutional
Telegraph, 11 December.
The ship Cornelia, Capt.
Benjamin Prince, brought news from Liverpool which included rumors of
Anglo-Russian defeat in the Netherlands, likely early reports of the 18
Oct. capitulation of the invading forces, for which see
AA to
JA, 13 Oct., and note 5, 71 above. The ship also brought news
that French forces under Gen. Andre Masséna had defeated Russian troops
in Switzerland, for which see
JQA to TBA, 22
Oct., and note 9, above (Massachusetts
Mercury, 6 Dec.; Boston Columbian
Centinel, 7 Dec.).