Papers of John Adams, volume 19

From John Adams to C. W. F. Dumas, 3 April 1787 Adams, John Dumas, Charles William Frederic

To C. W. F. Dumas

D. Sir. Aprill 3d. 1787.

your Letter of the 13 of March was brought in to me but this moment—1 I am not able to give you any information you desire— a Gent. by the Name you mention & with the title of Colonel has been introduced to me & has dined with me at this House & I saw him in Holland—2 His Behaviour is Genteel and his Character is in all respects unexceptionable, as far as I know, having Never heard any suggestions to his disadvantage: but can give no further Testimony of him or his family of my own knowledge— accept of my thanks for your obliging Inquiries. My dear Mrs Adams, has been frequently out of health since you saw her— she is now ill of an intermittant fever— but is somewhat better— Mrs. Smith was happily got to bed yesterday, with a fine son, so that I hope to have some Amusement—3 my three sons are all well at the University, in America—4

Please to present my best wishes & respects to your Lady & Daughter—

I have a Volume to send you, as soon as I can find an opportunity— & I wish to have your remarks upon it.

with great regard &c

J A—

LbC in WSS’s hand (Adams Papers); internal address: “Mr. Dumas—”; APM Reel 113.

Not found.

Presumably Col. Uriah Forrest, who also delivered JA’s 5 Sept. letter to Dumas, below.

In a 26 April letter to niece Lucy Cranch, AA described her first grandchild, William Steuben Smith, as “a fine Boy, & I already 34 feel as fond of him as if he was my own son.” AA2 hoped that he would pursue law and thereby “become a pupil of his grandfather’s” ( AFC , 8:24, 303).

JQA, then in his final year at Harvard, graduated on 18 July. CA was a sophomore and TBA was a freshman ( AFC , 8:461).

From John Adams to Wilhem & Jan Willink, 3 April 1787 Adams, John Willink, Wilhem & Jan (business)

To Wilhem & Jan Willink

Gentlemen— Grosvr. square April 3d. 1787.

I have received your favour of the 13th. of March with the three obligations inclosed: & I thank you for your care in the Business—1 inclosed is an order on the Company of Willinks & Vanstaphorsts, for five hundred & sixty five Guilders being the Ballance due to you from me on account of these obligations—

with great esteem &c.

J A.

LbC in WSS’s hand (Adams Papers); internal address: “Messrs. Wilhem & Jan Willink—”; APM Reel 113.

The Willinks’ letter of 13 March has not been found. In a 1 Dec. 1786 letter to Wilhem Willink (LbC, APM Reel 113), JA directed him to purchase a single obligation on the latest Dutch-American loan. The firm, in its letter of 2 Feb. 1787, replied that since it was “advantageous” for JA, it had purchased two, with an expected premium of £1,000 (Adams Papers).

To John Adams from Thomas Barclay, 3 April 1787 Barclay, Thomas Adams, John

From Thomas Barclay

Dear Sir Barcelona 3d. April 1787—

Inclosed is a letter for M. Jay Covering Copies of sundry letters to M. Lamb and of one to M. Carmichael,1 If you will take the Trouble of perusing them, You will see My situation and intentions as Clearly as I Do my self, and I shall, unless I am prevented by some unforeseen accident, have the pleasure of taking Your Commands in person for America, Early I hope in July, I will be obliged to stop a short time at Bordeaux, where I made a Purchase of Arms and Ammunition for the State of Virginia, another at L’Orient, and a third with my Family, from whence, (St. Germains) I shall proceed to England on my way to America—2 I shall Communicate my Veiws to you when I see you, not in the least Doubting Your aid in Carrying them into Execution if you approve of them, as I think you will Do—and if the Proposition which I mean to make to Congress Do’s not prove acceptable, my Intention is to Remain in America—

I have received my account Current from Lynch & Bellew of Cadiz, and am obliged of this Date to value on You in their favor at Ten days sight for Three Hundred and Twenty five pounds Sterling, which 35 please to Honor and apply to the Debit of the United States, assuring yourself that I shall Settle the whole account with You to your satisfaction I Cou’d not put these Gentlemen off untill a Sale of the articles at L’Orient &c, be made, They have not Charged any Commission for their Trouble, and no Expence on the money which I took up in Barbary arises, and the actual Duty and Charges of Replacing it. The news here is that the Neapolitan Ambassador has obtained a Truice for three months from Algiers, and that the Count d’Expilly has Returned to Spain, after having Done something highly offensive to the Dey and Regency there—3 I am with Very great Esteem / Dear Sir / Your most Obed. / Humble servant,

Thos Barclay

RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “His Excellency, Jno. Adams Esqr. London”; endorsed by AA2: “Mr Barclay / 3d April 1787”; and by AA: “Mr Barcelay 3 April / 1787.”

Barclay enclosed copies of his letters to John Lamb of 1, 24 Feb. and 24, 26, and 28 March, along with a letter of 28 March to William Carmichael, and his letter of 29 March to John Jay. In the letter to Jay, Barclay described his futile attempt to arrange a meeting with Lamb to settle his accounts and described plans to travel to Bordeaux before returning to America. For Carmichael’s 25 March letter to JA, see note 3.

Working with Thomas Jefferson, Barclay had purchased arms, ammunition, and gunpowder for Virginia. En route to Paris from Spain and Algiers, Barclay paused to retrieve the purchase but was instead seized in Bordeaux. He was imprisoned for an old debt to the firm of V. & P. French & Nephew. WSS attempted to intervene in obtaining his release (from Richard Swanwick, 17 May, Adams Papers; from WSS, 19 May, below). Jefferson, however, did not receive the firm’s original 1 March 1786 plea to “save the honor of a Consul of the united States” until 9 Sept. 1787. By then, Jefferson reported, a freed Barclay had departed for America (Jefferson, Papers , 9:308–310; 11:673; 12:114).

Carmichael, in a 25 March letter to JA (Adams Papers), reported that Mohammad ibn Uthman, dey of Algiers, alleged that the Conde d’Expilly had embezzled presents and cash earmarked for the dey, his ministers, and the redemption of Spanish captives in Algiers. In the wake of the accusations, the Conde d’Expilly departed for Spain in early March, and his post was not filled until consul general Manuel de Asprer arrived in 1792 ( Repertorium , 3:428).