Papers of John Adams, volume 20
1790]
I have the honor to inform the Vice President of the United States
and to request him to inform cause an intimation to
be given to the Honoble The Members of the Senate that at one oClock to day, an oration
will be delivered at St Pauls Church in commemoration of the
declaration of Independence by a Member of the Society of the Cincannati and that seats
are provided for his and their accommodation. Peculiar circumstances prevented an
earlier communication. The Requisite number of tickets accompany this have been sent to the Secretary of the Senate.1
I have the honor to be with the / most perfect respect Sir / Your Obed Hum st
Vice President of the NY Society of the Cin:
RC (DSI:Adams-Clement Coll.); addressed: “The Vice President of the United States”; internal address: “Vice President of the United States”; endorsed: “Col. Hamilton / 5. July 1790.”
The Fourth of July fell on a Sunday in 1790, shifting national
celebrations to the next day. In New York City and across the country, Americans
marked the anniversary with military parades, cannon salutes, and public readings of
the Declaration of Independence. 390
JA evidently made use of the tickets, and Hamilton’s itinerary was
accurate. Adjourning for one afternoon, a large contingent of senators and
representatives joined JA and George Washington at the president’s house
for wine, punch, and cake. They proceeded to St. Paul’s Chapel on Wall Street, where
New York lawyer Henry Brockholst Livingston gave a “well adapted” oration that was
“received with great applause.” In Boston, the church bells rang at daybreak, and
government officials gathered at the Old South Meeting House for festivities.
Philadelphia residents set off fireworks that evening at the statehouse (Maclay, Journal
, p. 315–316; Washington, Diaries
,
6:85–86; New-York Journal, 9 July; Boston Columbian Centinel, 7 July; Pennsylvania Mercury, 8 July).
th.1790.
On Saturday next, the President proposes to go, with Mrs Washington and his family, to view the remains of the old
fortifications near Kingsbridge. He has understood from Mrs
Washington that Mrs Adams was desirous of gratifying her
curiosity on the same subject.1 If you
should find it convenient to make the ride, with Mrs Adams
and your family, he will be happy in the pleasure of all your Company at dinner at the
White House (i.e. the House which was Colo. Morris’s) where
he has already ordered provision to be made for a small party. The President intends
setting off from his House, at a little after nine in the morning.
I shall be much obliged by being honored with information whether it will be convenient for you to be of the party.
With sentiments of perfect respect / I have the honor to be / Sir /
Your most obedt & / most humble servant
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “The Vice President / &c &c &c.”
On 10 July George Washington set off with a large party that
included his cabinet and staff and their wives, as well as JA,
AA, Martha Washington, and several family members. They toured Fort
Washington, located at the northern tip of Manhattan, where the American general had
suffered one of his greatest tactical defeats during the Revolutionary War. The group
dined at Washington’s former headquarters, now the Morris-Jumel Mansion, which was
previously owned by British Army colonel Roger Morris (1727–1794), who fled to
Yorkshire, England. The New York State legislature seized the estate in 1777 and sold
it to John Berrian and Isaac Ledyard in 1784 (vol. 5:ix–x; Washington, Diaries
, 6:92–93;
ANB
).
th:July 1790
Mr: Joy presents respectful Compliments
to the Vice-President and takes the liberty to hand him a sample of American made sugar
which he had put up in Philadelphia for that purpose— Mr: J.
is well acquainted with the Gentn: concern’d in promoting
this valuable 391 Manufacture and can with Confidence assure Mr: Adams that the sample now sent is the genuine product of
the American Maple—1
Judging as well from the Number of Boilers that have been order’d
as from other Circumstances Mr: J. is also persuaded that a
great increase of the Article may be reasonably expected.—
RC (Adams Papers); endorsed by CA: “Mr
Joy July 12— 90.”
Merchant George Joy (ca. 1776–1834) was the scion of a loyalist
family that left Boston in 1776 and eventually resettled in London. His supplier was
Quaker merchant Henry Drinker, who established a 3,000-acre farm and maple sugar
business in eastern Pennsylvania, providing an alternative to the West Indian cane
sugar that relied on enslaved labor. By 1795, many of Drinker’s investors had
withdrawn from the costly project, and his venture failed (Bradford Perkins, “George
Joy, American Propagandist at London, 1805–1815,”
NEQ
, 34:191 [June
1961]; Extracts from the Journal of Elizabeth Drinker, From
1759 to 1807, ed. Henry D. Biddle, Phila., 1889, p. 220; David W. Maxey, “The
Union Farm: Henry Drinker’s Experiment in Deriving Profit from Virtue,”
PMHB
, 107:612, 613, 617, 628 [Oct. 1983]).