Julius A. Bingham to Thomas Jefferson, 24 June 1822
From Julius A. Bingham
Rockville, Md. June 24, 1822,
Dear Sir
In presenting to the People of the United States, proposals for so important a work as the one which is here enclosed, I have thought it no less prudent than respectfull, to make the object known in the commencement, to one who has bourne so conspicuous a part in the formation and administration of our government as yourself. Under this impression, sir, I have taken the liberty to address a prospectus to you, and to state, that an expression of your views [res]pecting it, will be truly gratifying, and may be, beneficial, to me, Should you deem it worthy the attention, and the task not too laborious, it will give me pleasure to forward the work for your inspection, previous to its going to press.
J. A. Bingham
RC (MHi); damaged at seal; addressed: “Thos. Jefferson, (former President of the U.S.) Montecello, Va”; stamped; postmarked Rockville, 24 June; endorsed by TJ as received 1 July 1822 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Prospectus of a New Work. Presidents’ Speeches, &c., wherein Bingham proposes to publish, as soon as enough subscriptions have been received, a volume containing the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, United States Constitution, George Washington’s Farewell Address, and all of the existing presidential messages to Congress, inaugural addresses, and public speeches to date, along with engraved portraits of the first five presidents and “copious notes, illustrative of the principles, motives, and results, of these interesting Documents”; with the work to be edited by John B. Colvin, total between 600 and 700 pages on “good paper, with new and handsome type,” and cost $3.50 in boards or $4 bound, payable upon delivery; subscription papers to be available at both Andrew Way’s store and Benjamin O. Tyler’s lottery office in Washington (broadside in MHi: Adams Papers; reprinted in Washington Daily National Intelligencer, 28 June 1822, and elsewhere).
Julius A. Bingham (ca. 1793–1885), printer and physician, was born in Connecticut and served as an ensign in the New York militia during the War of 1812. He later moved to Maryland, where he published the Rockville True American from 1819 until at least 1824. A supporter of John Quincy Adams, Bingham relocated by the autumn of 1825 to Ohio, where he printed another newspaper, the Portsmouth Western Times, 1826–31. By 1850 he was described as a physician in Springfield Township, Gallia County, and two decades later he was listed as a benevolent-society agent in York Township, Medina County. Bingham owned real estate worth $400 in 1850. His real estate and personal property were valued at $1,200 and $400, respectively, in 1860, and $2,500 and $500 a decade later (DNA: RG 15, W1812PBLWAF; Washington Daily National Intelligencer, 28 Jan. 1820; Fredericktown [later Frederick], Md., Bartgis’s Republican Gazette, and General Advertiser, 18 Mar. 1820; , 1:269; Baltimore Patriot & Mercantile Advertiser, 31 Aug. 1824; Chillicothe, Ohio, Supporter, and Scioto Gazette, 26 Jan. 1826; Nelson W. Evans, A History of Scioto County, Ohio [1903], 516; DNA: RG 29, CS, Ohio, Wayne, 1830, Porter, 1840, Springfield Township, 1850, 1860, York Township, 1870, 1880).
On this date Bingham wrote John Adams and James Madison similar letters enclosing copies of his prospectus (MHi: Adams Papers; Madison, Papers, Retirement Ser., 2:538).
Index Entries
- Adams, John; works sent to search
- Articles of Confederation, U.S. search
- Bingham, Julius A.; identified search
- Bingham, Julius A.; letter from search
- Bingham, Julius A.; proposed work of search
- books; of speeches search
- books; of state papers and public documents search
- Colvin, John B.; and J. A. Bingham’s proposed work search
- Congress, U.S.; presidential messages to search
- Constitution, U.S.; publication of search
- Declaration of Independence; publication of search
- Madison, James (1751–1836); works sent to search
- Tyler, Benjamin Owen; and J. A. Bingham’s proposed work search
- United States; Articles of Confederation search
- United States; state papers and public documents search
- Washington, George; Farewell Address search
- Way, Andrew; accepts book subscriptions search