From John Jay to Robert Troup, 25 May 1792
To Robert Troup
Portsmouth 25 May 1792
Dr Sr.
Since my last to you of the Inst. I have been fav[ore]d. with your friendly one of the 13th.1— Appearances my good Friend are so often at Variance with Realities, that my Expectations from the former are seldom sanguine. on the present occasion appearances are doubtless promising, especially as you have Reason to think the Calculations in question were cautiously made
according to yr. advice I have written to Dr. Ramsay, & left the Letter with a Friend at Boston to be forwarded by the first Vessel.2 I now enclose a Duplicate, open for yr. Perusal— be so good as to seal & forward it. a Letter from you would probably tend to impress still more strongly upon his mind the Expediency of as well as Propriety of speedily remitting the Ballance necessary to discharge my Bond. The Publicity which a Suit on the Bond w[oul]d. create, is a Circumstance w[hic]h. ought & doubtless will be regarded by him as an interesting one. His not writing me is singular, especially as the Situation in w[hic]h. his omissions have placed me renders Explanation & appology proper. His character however has been such, that something extraordinary must I think have occurred to occasion his apparent neglects.3
I had written thus far when yours of the 20 Inst. was delivered to me.4 The Efforts making to exclude the Otsego Votes do not surprize me— It is reputable to have such Enemies— The Business is in good Hands, and I am persuaded that every thing w[hic]h. may be proper on the occasion will be done— Perseverance Prudence and Right operate powerfully— I am at present too much occupied to enlarge Adieu my Dr Sr. Yours sincerely.
Dft, NNC (EJ: 12829).
1. JJ to Troup, 2 May 1792, above, and Troup to JJ, 13 May 1792, ALS, NNC (EJ: 07189).
2. Letter not found. The only letters to David Ramsay found for this period are JJ to Ramsay, 25 Feb. 1792, and [January 1793], Dfts, NNC (EJ: 08886, EJ: 08869). Both requested Ramsay to provide for payment of his obligations to the Van Horne estate, rather than leave JJ liable as his cosigner for payment of a bond to abide by court rulings on the case.
3. David Ramsay, physician, historian, and congressional delegate from South Carolina, 1782–83, 1785–86, had requested JJ’s assistance in resolving settlement of a debt. On 5 Oct. 1788 JJ had cosigned Ramsay’s bond to the New York chancery court for $3,000. Ramsay, as executor of the Ellis estate, was sued by SLJ’s cousins Ann and David Van Horne as executors of the estate of their mother Ann French Van Horne, widow of merchant David Van Horne Sr., for payment of an old debt to the Van Horne estate. After the court had issued a writ called a ne exeat Republica against him that barred his leaving the state, Ramsay had petitioned the court for permission to return to South Carolina to prepare his response to the bill of complaints. Chancellor Livingston gave him until 7 May 1789 to do so. Under his bond, Ramsay pledged to return to New York at that time and subject himself to the process of the court or to abide by the final decree of the court. See the copy of the bond, NNC (EJ: 08866); and, for a summary of Ann Van Horne’s will, dated 7 Dec. 1786, see Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate Office: City of New York (17 vols.; New York Historical Society Collections, vols. 25–41; New York, 1893–1913), 38: 111.
In September 1789 Ramsay wrote JJ that another writ had been issued against him and reported that his efforts to sell property to raise funds to cover the debt to the Van Hornes had fallen through. He sought RRL’s ruling on whether payment of the full interest on the debt was required and again requested JJ’s assistance. Ramsay to JJ, 19 Sept. 1789, ALS, NNC (EJ: 07062). On 4 Oct. 1789 he informed JJ that to leave New York again he would have to post a larger bond, which he again asked JJ to cosign. ALS, NNC (EJ: 07063). JJ complied.
In September 1790 JJ wrote Ramsay saying he had expected Ramsay to return that spring to settle the case but he had not done so, nor filed a response to the bill of complaint. JJ begged Ramsay to settle the case, since in the event of his death the bond could create legal difficulties for his family. JJ to Ramsay, 1 Sept. 1790, Dft, NNC (EJ: 08875). On 23 Sept. Ramsay wrote to inform JJ he had filed his response and intended to comply with the decision of the chancery court. ALS, NNC (EJ: 07064).
On 1 Oct. 1791 JJ wrote Ramsay that the Chancellor had ruled against him in the suit and that his decision was likely to be upheld upon appeal to the Court of Errors. He advised Ramsay to be prepared to make payment. He repeated this information in a letter of 18 Nov. Dfts, NNC (EJ: 08882; EJ: 08883). On 29 Oct. Ramsay replied that he would have to make considerable sacrifice of Ellis property to raise the sum required and hoped the Van Hornes would be willing to accept payment in three annual installments. He recounted how depreciation of currency, of loan office certificates, and of the indents used to make interest payments on them had damaged the Ellis estate, and expressed surprise that RRL had not allowed time for payment. JJ responded on 29 Nov. 1791 that the executors were unlikely to allow such delays since the various heirs (David and Ann and their four sisters, Susan, Catherine, Cornelia, and Elizabeth Van Horne) were pressing for payment. Dft, NNC (EJ: 08884). On 25 Feb. 1792, JJ wrote again that the final decision would soon be made and that he expected he would be made liable for payment of the bond if Ramsay did not provide for it. Dft, NNC (EJ: 08886). In January 1793, without having heard from Ramsay, JJ sent copies (not found) of his letters and asserted that nothing but Ramsay’s arrival or payment of the bond would prevent JJ from having to pay the bond. Dft, NNC (EJ: 08869). On 3 Apr. 1793, Ramsay finally wrote to inform JJ he had made payment in full to Ann Van Horne as executrix amounting to $17,000 including the interest, and that he had previously made arrangements so that even in the event of his death JJ would not have been liable for payment of the bond. ALS, NNC (EJ: 07066).
4. Troup to JJ, 20 May 1792, above.