John Jay Papers
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To John Jay from Francis Lewis, 23 June 1777

From Francis Lewis

Baltimore, June 23, 1777.

Dear Sir

I have been favoured with your letter of the 1st inst. and am happy to learn that you have received my trunk in good order.1

Our British tyrants, after they had plundered me of all my effects to a considerable value, at length condescended to give Mrs. Lewis her liberty; she is now here with my son, his wife and child.2

Being reduced to a private station, I shall, for the present, make this my place of residence, but am perplexed in the extreme how to procure my family a subsistence; such is the exorbitant prices of all necessaries, from the rapid depreciation of our Continental currency, that I can assure you sir, while I had the honour of representing our State in Congress, the pittance allowed for that service, did not altogether defray my expenses.3

Seven British ships of war are now in this bay, besides tenders; they have blocked up the Virginia frigate, Capt. Nicholson, in York river, where we apprehend she will be taken. The navigation of this and the Delaware bay is entirely stopped, so that the inhabitants are greatly distressed for salt; five pounds per bushel, is here demanded for that article.4

In a paragraph of your letter, “you wish to say something to me on other subjects, but as you expected me soon at Kingston, should defer particulars till we met.” If they are matters of consequence, I could wish they were communicated by letter; for in my present circumstances, I can ill support the expense of a journey to Kingston, unless the public service makes it absolutely necessary.

I shall be at all times ready to render the State or yourself any services in the power of, Dear sir, Your obedt. humbl. servt.

Fra. Lewis

The Honble. John Jay.

Printed: JPC description begins Journals of the Provincial Congress, Provincial Convention, Committee of Safety and Council of Safety of the State of New-York (2 vols.; Albany, N.Y., 1842) description ends , 2: 466–67.

1. JJ’s letter of 1 June has not been located.

2. In the fall of 1776, British troops destroyed Lewis’s home in Whitestone, Queens, and imprisoned his wife, Elizabeth Annesley Lewis, who was released only after Washington ordered the seizure of two Tory women in Philadelphia as retaliation. Lewis’s wife’s ordeal is believed to have contributed to her death in 1779.

3. Lewis had not been chosen for the delegation elected on 13 May 1777 but was reelected on 3 Oct. He next appeared in Congress in December 1777 and served until 1779, when he became a member of the Board of Admiralty. BDC description begins Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-present, http://bioguide.congress.gov description ends ; LMCC description begins Edmund C. Burnett, ed., Letters of Members of the Continental Congress (8 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1921–36) description ends , 2: lix.

4. In April the New York Provincial Congress had directed Lewis to obtain badly needed salt supplies for the state. LDC description begins Paul H. Smith et al., eds., Letters of Delegates to the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (26 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1976–98) description ends , 7: 172–73.

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    Jay Papers
    Title
    To John Jay from Francis Lewis, 23 June 1777
    Author
    Lewis, Francis
    Recipient
    Jay, John
    Date
    23 June 1777

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To John Jay from Francis Lewis, 23 June 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jay/01-01-02-0248. [Original source: The Selected Papers of John Jay, vol. 1, 1760–1779, ed. Elizabeth M. Nuxoll. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, pp. 437–438.]