To George Washington from Thomas Jefferson, 26 November 1792
From Thomas Jefferson
[Philadelphia] Nov. 26. 1792.
Th: Jefferson has the honour to inclose to the President the copy of a Report on the petition of John de Neufville referred to him by the house of Representatives, which he proposes to send in tomorrow.1
AL, DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Letters; LB, DNA: RG 59, George Washington’s Correspondence with His Secretaries of State; LB (photocopy), DLC:GW.
1. On 11 April 1792 the House of Representatives referred the petition of former Amsterdam banker Jean de Neufville to Jefferson for examination (see , 4:180). For background on Neufville’s prolonged attempt to receive reimbursement for money expended in support of the Americans and for losses sustained as a result of his efforts to secure a treaty between the Netherlands and the United States during the Revolutionary War, see GW to Leonard de Neufville, 29 June 1789, source note.
Jefferson reviewed the petition and its accompanying documents, and after summarizing the various claims, he concluded in his report that “no part of it ought to be granted” (DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Letters). The House read Jefferson’s report on 27 Nov. and tabled it (ibid., 5:26). After Neufville’s death in 1796, his family continued to press his claims, and in 1797 Congress granted them $3,000 in partial compensation, but final settlement was not made until 1851 (
29; 814). For Jefferson’s report in its entirety, see 24:665–67.