Adams Papers
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To John Adams from Pierre Charles L’Enfant, 17 January 1790

From Pierre Charles L’Enfant

new york January the 17. 1790—

Sir.

In may ’89. while I was Engage in supperintending some work at the Congress House Mr Ottis requested I should Direct the Execution of Several matter wanting in the Secretary office & committee Room’s to the Senate—such as writing desk’s tables & presses for papers which I accordingly ordered to be done and the cost thereof to be charged in a bill to the Senate of the United states for whose private use the Saide Aarticles were Intended.1

your Excellency will be pleased to observe that the provision that had been made By the City for to defray the Expenditure of the building did not comprehended any thing Beyond such movables as were of most immediate necessity for to Furnish & decorate the tow Grand Room’s ([viz] that of the Senat & that of the house of Representatives) and that it had been understood that any articles as Should besides be wanted for the Internal accommodation Should be provided for by the Congress themselves.

this being well known the clark of the House of representatives applied to me for severals articles similar to the above mentioned which I ordered into his office and the cost thereof was paid By that house on the account being delivered to them at the end of thier last session. the application made to me by Mr ottis was of a much later date to that which I had received from the clark of the House of representatives and the circumstance of the account being paid by that house well known of him. upon what ground dose Mr ottis persist in is objection to W. Carter Bringing in his bill to him for those objects which he himself has directed the Execution of. I cannot conceive—and my desir to see justice done to a deserving work men Induces me to sollicite here your Excellency goodness in his behalf2

the motive will I hope plead in Excuse for the liberty I am taking in availing of the opportunity for subscribing my self / With great respect / your Excellency / most humble & most / obeident servent.

P. C. L’Enfant—

RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “His Excellency / the president of the senat of the united states.”

1. The New York City Council hired L’Enfant to remodel and expand Federal Hall, where the Continental Congress had met since 1785. Reconstruction of the edifice cost $65,000, financed by local taxes and a lottery. The three-story building boasted marble floors, offices, committee rooms, and public galleries. Members of the House convened on the first floor, while JA and the Senate met on the second floor (Bickford and Bowling, Birth of the Nation description begins Charlene Bangs Bickford and Kenneth R. Bowling, Birth of the Nation: The First Federal Congress, 1789–1791, Washington, D.C., 1989. description ends , p. 9–10).

2. L’Enfant’s query to Samuel Allyne Otis, the Senate secretary, has not been found. The architect referred to money owed to Winsen Carter, a cartman living on Lumber Street (New-York Directory description begins New-York Directory [title varies], issued annually with varying imprints. description ends , 1790, Evans, description begins Charles Evans and others, American Bibliography: A Chronological Dictionary of All Books, Pamphlets and Periodical Publications Printed in the United States of America [1639–1800], Chicago and Worcester, Mass., 1903–1959; 14 vols., rev. edn., www.readex.com. description ends No. 22724).

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    Adams Papers
    Title
    To John Adams from Pierre Charles L’Enfant, 17 January 1790
    Author
    L’Enfant, Pierre Charles
    Recipient
    Adams, John
    Date
    17 January 1790

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To John Adams from Pierre Charles L’Enfant, 17 January 1790,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-20-02-0138. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 20, June 1789–February 1791, ed. Sara Georgini, Sara Martin, R. M. Barlow, Gwen Fries, Amanda M. Norton, Neal E. Millikan, and Hobson Woodward. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2020, pp. 216–217.]