To Thomas Jefferson from James Monroe, 4 March 1800
From James Monroe
Richmd. March 4. 1800.
Dear Sir
You will have heard of the death of Mr. R.B. before this reaches you. On my arrival here the engagmt. in his favor became due, & as a judgment stood agnst me on a forthcoming bond I was forced to pay the amt. wh. was £651.—I notified to Francis Brooke his brother, that he stood indebted to you for this act of friendship £100., to two other gentln. in a like sum, each, and to me for the balance. You will recollect you advanc’d for me some time since to Mr. Kenney £30. so that you owe me on the above advance £70. I am just going on a flying visit to albemarle to look into my affrs. It is possible I may sell my plantation above charlottesville while up. If I do I shall not want the above sum till I see you, of wh. will inform you on my return. yr. friend & servant
Jas. Monroe
RC (MHi).
Mr. R.B.: state attorney general and former governor of Virginia Robert Brooke, who died in Fredericksburg on 27 Feb. Earlier, Monroe had undertaken to cover the most pressing claims by Brooke’s creditors. He enlisted James Madison and John Francis Mercer to help with £75 each, increasing the sum to £100 when he discovered that the debts were greater than he had anticipated. Wilson Cary Nicholas also pledged £100. In July 1799 Monroe had hoped to get similar pledges from Francis Walker and Nicholas’s brother John, while others took responsibility for some of Brooke’s lesser debts (, 19 [1911], 100–1; , 17:253–4, 390; Robert Brooke to Monroe, 29 Aug. 1798, in DLC: Monroe Papers).