To George Washington from Timothy Pickering, 21 September 1795
From Timothy Pickering
Philadelphia Sept. 21. 1795.
Sir,
I wrote you on Friday, informing that on that day two vessels were to sail for England carrying the two copies of the treaty ratified and the papers which were to accompany them, and one packet for Mr Monroe, to be forwarded by Mr Deas.1 A second will be sent to Mr Monroe by the first vessel to Hamburg; and the others by the first conveyances to France.
The letters to Mr Pinckney are not yet finished. Mr Yard from whom much information on the Spanish trade was expected did not make his communication so early as it was looked for. He gave it to Mr Wolcott, who on Friday afternoon handed the same to me. I have yet only had time to read it: but from that & the other communications obtained I will in two or three days digest whatever shall appear desirable, and when approved by Mr Wolcott, Mr Pinckney’s dispatches shall be sent off by the first opportunity.2
On Friday I inclosed to you Mr Boudinot’s answer.3 Major Jackson is desirous of obtaining the office of director of the mint. He is doubtless very competent in point of abilities. He is about to marry a daughter of Mr Willing, on whom something handsome must be settled.4 The respectability of this connection & the consequence derived from a family establishment may after those events render an appointment very proper: and I confess I should at this moment be for myself well enough pleased in seeing Major Jackson thus provided for: but hitherto his manners have not been ingratiating, and the appointment would doubtless at this moment be very unpopular.
Last week I took the liberty of expressing my opinion of Mr Gore, whom General Knox had mentioned for the office of Attorney General.5 I did not speak of Mr Dexter, because I had before manifested not only my opinion but even my wishes concerning him. These are not changed. Mr Morse (the Geographer, a respectable clergyman at Charleston where Mr Dexter resides) has written to Mr Wolcott intimating that the appointment of Mr Dexter would be agreeable.6 Of all the old members from Massachusetts I have the least acquaintance with him: and yet I confess I feel much solicitude that he should fill the office of Atty Genl because of the excellent character he bears, & his uncommon talents. His connections in Massachusetts were and are respectable.
The post is near starting—I have only time to add that With great respect and attachment I am sir your obt servant
Timothy Pickering
ALS, DLC:GW; ALS (letterpress copy), MHi: Pickering Papers.
1. The previous Friday was 18 September. See Pickering’s second letter to GW of that date.
2. Pickering’s dispatches to Thomas Pinckney, U.S. envoy to Spain, were dated 23 Sept. (DNA: RG 59, Diplomatic and Consular Instructions, 1791–1801). The anticipated communication on the Spanish trade, probably from James Yard, has not been identified.
3. See Pickering to GW, 18 Sept. (second letter), n.1.
4. Pickering referred to William Jackson, who married Elizabeth Willing on 11 November.
5. For Pickering’s comments about Christopher Gore, see his second letter to GW of 11 September. Henry Knox submitted Gore’s name in his letter to GW of 2 September.
6. Samuel Dexter (1761–1816) graduated from Harvard in 1781 and was admitted to the bar in 1784. He served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 1788–90, and as a member of the U.S. House, 1793–95. Voters elected Dexter to the U.S. Senate in 1799, and he served until 30 May 1800, when he resigned to become Secretary of War. One year later, President John Adams appointed him to take charge of the Treasury Department. Dexter ran an unsuccessful campaign to become governor of Massachusetts in 1816.
Jedediah Morse wrote Oliver Wolcott, Jr., on 10 Sept.: “Mr Dexter is very popular among the friends of govt in this country.” Morse noted that if Dexter succeeded William Bradford as attorney general, “Such an appointment would gratify his friends, who have been sorry that he failed in his election to Congress” and that Dexter “wd do honour to our country” (CtHi: Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Papers).