To Alexander Hamilton from Joseph Hamilton, 4 December 1799
From Joseph Hamilton1
Hudson [New York] December 4, 1799. “As the inclosed Pamphlet2 was written Chiefly with a View to be put into the Hands of the Officers of the Army, & Navy of the united States, I beg leave at this early Moment to Present it to you; which if it Should gain your approbation, I flatter Myself will be more Speedily, and abundantly Serviceable to the Public.…”3
ALS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.
1. Joseph Hamilton was a physician in Hudson, New York.
2. Joseph Hamilton, Occasional Reflections on the Operations of the Smallpox or, the Traveller’s Pocket Doctor (New York: May 21, 1799). This pamphlet was originally issued in New York on December 3, 1798, under the title Occasional Observations on the Operations of the Small-pox or, the Traveller’s Pocket-Doctor.
3. Joseph Hamilton sent this pamphlet to John Adams on October 15, 1799 (ALS, Adams Family Papers, deposited in the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston). The letter to Adams and the letter to H printed above are almost identical.