To Thomas Jefferson from Samuel Bishop, 27 March 1802
From Samuel Bishop
Collectors Office New Haven District
March 27 1802
Sir
Having received a Commission as Collector of this district during the pleasure of the President, I possess my faculties sufficiently1 to feel grateful for the confidence reposed and for the conclusive manner in which my appointment was vindicated:—& I retain my hand writing sufficiently to express this gratitude.
Being recovered from a long season of sickniss I shall endeavour to perform personally some official acts and to cause the rest to be done to acceptance—
At my advanced age it is a source of great satisfaction that I have lived to see our National government administered by men who respect the principles of our revolution and who will apply them faithfully to the condition of our country
I have the Honor to subscribe my self with perfect respect your Humble servant—
Saml. Bishop
RC (DLC); at head of text: “To the President of the united States”; endorsed by TJ as a letter of 22 Mch. received 5 Apr. and so recorded in SJL.
Samuel Bishop (1723?-1803), mayor of New Haven, chief judge of the county probate court, justice of the peace, and town clerk, was appointed by TJ as collector of the port on 23 May 1801 but did not receive his permanent commission until approved by the Senate in January 1802. His recess appointment and the removal of Elizur Goodrich were the subjects of an impassioned remonstrance by the merchants of New Haven in June 1801 that prompted TJ to offer an explanation of his policy on removals and appointments. Bishop, almost eighty years old, died in early August 1803. His son, Abraham Bishop, succeeded him in office (, 1:402, 453; New Haven Visitor, 9 Aug. 1803; Vol. 33:671; Vol. 34:301, 381–4, 554–8).
1. MS: “suffciently.”