To Thomas Jefferson from Thomas Waterman, 19 July 1803
From Thomas Waterman
Philadelphia July 19th 1803.
Sir,
The object of this letter is respectfully to solicit the appointment as one of the Commissioners of Bankruptcy, in & for the Pennsylvania district, in the place of Joseph Clay Esqre:, whose commission I presume will expire, on taking his seat in the house of Representatives, as member for this place.—
Should you be pleased, Sir, to confer on me the appointment, I shall assiduously endeavor to discharge my duty—with satisfaction to yourself & the public, & credit to myself.
The necessary support of a numerous & increasing family, demanding the utmost exertion of my time & talents, urges me to this Solicitation.—
I have the honor to be with the highest respect, Sir, Your most obedient & very humble Servant,
Tho: Waterman
RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR); at foot of text: “The President of the U. States”; endorsed by TJ as received 25 July and “to be commr. bkrptcy” and so recorded in SJL.
A former Treasury Department clerk, Waterman had returned to Philadelphia, where he was employed as an accountant. There would be only four bankruptcy commissioners in Philadelphia when joseph clay resigned later in 1803. The vacancy caused by the death of John W. Vancleve in 1802 had not been filled (Vol. 33:343n; Vol. 38:93-4; Joseph Clay to TJ, 29 Mch. and 19 Oct. 1803).