Circuit Court Diary, 16 April–30 May 1790
Circuit Court Diary
[16 April 1790–30 May 1790]1
Friday 16 ap. 1790 Set out on northern Circuit—2 Lodged with my Brother at Rye—3 Cloudy & chilly
17. went to Bedford—wind at northeast & raw— dined at Holly’s—4 then went to my Farm
18 violent Storm of Snow & afterwards Rain wind at No. East— much Rail Fence blown down
19 weather being very doubtfull remain’d at the Farm.
20 Set out— near lower Salem Meeting House, rode a little way with an elderly Man— he told me he had learned from my Servants who I was—and that he was the presbeterian Minister of the place—5 His Name was Mead a Brother of Dr. Mead of Horse neck—6 that he had been removed to York State 28 Yrs. & had not in all that Time voted at any Election, nor intermeddled in any politics—deeming it inconsistant with his professional character & Duties—a case not common—
dined at Wilton at Gregory’s—7 He told me that he & others of his neighbours had gone into the raising of Silk, but finding that their Time cd. be more profitably employed they had generally quitted it—8
abt. 2 OCk. it began to rain— Set out for norwalk—within a Mile of wh. being wet I put up at Jno. Handford’s Tavern9 which appears clean & the Family obliging— She told me a Family with 4 Children the eldest 8 Yrs. old, driven by the Indians from Kentucky had just passed on— the woman belonged to Stamford— they had been removed abt. 3 Yrs.—much to be pitied—10
21 Rode to Stratford & dined Col. Bradley the marshall11 overtook me here—we set out—together for N. Haven—asking him at Milford what Church that was—12 You may see Sir by the arched windows that it is episcopalian he said all the windows of the presbeterian churches in the State were sq oblong squares & those of the Episcopalian arched—
He was on the Tryal of Gen. arnold who then communicated whatever might serve him—13 It appeared from his communications that the capture of Gen. Lee was fortunate—intimating that he was at the Head of a Cabal agt. Gen. Washington—that the then state Delegates were in it—&ca.14
Near N Haven a number of Gent. of that city met & escorted us to town—put up at Browns Inn,15 where I found Judge Cushing—
Recd. a Letter from Mr. Langdon16 inviting me to put up at his house at Portsmouth and. it and inclosed a Letter for Mrs. Jay—
1790 April 22 Opened Court—17 A No. of Gent. of the Law were admitted as counsellors & attornies,18 (such being the usage here) on the Recommendn. of Judge Law.19
The G[rand]. Jurors are p[ai]d. here—to the County Courts by County Treasury—to Sup. Court out of State Treasury—
qu[ery]. How to be pd. by U.S.
Bills in Equity are filed—
qu[ery]. (1) What Rules of practice—
(2) How in Vacation? Injunctions— Comm[it]tee to examine witnesses— What Fees?— is District C[ler]k. also Cl[er]k. & Register and Master?
Petty Jury are pd. for Travel—
court dined together, & Dr Dana with them who sd. Prayers20
visited Dr. Stiles—21
23d—opened Court again
ordered the English practice in Equity to obtain— the court from time to time accommodating it to local & other circumstances—
1790 april 24 having finished the Business adjd.
on Judgmt. by Default it is usual here for the court to assess Dam[age]s.
a State Law enables the Parties to put the Tryal of Facts on the Court instead of a Jury
In their courts they continue Causes (for cause shewn) to the next court, & untill then Def[endan]t. has Time to plead
—we gave Rules to plead in Vacation—
—a Cause in the chancery Side is dependg we gave a Rule to ansr. in Vacation, but wd. not authorize Attachmt. for Default—
on Plea to Jurisdiction decided that we have right to try real Actions, where one of the Parties (Pl[ain]t[iff].) is of another State—
on Plea to D[itt]o. decided that original Sum being above 500 Dollrs. Indorsemt. wd. not oust Jurisdiction—
There was formerly a Rule of State Court that Indorsements shd. be deducted first from the Principal—afterwards a Rule that Payments shd. carry Interest— we rejected both—& decided according to right wh. we understand they also have latterly done—
1790 April. one of their Statutes has constantly been construed to authorize the Court (at any time) for causes shewn, to set aside a Judgmt. and retry the Merits— we expressed Disapprobation of this Practice—
we In a cause where Dam[age]s. assessed were less than 500 Dol. Gave Def[endan]t. full costs— the amt. of Ballance due being evidently & indisputably less—
Manufactures thrive in this Town— they have a pretty extensive one of Linnen—a lesser one of thread Stockings. they make plated Buckles very well—22
col. Bradley says Iron ore is found at Ridgefield so hard as to be equal to Steel but very difficult & expensive to work—& prepare—23
one Fenton formerly an am[erican]. Soldier brought me a Micr[o]s[co]pe of his own making wholly neat & good— to encourage I bespoke a small reflecting Telescope— He is self taught—24
ap. 25 Heard Dr. Dana this Morning and after Dining with Mr. Leavensworth,25 Dr Edwards—26 the former preaches unusually well—he writes his Sermons.
wrote to Mrs Jay by Mr Sherbrook—27
mr. cushing gave me Dr. Stiles Election Sermon—an original Performance of the kind—28
26 Set out for Hartford— at worthington went to see an orchard of 300 mulberries abt. 9 yrs. old—in high order—
Sent this Evening for my old friend Hunt—29 who is just removed here from Rye P^r^omised to lodge with him when at Hartford— the Situation is too distant, but it will help him— This town like N. Haven is greatly improved since the War— their navigation in small Boats is very extensive & profitable to this city—
almost every Family here is down with the Influenza— some old people have died with it—30
ap. 27 Left Hartford— stopped at windsor at Elseworths Inn31 to breakfast— not very neat— stopped at Suffield a pretty Town at Hitchcocks Inn—it seems tolerable.32 The Landlord very civil & attentive— dined at Springfield at Parsons—pretty well—33 Lodged at Palmer at Majr. Greaves—much like the last—34
28 Snows fast—Staid here all this Day the weather not admitting of Travelling—35 wrote to Mrs. Jay & P. J. munro—36 the Land of this Town is poor and sandy in general & much broken— chickaby River37 wh. runs thro’ it formerly had plenty of Salmon, but the mill Dams have almost excluded them— The Hessian Fly is in their wheat—38 a Farmer here purposes to feed his late in the Spring with Sheep— he thinks they will bite lower than the nest of the Insect—
ap. 29 1790 weather cold & unsettled— The Horses much incommoded by the Snow & wet—ball exceedingly—
met a Farmer looking man from Berkshire— he in the War sailed with Capt. Barry and was in most of his Engagemts.—39 He says Cattle are dying in his neighbourhood for want of Provender—& great Emigrations into the State of N York to avoid Taxes— he has purchased at New concord40
Breakfasted at western—at maj. Dwights—41 House out of Repair a stage House—obliging—
Dined at Spencer—at Jenks42 a Stage House, repairing—wh. may account for its being dirty—
Lodged at Worcester—at Patch’s43 a Stage House—well kept— This is a pretty Town— a manufacture of Cotton Goods is set up—They are preparing to card by Water—44
Sent the Letters for Mrs. Jay & P. J. Munro to the post office here—
1790 ap. 30—dined at Marlborough—at Williams—45 it seems a good House.
Their cattle in this neighbourhood appear fine— They plough deep— I saw one plough with five yoke of oxen—& several with three— Stout Cattle & in good order—
one mesnard has a Calf of last Spring still sucking— the Cow & the Calf have been kept in the best manner— they expect the Calf will weigh above 600—46
Lodged at Flaggs,47 at Sudbury—a House of late Date, not in order, very civil— They say his father who lives abt. a mile nearer boston, keeps a very good Inn—48
1 May—Took Breakfast at Watertown—at Weston’s—49 I find Willington’s50 abt. 2 miles nearer Boston is preferred.
1 May—Dined at Richardsons51 on the Neck & passed the night with Judge Lowell52 at Roxbury—53 His Son John & the Marshall Mr. Jackson,54 went out in Expectation of meeting me at Watertown—
2 May—The atty Genl.55 made me a visit Judge Cushing passed the Day with us—much interesting conversation wh. I think had better not be written.
Came to Boston this Eveng and put up at Mrs. Ingersolls—56
wrote a Letter to Mrs. Jay & recd. hers, of 23d. Ult:—57
1790 3 May—opened Court—58 dined with Mr. Gore the Atty Gen— There I met with the Lt. Gov. S. Adams— He was very civil, & invited me to call on him in a friendly way &ca.— From this it seems I am not to have a Visit from him—59
4 went with Mr Lowell Judge Cushing &ca. to cambridge—much attention from Presidt. Willard60
5 Dined with Mr. T. Russell.61
6 Do. with Mr Tucker
7 Do Govr. Bowdoin62
8—Mr Lowell
9—Mr Gore.
10—Mr Allen63
11—Mr Breck64
12—Set out for Scituate on a Visit to Judge Cushing—
dined at Cushings Inn at Hingham—65 hearing that the Judge had lost his Sister—remained here till Evg. when circumstances mentioned by the Landlord who then came Home induced me to conclude to proceed in the Morning—66 This Town was settled in 1626—67 They have now their 4th. Clergyman—one of them Mr Gay preached 70 Years—68 Dan. Cushing one of the first Settlers was the Family ^ancestor^ of the numerous Families of that name—69
May 13 Arrived at Scituate
14 visited Doct. Stockbridge a neighbour70
15— Set out with the Judge & his Lady—71 dined with Gen. Lincoln72 at Hingham where we met Judge Lowell &c &ca.
Took Tea with Col. Hichborn at a pleasant Seat formerly of Mr Oliver—73
16 dined with Mr. St. Higgenson, where was Mr. Parsons74
the Duck & Card manufacturies in this Town flourish—75
became informed of various interesting Circumstances—improper to be written
Took Tea with Col. Bradford— He married a Sister of Jonathan W[illia]ms of Nantz— he mentioned to me some very probable Reasons for his thinking that Wms. was acquainted with Arnolds Plott.76
may 17 Set out for Portsmouth— Judge Cushing being indisposed remained at Boston—
dind. at Lynn at Newells—said to be a good House, but not to lodge at—77
Put up at Robinsons at Salem—not exellent78
18. Took Breakfast with Col. Pickman,79 & with him Mr Jackson, Judge Lowell &c. visited the Town— They have a handsome Court House—80 in it a C[ler]ks. office— Mr Osgood81 the Cl[er]k. shewed us some original Indictmtts. of witches &c. The Ink of one of these Indictments except the words with wh. certain Blanks had been filled, was as fresh as if not more than a Month old— Those words had all the usual appearance of age—82
visited the Manufacture of Beverley—83 it did not strike me as very promising Dined with Mr Thorndick & Majr. Brown—84 Came to Newbury port— very civilly entertained by Mr Jackson. This Evening Mr. Hooper brought me a Letter from Mr Dalton85 introducing him to me— John Adams Junr. & a No. of the Gent. of the Law visited me—86
I hear from one of them that Judge Sullivan is extremely ill—87 desired Judge Lowell who returns to Boston Tomorrow, to press Judge Cushing to come on as soon as his Health may permit—
may 19 Set out for Portsmouth— dined at Lovets88 Hampton Town— so-so— Near Greenland met the Marshall, & Col. Whipple89 &c. who accompanied me to Portsm:— lodgd at Col. Brewsters—good House—90 20 visited Mrs. Langdon—91
Recd. by post various Letters franked Under covr. with one of from Mrs. Jay, franked by Mr. Dalton92
from Mr. Short
23 Jany—10 Feb. 1790—8 Nov. last from Jacob Sarly, 22d Decr. 1789 at China—stating that 2 french Vessels use am Flagg—& that Ths. Randall of Ship Jay, & vice Consul of U.S. for money protects one of them
Inclosed the above with their various enclosures. to Mr. Jefferson, with a few lines—93
also recd. Letters
| from | Josha. Johnson | 12 March—. | |
| Tench Coxe | — | 27 ap. | |
| Judge Sullivan | — | 26 ap. | |
| Tench Coxe | — | 5 may | |
| Judge Iredell | — | 8 ap. | |
| Josha. Barney | — | 20 ap. | |
| Mrs. Ridley | — | 2 may | |
| Wm. VWyck | — | 20 march | |
| Henry Hill | — | 24 ap. | |
| Mrs. Jay | — | 13 may |
ansd. two last immediately—94
opened court—95 Ent[ered]. Rule respecting admt. of attys. [admittance of attorneys] &c:
1790 may 21 made order agst. atty. becoming Bail designated the Towns to supply pettit Jurors for next Court—
adjd.—
dined with Co. Sherburne,96 who lodges with the widow of Gen. Whipple—97
22 Went with Col. Wentworth in his Carri^a^g to his Seat at little Harbour, from whence after Breakfast I set out for on my Return— The Marshall & several other Gent. accompanied me as far as Greenland— col wentworths Seat is romantic— He married the widow of Govr. Benning Wentworth—by whom he has one child— a young Lady who fav[ore]d. us with Tunes on the Harpsich[or]d—98
23 This being Sunday remained at Newbury with Mr Jackson— Went to hear Mr Bass preach to a thin Congregation—99
Walked to Mr John Tracys—a House built by Judge Lowell—went to the Top of the adjoining House, of Mr Jackson, wh. afforded a fine View of the Town & its Environs—100
24 Came to Boston— Wrote to Mrs. Jay— recd. one from P. J. munro—101
25 Dined with Mr Barretts—102 His Gardens are pretty—his House in order—Entertains well—heard many anecdotes, not to be written—
Took tea with Govr. Hancock, perfectly well recd. by him & his Lady—103 much civility from Gov. Bowdoin &c. &c.
26 Set out— Lodged at Ferrars104 not so good as is said
27 lodged at Hitchcocks—Brookfield—105 pretty well
28— lodged at West Springfield—Bliss—106 as above
29 Came to Hartford— at my old friend Hunts— Wrote to Mrs. Jay—107 Col. Wadsw[or]th108 & Mr Hillhouse109 visited me— Wrote to Mrs. Jay—110
Recd. visits also from Govr. Huntington—111 the Atty Genl.112 &ca
30 dined with Co. Wadsworth— visited Col. Willeys—113 Took Tea with Govr Huntington at his Lodgings—
Returned thro Farmington & to Bedford
JJ Circuit Court Diary, 16 Apr.-30 May 1790, AD, NNC (EJ: 07351). Letters mentioned in the Diary that have not been found are generally not further identified.
1. The following list appears on the diary’s front endpapers:
Govr Livingston died 25 July 1790
Peter Jay died—17 April 1782
Mary Jay died—17 April 1777
Ann M. Jay died 4 Septr. 1791
Margaret the wife of Fredk. Jay died—28 Octr. 1791
Frances Peloquin age 79—died—augt. 1742
A Schuylers mother died—27 Octr. 1791
2. The Eastern Circuit, which JJ refers to here as the “northern Circuit”, consisted of New York and the New England states.
3. Peter Jay (1734–1813) held the family properties in Rye. , 1: 3.
4. Jesse Holly (Holley) (1753–1823) operated a tavern in Bedford and commanded the militia forces of Westchester County.
5. Solomon Mead (1725–1812) was ordained as minister of the South Salem Presbyterian Church at its founding in May 1752. Joseph A. Webster, A Brief History of the Presbyterian Church of South Salem, New York, 1752–1902 (Elizabeth, N.J., 1902), 9–10.
6. Dr. Amos Mead (1730–1807), resided in the Horseneck section of Greenwich, Conn. Mead served as justice of the peace for Fairfield County and as a delegate to the Connecticut Assembly in the years preceding the war for independence. He also was a member of the state convention that ratified the federal Constitution in 1788. Spencer P. Mead, History and Genealogy of the Mead Family (New York, 1901), 54–55.
7. Ezra Gregory (c. 1750–1835) kept a tavern on Belden Hill in Wilton before moving to Bridgeport in 1793. Robert H. Russell, Wilton Connecticut: Three Centuries of People, Places, and Progress (Wilton, Conn., 2004), 55.
8. Although sericulture was centered in Windham and Tolland Counties, farmers throughout Connecticut experimented with it. Prominent state leaders, such as Ezra Stiles, encouraged these developments, linking silk production with economic prosperity. Not all silk cultivators shared the disappointing outcome of Wilton’s residents. During his 1789 tour of New England, GW found that the townspeople of Wallingford and Mansfield had successfully integrated the cultivation of mulberry trees and silkworm hatcheries within their family economies. L. P. Brockett, The Silk Industry in America. A History: Prepared for the Centennial Exposition (New York, 1876), 30–32; Cora E. Lutz, “Ezra Stiles and the Culture of Silk in Connecticut,” Yale University Library Gazette 58, no. 3/4 (April 1984): 43–49; , 5: 467.
9. Possibly John Hanford (1739–1825) of Norwalk, who headed a ten-member household in 1790. , 23.
10. Raids by war parties of the Western Indian Confederacy took a heavy toll among New England migrants who settled in northern Kentucky during the 1780s. Due to the actual and perceived threat of frontier violence, many newcomers chose to return to the safety of their home communities. See Daniel Blake Smith, “‘This Idea in Heaven’: Image and Reality on the Kentucky Frontier,” in Craig Thompson Friend, ed., The Buzzel about Kentuck: Settling the Promised Land (Lexington, Ky., 1999), 77–98; and Craig Thompson Friend, Kentucke’s Frontiers (Bloomington, 2010).
11. Col. Philip Bradley (1738–1821) of Ridgefield.
12. Milford’s Episcopal congregation organized in 1764 and construction began shortly thereafter on a house of worship. The St. George Episcopal Church was completed nearly a decade later. E. Edwards Beardsley, History of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut vol. 1, From the Settlement of the Colony to the Death of Bishop Seabury, 2nd ed. (New York, 1869), 238.
13. Bradley served on the jury for the court-martial that convened in Morristown, New Jersey, during the winter of 1779–80 to investigate whether Benedict Arnold had committed acts of misconduct and had abused his authority while serving as military governor of Philadelphia and the surrounding region. , 3, 4.
14. One of the most serious charges leveled against Arnold was that he had provided preferential treatment to known and suspected Loyalists in Philadelphia. Arnold countered this accusation by insinuating that Joseph Reed—President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, congressional delegate, and one of Arnold’s foremost detractors—had schemed with Gen. Charles Lee to undermine GW’s military leadership in the aftermath of the disastrous New York campaign. Both Reed and Lee had exchanged correspondence questioning GW’s ability to continue as commander. In a letter to Lee on 21 Nov., Reed, then serving as adjutant-general, urged him to “go to Congress & form the Plan of the new Army.” On 13 Dec., the day of his capture by British troops in Basking Ridge, N.J., Lee offered his own guarded critique of GW in a letter to Horatio Gates, remarking, “a certain great man is most damnably deficient.” Proceedings of a General Court Marital, 51; GW to Reed, 30 Nov. 1776, , 7: 237–38n1; Lee to Gates, 12–13 Dec. 1776, Charles Lee and Henry Edward Bunbury, The Lee Papers, vol. 2, 1776–1778 (New York, 1872), 348.
15. Jacob Brown (c. 1747–93) of New Haven helped establish a mail stage between Boston and New York. GW had lodged with Brown in 1789, observing that the proprietor “keeps a good tavern.” Connecticut Journal (New Haven), 17 May 1786; , 5: 466.
16. In margin: “and”. John Langdon to JJ, 16 Apr. 1790, ALS, PC (EJ: 12865). Endorsed: “and. 21 ap. 1790.” , 2: 47. John Langdon, Portsmouth merchant and U.S. senator from New Hampshire. JJ had already declined Langdon’s offer of lodging while the Circuit Court met in Portsmouth, informing the senator of his decision to find accommodations in a public house. The persistent Langdon once more extended the hospitality of his home, but knowing that JJ might refuse him a second time, also recommended William Brewster’s inn as the best establishment in Portsmouth. See Circuit Court Diary, 19 May 1790, below.
17. The Circuit Court for the District of Connecticut met for the Spring term in New Haven from 22 to 24 April. In the course of its session, the court determined judicial procedure and heard thirteen common law cases and two chancery cases. , 1: 322. For press coverage for this court session, see the editorial note “Riding the Circuit,” above.
18. The court admitted twenty-six counsellors and attorneys. Pierpont Edwards (1750–1826) of New Haven served in the Continental Congress and as United States district judge (, 1, Part 1: 285n259); Jonathan Ingersoll (1747–1823) of New Haven, cousin of Jared Ingersoll, served as justice of the state superior court and later as lieutenant governor; James Hillhouse (1754–1832) of New Haven represented Connecticut in Congress first as a representative and later as a senator (, 1, Part 2: 902); Mark Leavenworth of New Haven, on whom see note 25, below; Jabez Clark (1753–1836) of Windham, later chief justice of the Windham County Court; Ephraim Kirby (1757–1804) of Litchfield represented his town in the state legislature (, 1, Part 2: 658); David Daggett (1764–1851) of New Haven was state attorney for New Haven County, U.S. senator, and judge on the Connecticut Superior Court and Supreme Court of Errors (, 1, Part 2: 831); Elizur Goodrich (1761–1849) served as a congressman, a probate judge, and as Mayor of New Haven; David Wright (1756–98) of New London was clerk for New London County; Simeon Baldwin (1761–1851) of New Haven was city clerk of New Haven, and later clerk of the U.S. district and circuit courts for Connecticut (, 1, Part 2: 694); William Hillhouse Jr. (1757–1833) of New Haven, brother of James Hillhouse, was an attorney and a poet; Samuel Woodruff (c. 1760–c. 1850); Asa Spalding (1757–1811) of Norwich, collector of excise for Connecticut and state attorney for New London County; John Parish (c. 1761–1835) of Brooklyn, Conn., was a state representative from Brooklyn; Barnabas Bidwell (1763–1833) of New Haven, was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court, and was later attorney general of Massachusetts (, 1, Part 1: 183n54); Isaac Stiles (1763–95) of Tolland; Dyer White (1762–1841) of New Haven served as collector of revenue for New Haven, and then as clerk of the superior court for New Haven County; Jonathan O. Moseley (1762–1838) of East Haddam was justice of the peace for East Haddam, state’s attorney of Middlesex County, and later U.S. congressman; Theodore Dwight (1764–1846) of Haddam, brother of Timothy Dwight, was a U.S. congressman and editor; John Davenport (1752–1830) of Stamford served as a U.S. congressman; Matthew (Mathew) T. Russell (c. 1761–1828) of Middletown was the treasurer of Middletown; Chauncey Goodrich (1759–1815) of Hartford served as a U.S. congressman (, 1, Part 2: 774); Asher Miller (1754–1821) of Middletown was a probate judge and state attorney for Middletown and later mayor of the town; Samuel W. Dana (1760–1830) of Middletown served as a representative and a senator from Connecticut (, 1, Part 2: 871n2); William Brown (1764–1803) of Guilford was the state representative from Guilford; and Stephen T. Hosmer (1763–1834) of Middletown served as chief justice of Connecticut.
Seventeen citizens of New Haven were also sworn in as jurors: Henry Daggett, foreman (1741–1830); John Heylegar; Elias Shipman (1747–1823), merchant; Hezekiah Sabin Jr. (1750–1822), merchant; Michael Todd, shopkeeper; Elias Beers (1746–1832), postmaster; Abel Burritt (1742–1828), shopkeeper, later state representative; Isaac Beers (c. 1742–1813), bookseller; Josiah Burr (1753–95), merchant; Frederick Hunt (c. 1750–1825), shopkeeper; Anthony Perit; Benjamin Sanford (1732–92), merchant; Isaac Jones (c. 1738–1812); John Miles Jr. (1752–1830), innkeeper; Thaddeus Beecher (1749–1823), merchant; Jonas Prentice (1741–1817); and Ebenezer Townsend, merchant (1742–1824).
19. In a letter written to Law a month earlier JJ recommended that state and local precedents should be considered in determining the appropriate protocol and practices of Circuit Court session meetings. See JJ to Richard Law, 10 Mar. 1790, above.
20. James Dana (1735–1812) began ministering at Wallingford’s First Congregational Church in 1758 following his studies at Harvard. In 1789 he moved to New Haven and served as pastor of the First Church until 1805.
21. An accomplished intellectual and theologian, Ezra Stiles (1727–95) was ordained pastor of Newport’s Second Congregational Church in 1756 and remained at this pulpit for the next twenty years. In 1778 Stiles accepted the presidency of Yale College where he had studied as a youth. JJ had recently earned Stile’s gratitude by facilitating the safe delivery of eight boxes of “Philosophical apparatus” to New Haven. These materials had been shipped from London by Benjamin Vaughn for use by college faculty and students. Stiles to JJ, 15 Dec. 1789, FC, CtY-BR (EJ: 05233); JJ to Stiles, 7 Jan. 1790, ALS, CtY-BR (EJ: 05231).
22. GW also commented on the state of manufacturing in New Haven during his visit to the town in mid-October 1789. Like JJ, the President had visited New Haven’s linen factory which was managed by Josiah Burr. He did not, however, share JJ’s enthusiasm for the establishment, noting “The Linnen Manufacture does not appear to be of so much importance as I had been led to believe.” , 5: 464.
23. Nathan Dauchy (1747–1824), innkeeper, Elijah Keeler (1745–c. 1801), and Timothy Keeler Jr. (1748–1815), innkeeper and merchant, all of Ridgefield, had established the Mamanasco Ironworks in 1789.
JJ later acquired a financial interest in the Mamanasco Ironworks. In April 1791, Elijah Keeler mortgaged his interest in the iron works and the surrounding land for £212.17.6. Keeler left for Onondaga County, New York, after 1795, and JJ and Anne Van Horne acquired the mortgage deed on Keeler’s property, which included one-eighth of the ironworks. Wesley B. Keeler, Ralph Keeler of Norwalk Connecticut and Some of His Descendants (Baltimore, 1985), 77; Whitney Phoenix, The Whitney Family of Connecticut, and its Affiliations: Being an Attempt to Trace the Descendants, as well in the Female as the Male Line, of Henry Whitney, from 1649 to 1878; To which is Prefixed some Account of the Whitneys of England, vol. 1, part 1 (New York, 1878), 73; Silvio A. Bedini, Ridgefield in Review (Ridgefield, Conn., 1958), 145–46, 330.
24. Jotham Fenton (1760–1821) of New Haven was lauded for his innovations and ingenuity in manufacturing optical instruments and credited with making the first reflecting telescope in the United States. Jotham’s elder brother, Nathan Fenton (1747–1807), shared his technical expertise in crafting telescopes and thermometers. During the War for Independence, Jotham served as a sergeant in Captain Prentice’s Company, Fifth Connecticut Battalion, and later joined Colonel Lamb’s Second Continental Artillery Regiment. Middlesex Gazette, 7 Apr. 1788; Boston Gazette, 16 Aug. 1790; Thomas P. Jones, “On Speculums for Reflecting Telescopes,” Franklin Journal and American Mechanics’ Magazine 5, no. 1 (January 1828): 40; , 286, 408.
25. Mark Leavenworth (1752–1812) graduated from Yale in 1771 and remained in New Haven to practice law. During the Revolutionary War, he served on a committee in the Connecticut legislature that procured supplies for Washington’s army. Following the conflict, he ran a mercantile firm with his brother Jesse Leavenworth (1740–1824). By 1790, Leavenworth was serving as a Federal clerk for the District of Connecticut and was also admitted to the bar of the Circuit Court for the District of Connecticut. Elias Warner Leavenworth, A Genealogy of the Leavenworth Family in the United States, with Historical Introduction, Etc. (Syracuse, 1873), 94–95; Connecticut Journal (New Haven), 28 Apr. 1790.
26. Jonathan Edwards (1745–1801), son and namesake of the renowned Rev. Jonathan Edwards (1703–58), graduated from the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1765 and accepted the pastorate of the White Haven Church in New Haven four years later.
27. Possibly Miles Sherbrooke (Sherbrook) (c. 1733–1805) of New York City, a prominent merchant and partner in the firm Perry, Hayes, and Sherbrooke. Sherbrooke had served alongside JJ on the Committee of Fifty-One in 1774, yet remained loyal to the British crown. Sherbrooke was detained in 1776 by patriot authorities, and his New York and New Jersey properties were confiscated. Elizabeth Sherbrooke twice petitioned the state government to allow her husband to return home; although unsuccessful in 1784, her request was granted three years later. A Citizen, To the Worthy Inhabitants of the City and County of New York (New York, 1774; , no. 13684); GW to Jonathan Trumbull Sr., 23 Mar. 1777, , 8: 622–23; New-Jersey Gazette (Trenton), 12 May 1779; Daily Advertiser (New York), 3 and 5 Mar. 1787.
28. This was most likely the Connecticut election sermon of 1783, published that year in New Haven. The United States Elevated to Glory and Honor. A Sermon, Preached before His Excellency Jonathan Trumbull, Esq L.L.D. Governor and Commander in Chief, and the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, convened at Hartford, at the Anniversary Election, May 8th, 1783 (New Haven, Conn., 1783; , no. 18198).
29. Alexander Hunt (c. 1730–90) served as a lieutenant in a battalion raised in Westchester County during the war of independence. Following the conflict, Hunt served as a justice of the peace and represented Rye at the annual state Protestant Episcopal convention in New York City. At the 1787 meeting, he attended alongside JJ’s brother Peter. Hunt died quite suddenly four months after JJ visited him in Hartford. John T. Scharf, History of Westchester County, New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms (Philadelphia, 1886), 2: 674; Gaine’s New-York Pocket Almanac, for the Year 1789 (New York, [1788]; , no. 21266); Proceedings of the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the State of New-York, Held in the City of New York, on Wednesday June 22d, 1785 (New York, [1787]; , no. 20667) 4, 12; American Mercury (Hartford), 23 Aug. 1790.
30. Influenza outbreaks raged throughout the Hudson and Connecticut River Valleys from 1789 to 1791. One newspaper verified JJ’s claim about the virulence of the disease in Hartford, reporting that it had shut down all business activity in the capital except for the caregivers attending to afflicted persons. Fearful over her husband’s possible exposure, SLJ confided “I dread the effects of that disorder more than ever, & sincerely hope you will guard against its as much as possible.” Seeking to reassure his wife, JJ observed that “As yet I continue well, tho I have travelled in some very disagreeable Days— The whole country has been sick”. Whereas JJ escaped the prevailing sickness, his family in New York was not so fortunate. SLJ reported that she had been “seized with a Giddiness in my head which was succeeded by violent pain & fever & pain in my Limbs” and that their infant son William, JJ’s brother Frederick, and his sister-in-law Margaret Barclay (Peggy) Jay had likewise been stricken. Although his family members recovered, the episode left JJ shaken and determined to return home as quickly as possible on the completion of his judicial duties. Federal Gazette (Philadelphia), 29 Apr. 1790; American Mercury (Hartford), 26 Apr., and Daily Advertiser (New York), 5 May; SLJ to JJ, 23 Apr., ALS, NNC (EJ: 06523), and , 3: 397; JJ to SLJ, 20 May, below; SLJ to JJ, 10 May, ALS, NNC (EJ: 06524) and 13 May, ALS, NNC (EJ: 06526).
GW was possibly the most famous victim of the regional epidemic, suffering from a severe case of influenza in May 1790. An earlier bout of the disease in October 1789 had left him “much disordered by a Cold and inflammation of the left eye” and caused travel delays to his New England tour. SLJ to JJ, 15 May 1790, ALS, NNC (EJ: 06525), and , 3: 399; , 5: 477.
31. Possibly Jonathan Ellsworth (1742–1806) of Windsor, whose grandfather, also named Jonathan (1669–1749) operated a tavern. Ellsworth, cousin to Connecticut statesman Oliver Ellsworth, served in Sheldon’s Regiment of Light Horse, during the war for independence. , 482.
32. Aaron Hitchcock (1715–1808) worked in Suffield as a carpenter and held multiple positions in local government, including town treasurer and clerk. TJ and JM also visited Hitchcock’s inn when they came through Suffield on their 1791 tour of New York and New England. Hezekiah S. Sheldon, History of Suffield, in the Colony and Province of the Massachusetts Bay, New England (Springfield, Mass., 1879), 281; , 20: 472.
33. Zenas Parsons (1740–1818) was the brother of Shaysite leader Eli Parsons (1748–1830). GW shared JJ’s evaluation of Parsons’s inn, noting in his diary that it was “a good house.” Henry M. Burt and Albert R. Parsons, Cornet Joseph Parsons One of the Founders of Springfield and Northampton, Massachusetts; Springfield, 1636; Northampton, 1655. An Historical Sketch from Original Sources (Garden City, N.Y., 1898), 125–26; , 5: 470.
34. Aaron Graves (1730–1818) was granted a license to operate a tavern by the Massachusetts General Court in 1761. Josiah H. Temple, History of the Town of Palmer, Massachusetts: Early known as the Elbow Tract: Including Records of the Plantation, District and Town, 1716–1889. With a Genealogical Register (Springfield, 1889), 162.
35. JJ remarked to PJM that the heavy snowfall would delay his arrival in Boston. Upon resuming his travels the following day, JJ reached Western (now Warren), Mass., after riding a distance of some ten miles. JJ to PJM, 28 Apr. 1790, ALS, NNMus (EJ: 00408); and the Circuit Court Diary entry for 29 Apr. 1790.
37. Chicopee River.
38. JJ was not alone in observing the ravages of the Hessian fly in the northern states. When GW embarked on his New England tour, he blamed the insect for the poor wheat harvests in Westchester County, N.Y. At the behest of the American Philosophical Society, TJ took copious notes on the Hessian fly as he traveled through the region in the summer of 1791. , 5: 462; , 20: 445–49.
39. Irish-born Captain John Barry (1745–1803) of the Continental Navy.
40. Unlike New York, which covered much of its debts through revenues from the sale of confiscated lands, Massachusetts remained saddled with a massive wartime debt that authorities tried to pay off through taxation. Some Massachusetts residents, like the Berkshire man JJ encountered, sought to escape the burden of heavy taxes by relocating to New York. See “A.Z” in the Western Star (Stockbridge), 1 June 1790.
41. Simeon Dwight Jr. (1755–1815) operated the tavern in Western. Benjamin W. Dwight, The History of the Descendants of John Dwight, of Dedham, Mass. (New York, 1874), 2: 926; , 243.
42. Isaac Jenks (1746–1818) served as Spencer’s assessor and selectman and as the town’s representative to the Massachusetts legislature from 1785–88. GW complimented Jenks in his diary, noting that he “keeps a pretty good Tavern.” James Draper, History of the Town of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its earliest Settlement to the Year 1860: Including a brief Sketch of Leicester, to the Year 1753 (Worcester, 1860), 213; , 5: 472.
43. Nathan Patch (1735–1808) served at various times as constable, tax collector, deer reeve, hog reeve, highway supervisor, and school committee member in Worcester. Patch proved a litigious sort; he was awarded over £140 from lawsuits against those indebted to him. Early Records of the Town of Worcester: 1784–1800 (Worcester, 1879), 10, 40, 113, 144, 145; Jonathan Chu, “Debt Litigation and Shays’s Rebellion,” In Debt to Shays: The Bicentennial of an Agrarian Rebellion, ed., Robert A. Gross (Charlottesville, Va., 1993), 90.
44. Built on the town’s Bimilick River in 1789 and financed by eighteen proprietors, including the above-mentioned Nathan Patch, the Worcester Cotton Manufactory produced “Cordouroys, Jeans, Fustians, Federal Rib, and Cotton” before closing a few years later. William R. Bagnall, The Textile Industries of the United States: Including Sketches and Notices of Cotton, Woolen, Silk and Linen Manufactures in the Colonial Period (Cambridge, Mass., 1893), 1: 127–31; Massachusetts Spy (Worcester), 27 May 1790.
45. Capt. George Williams (1736–1813) of Marlborough, Mass., managed a tavern on the same location of the original Williams tavern, which had been built by his great-grandfather in 1662 and then destroyed during King Philip’s War. GW also dined at the establishment while travelling from Worcester to Weston in October 1789. JJ’s assessment of the Williams’ tavern as a “good house” is echoed in an obituary that described the innkeeper as “[a]n example of good moral and habitual piety, he discountenanced intemperance in all its forms. He never indulged those noisy, unreasonable and riotous effusions of ebreity, which too frequently render public houses in the country nurseries of every vice.” , 5: 473; Columbian Centinel (Boston), 9 Jan. 1813.
46. Barnabas Maynard (Mesnard) (1747–1828) of Berlin, Mass., served at various times as local selectman, surveyor, treasurer, assessor, moderator, and constable. Maynard also received accolades for rearing livestock. His cattle were celebrated as being the “largest and fattest” in New England and were sold in Philadelphia and Boston markets. JJ was suitably impressed with Maynard’s husbandry and purchased a bull calf from him for his brother’s farm. William A. Houghton, History of the Town of Berlin, Worcester County, Mass., from 1784 to 1895 (Worcester, 1895), 36–37, 238, 239, 240, 242, 243; Massachusetts Spy (Worcester), 26 Mar. 1789; JJ to PAJ, 9–11 May 1792, and Circuit Court Diary, 30 Oct. 1790, 8 Nov. 1791, and 10 May 1792, below.
47. John Flagg Jr. (c. 1762–1816) of Sudbury. Alfred Sereno Hudson, The Annals of Sudbury, Wayland, and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts (Ayer, Mass., 1891), 134.
48. John Flagg Sr. (c. 1731–1809) had provided lodging for GW as he travelled from Worcester to Cambridge. , 5: 473; Daniel S. Lamson, History of the Town of Weston, Massachusetts, 1630–1890 (Boston, 1913), 112.
49. Possibly Zachariah Weston (c. 1749–1833) of nearby Waltham, who headed a household of nine members and is probably identified in a 1782 court case mentioning a Waltham tavern owned by a person sharing the Weston surname. , 157; Kelly A. Ryan, “Regulating Passion: Sexual Behavior and Citizenship in Massachusetts, 1740–1820” (Ph.D. Diss.: Univ. of Maryland, 2006), 284.
50. Samuel Willington (Wellington) (1742–1821) probably succeeded his aged father in running the family’s Watertown tavern during the early 1780s. Independent Chronicle (Boston), 22 Aug. 1782; Henry Bond, Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, including Waltham and Weston, 2nd ed. (Boston, 1860), 630–31.
51. A few years after Peter Richardson (1753–1823) was licensed as an innkeeper of the George Tavern in 1788, he became proprietor of another inn located in Boston’s Dock Square. Massachusetts Centinel (Boston), 5 May 1790; Records Relating to the Early History of Boston vol. 27 (Boston, 1896), 58, 168; Samuel Adams Drake and Walter K. Watkins, Old Boston Taverns and Tavern Clubs (Boston, 1917), 122; Walter K. Watkins, “The Great Street to Roxbury Gate 1630–1830,” in The Bostonian Society Publications, 2nd series (Boston: 1919), 3: 103.
52. Former Continental congressman John Lowell (1743–1802) was appointed federal district court judge of Massachusetts in 1789 and chief judge of the First Circuit in 1801.
53. In a letter to William Cushing, Lowell announced that he would open his Roxbury home to Cushing and JJ and their spouses while the Circuit Court convened in Boston. Lowell had apparently sent a similar invitation (not found) directly to JJ. JJ spent the evening with Lowell before taking up lodging at the Ingersoll boarding house in Boston. See Lowell to Cushing, 20 Mar. 1790, and Cushing to Lowell, 4 Apr. 1790, , 2: 13, 17, 21–22. See also the editorial note “Riding the Circuit,” above.
54. John Lowell Jr. (1769–1840) was a member of the Massachusetts bar and later author of Federalist polemics. Former Continental congressman Jonathan Jackson (1743–1810), a merchant of Newburyport, was marshal for the District of Massachusetts.
55. Christopher Gore, the U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
56. Elizabeth Davenport Ingersoll (c. 1723–1809) assumed the proprietorship of the boarding house located on the “corner of court and Tremont Street” upon the death of her husband, Joseph (1725–1789). GW had also lodged with the Widow Ingersoll and deemed it “a very good & decent house.” , 5: 475.
57. SLJ to JJ, 23 Apr. 1790, ALS, NNC (EJ: 06523). JJ’s letter has not been found, although SLJ noted that it did come to hand on 13 May. SLJ to JJ, 13 May 1790, ALS, NNC (EJ: 06526).
58. The Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts met in Boston from 3 to 5 May 1790. JJ, Cushing, and Lowell heard two common law cases and one criminal case. , 1: 321. Opening procedures were carried out on the first day with the jury impaneled and JJ issuing his charge to the jurors. The following were sworn in as Grand Jury members: Benjamin Austin Sr.(1716–1806), Ebenezer Storer (1730–1807), William Greenleaf (1725–1803), William Powell, Esq. (c. 1726–1805), all of Boston; Abiel Ellis of Dorchester; John Ellis (1726–1805) of Dedham; John Goddard (c. 1730–1816) of Brookline; John Steele Tyler, Esq. (c. 1752–1813), and Joseph Brewer (1751–1823), both of Roxbury; Jonathan Browne, Esq. (1724–97), and Samuel White (1758–1808), both of Watertown; Willis Hall (1733–1812), and Jonathan Porter (1746–1817), both of Medford; Daniel Hathorne (1732–96), and Addison Richardson (1739–1811), both of Salem; William Manning (c. 1744–1804), and Samuel Whittemore Jr. (1720–1800) both of Cambridge. Simeon Howard (1733–1804), minister of Boston’s West Church, delivered a prayer over the proceedings. The day’s business included the swearing in and admission of the twenty-one counsellors and attorneys: James Sullivan (1744–1808); Benjamin Hichborn (1746–1817); William Tudor (1750–1819); Perez Morton (1751–1837); William Wetmore (1749–1830); William Hunt (1749–1804); William Hull (1753–1825); Thomas Edwards (1753–1806); Israel Keith (1751–1819); Jonathan Mason Jr. (1756–1831); Edward H. Robbins (1758–1829); Christopher Gore; Thomas Dawes Jr. (1757–1825); James Hughes (c. 1758–1799); Edward Pulling (1755–99); Rufus G. Amory (1760–1833); George R. Minot (1758–1802); David L. Barnes (1760–1812); Samuel Dexter (1761–1816); Edward Sohier (c. 1762–93); and Edward Gray (1764–1810). For coverage of this event, see Herald of Freedom (Boston), 4 May (, 2: 60–61); New York Journal, 14 May; Albany Gazette, 17 May; Times and Patowmack Packet (Georgetown), 19 May; Hampshire Chronicle (Springfield) 12 May; Massachusetts Spy (Worcester) 13 May; United States Chronicle (Providence), 13 May; Berkshire Chronicle (Pittsfield) 13 May; Connecticut Gazette (New London), 14 May; Norwich Packet, 14 May; State Gazette of South Carolina (Charleston), 31 May; Federal Gazette (Philadelphia) 18 May.
59. Samuel Adams had been elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts in 1789. He assumed the governorship upon the death of John Hancock in 1793 and was then reelected for a full term. No mention of a follow-up social visit by either JJ or Adams appears in the diary. Since their days serving together in the Continental Congress, JJ had formed the opinion that Adams lacked the prudence and virtue required of public office holders. A later diary entry contains unflattering anecdotes of Adams’s early life and political behavior. Circuit Court Diary, 14 Nov. 1790, below. See also the editorial note “Riding the Circuit,” above.
60. A light trial docket enabled the judges to spend a leisurely day visiting Harvard College and the Cambridge environs. See the editorial note “Riding the Circuit,” above.
Joseph Willard (1738–1804), classicist, mathematician, and astronomer, became president of Harvard in 1781 and was an active Federalist. Shortly following JJ’s visit, Harvard conferred upon him an honorary doctorate of law degree at its annual commencement. Willard was probably also responsible for sponsoring JJ for membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a learned society based in Boston, in August 1790. Willard, who was then serving as the group’s vicepresident, had been a founding member of the Academy a decade earlier and had also served for several years as its corresponding secretary. For more on JJ’s honorary degree, see Circuit Court Diary, 4 Nov. 1790, and Willard to JJ, 3 Nov. 1790, below, and “Commencement at Cambridge,” Massachusetts Magazine 2, no. 7 (July 1790): 432. For more on JJ’s involvement with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, see Circuit Court Diary, 1 June 1792, below.
61. Thomas Russell (1740–96), merchant of Boston.
62. In addition to meeting with Bowdoin, JJ spent the day touring Dorchester Heights and Castle William with a group of state dignitaries that included Benjamin Lincoln, Christopher Gore, Jonathan Jackson, and Samuel Bradford (1759–1818) deputy marshal for the District of Massachusetts. Robert Lewis (1769–1829), nephew of GW and secretarial assistant to the president, also accompanied the party. Lewis had left New York in mid-April with Tobias Lear who had arranged to wed Mary (Polly) Long (c. 1770–93), in the couple’s hometown of Portsmouth, N.H. Following the ceremony, the trio returned to New York via Boston and Springfield. Massachusetts Centinel (Boston), 8 May 1790, and Massachusetts Spy (Worcester) 13 May; Betty Washington Lewis to GW, 18 May 1790, , 5: 401–2; Tobias Lear to Clement Biddle, 21 Dec. 1789, , 4: 423n4; Providence Gazette, 17 Apr.; New-Hampshire Spy (Portsmouth), 21 Apr.; Hampshire Chronicle (Springfield) 19 May. See also the editorial note “Riding the Circuit,” above.
63. Probably Jeremiah Allen (1750–1809), Boston merchant and later Sheriff of Suffolk County.
64. Samuel Breck (1747–1809), Boston merchant and proprietor of a sailcloth manufactory and glass factory. Breck represented Boston in the Massachusetts General Court.
65. Theophilus Cushing (1740–1820) was a brigadier general who held political office as selectman, representative, and senator.
66. Hannah Cushing Baldwin (1738–90), of Hanover, N.H., was the widow of Samuel Baldwin and younger sister of Justice William Cushing.
67. JJ investigated the founding and settlement of Hingham on behalf of Judge John Sloss Hobart. Hobart’s ancestors were among the first English migrants who came to the area in 1633. JJ to SLJ, 6 May 1790, , 3: 398; SLJ to JJ, 15 May 1790, ALS, N (EJ: 06525), and , 3: 399.
68. Ebenezer Gay (1696–1787), filled the ministry of the First Parish in Hingham for almost seventy years until succeeded by Henry Ware (1764–1845).
69. Daniel Cushing (1619–1700) with his parents and four siblings departed Hingham, England, for the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1638. Daniel led an active civic life in Hingham, serving as town clerk, selectman and as a delegate to the General Court. Ames S. Cushing, The Genealogy of the Cushing Family, an Account of the Ancestors and Descendants of Matthew Cushing, who came to America in 1638 (Montreal, 1905), 21, 23.
70. Dr. Charles Stockbridge (1734–1806).
71. Hannah Phillips Cushing (1754–1834), originally of Middletown, Conn.
72. Major General Benjamin Lincoln of Hingham, former Secretary at War, continued his military service during the Shaysite insurgency in which he recruited, organized, and led the Massachusetts militia. Following this conflict, he was elected as the state’s lieutenant governor.
73. This Dorchester three-acre estate formerly had belonged to Andrew Oliver (1706–74), the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Col. Benjamin Hichborn acquired the property in 1781 as a summer residence. James H. Stark, The Loyalists of Massachusetts and the Other Side of the American Revolution (Boston, 1910), 182–83.
74. Stephen Higginson (1743–1828), a leading Boston merchant, former business partner with Jonathan Jackson, and delegate to the Continental Congress. Theophilus Parsons (1750–1813) of Newburyport, prominent lawyer, Federalist, and later chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Parsons had served as one of the agents representing Massachusetts in the boundary dispute between the Commonwealth and the state of New York. American Recorder (Charlestown, Mass.), 9 Mar. 1787. For JJ’s role in this dispute, see the editorial note in , 3: 631–34.
75. The Boston Sailcloth Manufactory was founded by Samuel Breck and other local merchants in 1788. Giles Richard and Co. operated the Card Manufactory located on Hanover Street. Massachusetts Centinel (Boston), 10 Jan. 1789 and 29 May 1790. GW had visited both establishments the previous year. , 5: 479–80, 480n2.
76. Ann (Nancy) Williams (1759–1824) of Boston, the younger sister of Jonathan Williams Jr., married Samuel Bradford in 1783. Bradford is probably in error, for no meaningful connection between Arnold and Williams has been identified. For much of the Revolutionary conflict, Williams resided in Nantes as a private merchant and shipowner. He joined Edward Bancroft in several commercial and privateering ventures and also assisted Congress with shipping supplies to America. , 87–88, 192.
77. Jacob Newhall (1740–1816) was proprietor of this popular public house from the mid-1770s through 1807. Alonzo Lewis and James Robinson Newhall, History of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant. 1629–1864 (Lynn, 1890), 495–97.
78. Probably the Sun Tavern kept by Samuel Robinson (1738–1808).
79. Benjamin Pickman Jr. (1741–1819), Harvard-educated merchant of Salem who served as the town treasurer and as an overseer of the poor.
80. Samuel McIntire (1757–1811) of Salem designed and constructed several buildings for the town, including the courthouse in 1785. The Salem Courthouse was admired as one of the finest in the Commonwealth. Martha J. McNamara, From Tavern to Courthouse: Architecture and Ritual in American Law, 1658–1860 (Baltimore, 2004), 64–67.
81. Isaac Osgood (1724–91) kept a general store and distillery in Haverhill, Mass. Osgood completed his studies at Harvard in 1744 and served as the town clerk of Salem for much of the 1780s.
82. Many of the items viewed by JJ are included in Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, eds., The Salem Witchcraft Papers: Verbatim Transcriptions of the Legal Documents of the Salem Witchcraft Outbreak of 1692 (3 vols.; New York, 1977).
83. The Beverly Cotton Manufactory was started three years earlier under the management of Joshua Fisher and John Cabot. GW described the workings of the mill when he visited in late October 1789. , 5: 486–87.
84. Israel Thorndike (1755–1832) and Moses Brown (1748–1820), both of Beverly. Thorndike and Brown, both staunch Federalists, traded goods with the East Indies, China, and the West Indies. Edwin M. Stone, History of Beverly, Civil and Ecclesiastical, from its Settlement in 1630 to 1842 (Boston, 1843), 129–32.
85. Stephen Hooper (1741–1802), merchant, and Tristram Dalton (1738–1817), lawyer and U.S. Senator, 1789–91, both of Newburyport. Hooper and Dalton formed temporary mercantile partnerships and were related by marriage, as Dalton had wed Hooper’s sister Ruth (1739–1826) in 1758. The purpose of Hooper’s visit was possibly to seek JJ’s assistance with obtaining employment in the federal government. In January 1791, Hooper wrote to GW seeking an appointment as excise inspector in Massachusetts. Hooper to GW, 29 Jan. 1791, , 7: 298.
86. A recent M.A. Harvard graduate, John Quincy Adams was studying law with Theophilus Parsons in Newburyport and gained entry to the Massachusetts bar in 1791. See Life in a New England Town: 1787, 1788. Diary of John Quincy Adams, while a Student in the Office of Theophilus Parsons at Newburyport (Boston, 1903).
87. John Sullivan, former Revolutionary War general and member of the Continental Congress, was district judge for New Hampshire.
88. This tavern is one either owned by Thomas Leavitt (1760–91) of Hampton or Benjamin Leavitt (c. 1737–1801) of nearby North Hampton.
89. John Parker (c. 1732–91), a former merchant, was U.S. marshal for the district of New Hampshire. Joseph Whipple (1737–1816), brother of William Whipple, was a Federalist and collector of customs at Portsmouth, N.H.
90. William Brewster (1741–1818) had previously owned a tavern “at the sign of George Washington” in Portsmouth before opening an inn. When GW visited Portsmouth in 1789, he also lodged at Brewster’s and dined there with Parker, Langdon, and other state officials. Freeman’s Journal (Portsmouth), 5 Oct. 1776; , 5: 487, 488n4. For Langdon’s recommendation that JJ lodge with Brewster, see Circuit Court Diary, 21 Apr. 1790.
91. Elizabeth Sherburne Langdon (c. 1761–1813), wife of John Langdon. JJ visited her twice that day, once in the morning and later for afternoon tea. JJ to SLJ, 20 May 1790, below.
92. Tristram Dalton had visited SLJ on 13 May and offered to use his congressional franking privilege to forward letters addressed to JJ. This arrangement pleased JJ who noted that his recent correspondence contained “some Dispatches of a public Nature which are interesting.” SLJ to JJ, 13 May, ALS, NNC (EJ: 06526); and JJ to SLJ, 20 May, below.
93. JJ to TJ, c. 20 May 1790, not found, but three of the four enclosures forwarded to the Secretary of State are noted, under their respective dates, by TJ as received 27 May 1790. Receipt of William Short’s letter of 8 Nov. 1789 was not recorded. It was one of a series of dispatches that the chargé d’affaires had sent from Paris. See Short to JJ, 8 Nov. 1789, ALS, DLC: Jefferson (EJ: 13562), ALS, “Triplicate,” DLC: Jefferson (EJ: 13561), mentioned in Short to JJ, 30 Nov. 1789, , 16: 7n; Short to JJ, 23 Jan., , 16: 119–25, and 10 Feb., ALS, DLC (EJ: 13574), , 16: 162–65; Jacob Sarly to JJ, 22 Dec. 1789, , 16: 39–40. Thomas Randall was vice consul at Canton under Samuel Shaw; on these allegations, see JJ’s report of 5 Aug. 1786, , 4: 389n2.
94. Joshua Johnson to JJ, 12 Mar. 1790, not found; Tench Coxe to JJ, 27 Apr., not found; 5 May, ALS, NNC (EJ: 09820); John Sullivan to JJ, 26 Apr., not found; James Iredell, 8 Apr., not found; Joshua Barney to JJ, 20 Apr., not found; Catharine Livingston Ridley to JJ, 2 May, ALS, NNC (EJ: 07914); William Van Wyck to JJ, 20 Mar., not found; Henry Hill to JJ, 24 April, below; SLJ to JJ, 13 May, ALS, NNC (EJ: 06526); JJ to SLJ, 20 May, below; JJ to Henry Hill, c. 20 May, not found.
95. With Judge Cushing ill in Boston, JJ and District Judge John Sullivan opened proceedings in Portsmouth on 20 May. Nineteen grand-jurors were sworn in: Samuel Cutts, Esq. (c. 1726–1801), foreman, merchant; Supply Clap, Esq. (1742–1811), merchant; Richard Hart (c. 1733–1820), merchant; Alexander Ewen (c. 1748–1815), merchant and customs officer; Keith Spence (d. 1809), merchant; Joseph Frost (1749–1830); Benjamin Prescott (1754–1839), innkeeper; Jonathan Wiggin (c. 1743–1827); Samuel Piper (1755–1816), innkeeper; Moses Chase (1727–99); Benjamin Hobbs (1728–1804); Christopher Smith (1736–1814), physician; Abraham Drake (1745–1819); Simon Nudd (1735–1818); possibly John Moulton (c. 1749–94); possibly Thomas Leavitt (1744–1830); Nathaniel Rogers (1745–1820), attorney; John Folsom (c. 1755–1821); and Hubartus Neal Jr. (c. 1752–c. 1807). After being sworn in, the jurors received the “elegant and pertinent charge” delivered by JJ and heard the opening prayer recited by Samuel Haven (1727–1806) of Portsmouth’s South Congregational Church. New-Hampshire Spy (Portsmouth), 22 May; Pennsylvania Mercury (Philadelphia), 3 June; Massachusetts Spy (Worcester), 3 May 1790 (extract).
96. John Samuel Sherburne Jr. (1757–1830) received a law degree from Harvard in 1776 and then served under the command of General William Whipple (1730–85) during the war of independence. Sherburne entered private practice in Portsmouth before his appointment as United States Attorney for the District of New Hampshire. He was later a U.S. congressman and U.S. District Court judge for the District of New Hampshire.
97. Katharine Moffatt Whipple (1734–1821) had married her cousin William Whipple in 1770.
98. Col. Michael Wentworth (c. 1719–95), a retired British officer, and Martha Hilton Wentworth (c. 1737–1805) were married in 1770, months following the death of her first husband, the late New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth. Their daughter, Martha Wentworth (1772–1851), was their sole child. In a later section of the diary, JJ discussed at length the somewhat scandalous marriage between Martha Hilton Wentworth and Benning Wentworth and the subsequent family drama concerning the inheritance of the former governor’s estate. At the time of their marriage in 1760, Hilton was nearly forty years his junior and employed as a servant in the governor’s household. See Circuit Court Diary, 28 Nov. 1790, below.
99. Edward Bass (1726–1803) was appointed rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newburyport, Mass., in 1753 and spent the subsequent fifty years in that post. Bass was elected Bishop of Massachusetts and had a guiding hand in the affairs of the Episcopal Church throughout much of New England.
100. John Tracy (1753–1815), a leading Newburyport merchant, was Jonathan Jackson’s brother-in-law and former business partner. In March 1771, Jonathan Jackson and John Lowell purchased five acres on High Street in Newburyport from Elizabeth Stickney and had their residences constructed on this property. Lowell’s three-story house was completed in 1774 and sold to the Tracy family four years later. Jackson’s home was built either in 1771 or 1772. John James Currier, “Ould Newbury”: Historical and Biographical Sketches (Boston, 1896), 564–65, 577.
102. Probably Samuel Barrett (1739–98) of Boston who served as justice of the peace and justice of the Court of Common Pleas.
103. John Hancock succeeded James Bowdoin as governor at the end of Shays’ Rebellion. Hancock married Dorothy Quincy (1747–1830) in 1775.
104. Maj. John Farrar (Ferrar)(1741–93) managed a tavern in Shrewsbury, Mass., that was a major stopping point for travelers on the Boston Post Road.
105. Capt. David Hitchcock (1741–1814) had operated a tavern in Brookfield since 1760. GW stopped at Hitchcock’s when he visited the town. Mrs. Edward Hitchcock Sr. and Dwight Whitney Marsh, The Genealogy of the Hitchcock Family: Who are Descended from Matthias Hitchcock of East Haven, Conn., and Luke Hitchcock of Wethersfield, Conn. (Amherst, Mass., 1894), 422; , 5: 471.
106. Possibly an inn owned by Luke Bliss (1738–1811) of West Springfield.
107. JJ to SLJ, 29 May 1790, ALS, SR: Charles Hamilton Auction Catalogue (21 Oct. 1971).
108. Jeremiah Wadsworth of Hartford.
109. James Hillhouse.
110. Second letter from JJ to SLJ, dated 29 May 1790, not found.
111. The former president of Congress and chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, Samuel Huntington was elected governor of Connecticut in 1786 and reelected annually for eleven years.
112. Pierpont Edwards.
113. Col. Samuel Wyllys (1739–1823) of Hartford commanded the Twenty-second Connecticut Infantry Regiment during the war of independence and was later an attorney and a major-general of the state militia.