To John Jay from Peter Augustus Jay, 11 September 1812
From Peter Augustus Jay
New York 11 Sept. 1812
Dear Papa
At the late meeting at White Plains before proceeding to Business Mr Morris proposed that you should be one of the County Delegates. I was therefore asked by members whether if appointed you would attend the Convention— I stated to them explicitly that tho I had no authority to say any thing on the Subject that I was certain you could not. They however still persisted in appointing you, saying that your Name alone would be of more use than the actual Services of any one else— And Mr Morris insinuated that tho you would not ride about to County Meetings, he should be able to persuade you to attend the State Convention & to be a delegate from that to a general Convention.1
Mr. Riggs2 yesterday called on me to say that a Number of influential Gentlemen from all the Eastern States & many of the Southern states were to meet here on Tuesday next to consult on the present State of Affairs— and that the Eastern Gentlemen had written very pressing letters, manifesting great anxiety that you should be induced to meet with them— I told Mr. Riggs that I would communicate the to you what he told me but that I was almost certain from a variety of Circumstances that you could not now come to town. He begged that if such should be the case you would let me know it. I told him that by the Course of the mail I could not receive an Answer to this letter till Friday next. He said that you might perhaps send a letter by some
other opportunity & that he thought the Gentlemen wd wait till they heard from you. It appeared to me that if your Attendance was so much desired you ought to have had much earlier Notice.3
Mary & Sally went on Tuesday [to] Mr Rutherfurds I expect them in town today—
William Morris has paid a years Interest on his Bond. & I have recd. since I saw you a Quarters rent for the Stone House.
I have not heard from William or Maria since they left us, but there is now on the table a letter from the latter to Sally.
My best love to Nancy— I am my Dr. father Your affect. Son
Peter Augustus Jay
P.S. I have directed to your Care a letter to Deacon Reynolds which I wish him to receive speedily. Will you be so good as to send it to him?
John Jay Esqr.
ALS, NNC (EJ: 06169). Addressed: “John Jay Esqr. / Bedford / W. Chester County / N.Y” Stamped. Marked: “10.” Endorsed: “… ansd. / meeting at N. York &ca.” For JJ’s reply, see his letter of 15 Sept. 1812, ALS, NNC (EJ: 11543).
1. See GM to JJ, 11 Sept. 1812, and note 1, above. JJ did not attend the convention held in Albany due to bouts of an “Effusion of Bile preceded by a more than common Degree of Costiveness.” For similar reasons, he did not go to the private meeting held for Federalist leaders in New York City. See note 3, below; JJ to PAJ, 15 Sept. 1812, ALS, NNC (EJ: 11543).
2. Caleb S. Riggs (1762–1826), Federalist attorney of New York City, and member of the New York state assembly from 1799 to 1800.
3. JJ met with RK, Matthew Clarkson, Richard Harison, Richard Varick, and GM, on 3–5 Aug., at GM’s estate Morrisania, for the purpose of drawing up antiwar resolutions for the Common Council of New York City. RK had arranged with Dr. John Mason (1770–1829), for DeWitt Clinton to attend on the evening of 5 Aug. to discuss the idea of uniting New York’s citizenry on a platform of ending the war with Britain. Clinton advised the Federalist leadership not to plan a mass meeting in the near future because the state Republicans remained divided in their support for JM.
The following month in mid-September, over sixty Federalists representing New York, other northern states, and South Carolina, convened privately in New York City to choose a presidential candidate in the upcoming election. Knowing that the Federalist Party was largely moribund, several attendees favored DeWitt Clinton, as he opposed the war against Britain, and would therefore have the best chance to defeat JM. RK and other Federalists, however, opposed this proposal, and the conference ended without the members naming a specific candidate. A serious illness prevented JJ from attending this meeting. For more on the Federalist planning on opposing the war and selecting a presidential candidate, see Jacob Radcliff to JJ, 12 Sept. 1812, ALS, NNC (EJ: 09067); JJ to Jacob Radcliff, 16 Sept. 1812, Dft, NNC (EJ: 08718); GM’s diary entries for 3–5 Aug. 1812, GM, Diaries, 2: 754; King, Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, 5: 265–71, 276–77; and the editorial note “Political Changes and Challenges in the War of 1812,” above.