4 Apr. 1800
Original paper slip text:4 April 1800.
Philadelphia,
Original paper slip text:Philadelphia
to [ ]
2 p.
- Housed in the Richards Manuscript Coll. at MBU. - SM/HPW 9/6/2018
- Recipient changed from unknown to [Cotton Tufts], as the text of this letter matches AA to Cotton Tufts, 4 April 1800. ER 12/08/2015
- ALS given to Boston University in 1980 by Paul Richards. (See correspondence).
- ALS offered for sale, Robert F. Batchelder, Cat. 12 (spring 1976), item 92, $875.
- Offered for sale (ALS), Carnegie Book Shop, NYC, Cat. #254A, July 1961, $175. Earlier offered, same, #241 [1960], item 3, $175. See below for partial quote.
- ALS. Sold at Parke-Bernet Galleries, Sale of Wm. S. K. Venston, No 1920, 27–28 Oct. 1959, lot 3, $90.00
- 92. ADAMS, ABIGAIL. First lady, wife of John Adams. Autograph Letter Signed as First Lady, 2 full pages, 4to, Philadelphia, April 9[4], 1800, to an unnamed man, possibly the foreman of the Adams estate at Braintree, Massachusetts. A fine letter of personal and political content.
- She begins by saying the Mr. Porter, one of her workers, knows his job very well, and that he and Mrs. Porter are people of honesty and and integrity. She doesn't want to lose him for the sake of a few dollars, but he is to keep his raise to himself to avoid envy, and be perfectly satisfied with his terms, as there are many people who would like his job. She says the salary demands of Mr. Shipley are completely unreasonable, and that he is to be paid 10 dollars a month for the next 8 months, and if he doesn't like it he and his brother can seek employment elsewhere. She says that she has noticed that laborers ask for more money at this time of year, but that Shipley "...is a good hand, but he will be none the better for higher wages..." She asks the man to write her about the price of labor, that it surely can't be higher than in the past. "...but the President must pay higher for everything than anyone else; that we are accustomed to..." She then says that the room over the dining room she wants made into a room in which to entertain company, and to take off the closets as in the lower room, and to have the painting done soon, so she will not be afflicted with it when she returnes. She than discusses politices, saying "...the congress do business with more expedition than at first, but have many weighty matters before them. Capt. Barry returned yesterday and brought letters from our envoys who were on their way to Paris which they expected to reach the beginning of March. They sent a courier to Paris informing the minister of their delay. This carrier they met returning with prospects for them and a very polite note from Talleyrand informing them that they had been anxiously expected & would be received with zeal, and that no difficulty would arise over the change in government...you will see in the papers a similar account...Yours truly, affectionate, A. Adams."
- Fine condition. Abigail was preparing for Adam's return home, the following year as it turned out. She and the President did not move into the newly constructed White House in Washington until later in the year 1800. Letters of Abigail are very scarce, and this is a fine example, mixing her concern for home life with politics.
- The "change in government" was Napoleon's coup d'etat of November 9, 1799.
- A fine and interesting letter by one of the most accomplished women of her time. Writing from the official residence of the President she deals vigorously with the rising cost of maintaining the chief executive's house and the problem of labor; appraises the work of the Congress and the latest in foreign affairs. She writes in part:
- ". . . . the President must pay higher for everything than anyone else; that we are accustomed to. My intention is to make the room over the dining room a room to entertain company in, taking off closets as in the lower room. The size of the Chimneys about the same . . ."
- "Congress do business with more expedition than at first . . . Capt. Barry returned yesterday & brought letters from our envoys who were on their way to Paris . . . (a) courier they met returning with passports for them and a very polite letter from Talleyrand informing them that they had been anxiously expected & would be received with zeal and that no difficulty would arise upon account in the change of government, as their letters of credence would be considered as equally valid . . ."
- Information transferred from multiple blue slips now deleted. ER 8/4/2016
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AFC, 14:197–198
AFC, 14:197–198
Adams Family Correspondence, volume 14, page 197
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