Adams Family Correspondence, volume 15
th.1804
I recieved your very kind favors of the 14th
20th &. 24th. on
Friday & Saturday & Should certainly not have delayed answering them so long
had I not been prevented by a severe attack of the Spasms attended with a considerable
degree of Fever which have tormented me these three days1 I am pretty well to day and certainly am should not complain as though the Spasms were
very violent they were not attended with the faintings which used to weaken me so much
and it is the first attack I have had since my residence in Washington—
I have not heard how the affair of the runaway Slave has ended
but Mrs. Mason told Mama that Mr. Madisson had threaten’d to arrest Mr. Suttle
who had the Slave arrested he is agent to the Lady to whom the Slave belongs our
Neighbours are preparing for a journey to the eastward—
Mr. J. T. Mason is very much
disappointed his Uncle Mr. Barnes instead of leaving the
property to him has left it to his Son (should he ever have one) if not to the Son of
Stephen T. Mason and so on in case of failure to his Sister son who is the youngest of
the family J. T. Mason is to have the management of the estate and sixteen hundred
Dollars a year upon which he has set up his coach and four and rides about quite in
stile it is said the will aught to be put aside This Uncle was a very exentric
character a Batchelor a votary of Bachus &c. who was become a most disgusting
object in appearance although one of the most gentlemanly sensible men in this part of
the Country he has left all his slaves their freedom in three years provided they
behave well this fortune may prove a source of real grief to Mrs. Mason I think.2 They lost a
Son &. Daughter twins about two years since—
Mr. Pichon &. his Lady have been
in Baltimore the last fortnight they returned yesterday it is reported that he is
recalled &. in great disgrace with the first Consul owing to a letter of Jeromes
to his Brother relating a conversation he had with Mr. P.
in which he says P. spoke very disrespectfully of some part of the
first Consuls
conduct this conversation is said to have taken place before his marriage I suppose
Jerome has done this to punish him for the opposition he made to his marriage &.
possibly to please his wife3 I shall be
extremely sorry if this is true as in all probability it will blight all his prospects
of a public situation in future and he has been so many years devoted to this line it
will be difficult for him to adopt any other they are charming people and have my
sincere good wishes go where they will I am told the gentleman is arrived in New York
who is to take his place—Emperors
George is very well grows very tall and is so intolerably
mischevous I hardly know what to do he destroys all Mrs.
Hellens chickens drives the ducks to death gets down to the Wharf &. plays such
pranks I am obliged to keep a person constantly running after him I am obliged to make
him fear me he laughs at every body else and nobody can
do any thing with him in fact he is one of the finest children I ever saw but much too
clever or wise for his age— John looks very well & grows very handsome but is so
excessively passionate I am almost afraid to wash him of a morning he is about two
great double teeth which have teazed him very much the last two or three days he is
one of the greatest mimicks you ever saw he will not touch a drop of Milk in any shape
and I am sometimes obliged to give him a bon[e I] know you do not approve of this and
it is very 383 much again[st] my inclination but cracker and
water alone is not sufficiently nourish[ing] I enter into these particulars because I
am sure they must be interesting and because I wish you to know how I go on in your
absence—
Adieu my most beloved friend perhaps in time you will learn to
read my heart more correctly than you do at present I meant not to make conditions in my letter but to act solely for the
future as you thought fit however painful a separation must ever be to me your
interest alone must be my consideration and every thing else must give way. remember
me affectionately to your family I am very sorry that your Brother is still
necessitated to postpone his “favorite wishes” if he ever intends to settle4 it is now full time think of every thing
expressive of affection and yet you will barely scarcely do justice to the sentiment of
tenderness with which you inspire your / most affectionate wife
Mr. Steward has purchaced a lot and
is going to build immediately he intends to bring his family and reside here entirely
he has finished almost all his pictures two for Mrs. Merry
2 for Mr. Merry and onather for Mr Thornton I walked there a few days since but he was not at home and I only
saw those in the outer room he leaves this place in five weeks to go to the
Eastward—5
The Vessel is not yet arrived with the things I sent your trunks
to Alexandria a few ten days since Mr Green has promissed to send forward them as soon as possible I will thank you to send me some money
if convenient I cannot guess who the Young Lady is unless it is Miss Morton6 Mama begs you will send the enclosed letter to
Shaw with a request that he will send it by the first Vessel7 the family are all very well
RC (Adams
Papers); addressed: “John Q. Adams Esqr.”;
endorsed: “Louisa— 29. May. 1804. / 9. June Recd: / 10.
Ansd:." Some loss of text where the seal was
removed.
That is, JQA to LCA, 14 and 20 May, the latter of which is above. In his letter of 14 May, JQA noted that he was sending a toy drum for GWA along with items LCA had previously requested. He commented on the family’s health and that his joy in the coming summer was tempered by their separation. He also reported learning of Mary Jefferson Eppes’ death and AA’s reaction to the news (Adams Papers).
Richard Barnes (b. 1744), a merchant of Leonardtown, Md., died on
29 April. In a will drafted in 1800, Barnes designated that the majority of his estate
transfer to his nephew John Thomson Mason, who married Elizabeth Beltzhoover
(1781–1836) in 1797. A later, revised will changed the terms generally as
LCA outlined. John Thomson Mason’s male heir would inherit the estate
as long as he changed his surname to Barnes. Otherwise the inheritance would pass to
the sons of other relatives, including Mason’s brother Stevens Thomson Mason or his
sister, Anne Thomson Mason Chichester (1769–1817), all 384 with the same condition of changing their name to
Barnes. John Thomson Mason was named executor of the estate with an annuity of $1,600
and oversight and use of Barnes’ two properties, in Leonardtown, Md., and Washington,
D.C. LCA’s information was also correct regarding the manumission of
Barnes’ enslaved population, although they were also expected to adopt his surname
(Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia’s Northern Neck Counties,
www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us; Washington, D.C., National
Intelligencer, 2 May 1804; Alexandria Gazette, 7
July 1836).
The tension between Jerome Bonaparte and Louis André Pichon
likely stemmed from the French chargé d’affaires’ reminder, on learning of Bonaparte’s
intention to marry Elizabeth Patterson, that a 27 March 1803 French law required a
mother’s consent for an underage marriage to occur. In response, Bonaparte initially
delayed his nuptials but then married at the end of 1803 without Pichon’s knowledge.
The following spring, the Baltimore Telegraphe and Daily
Advertiser, 24 March 1804, reported Pichon’s immediate recall. The U.S. press
widely reprinted the news, including some reports that further claimed a replacement
had been appointed or had arrived in the United States. This information was refuted,
beginning with the Washington, D.C., National
Intelligencer, 25 April (Schom, Napoleon Bonaparte
, p. 384–385; Philadelphia American Daily Advertiser, 29 March; Maryland Herald, 3 April; Boston Columbian Centinel, 4 April; Columbian Museum and
Savannah Advertiser [Ga.], 11 April; Philadelphia Aurora General Advertiser, 20 April).
LCA was quoting from JQA’s letter of 9 May, for which see her 20 May letter to JQA , and note 1, above.
Dolley Payne Todd Madison similarly commented on Gilbert Stuart’s
activities, writing of his purchase of a “square to build a ‘Temple’” but also that
for two years the artist had voiced his intention to leave Washington, D.C., for
Boston. Stuart’s strained finances did not allow for the property purchase. In
addition to his portraits of Anthony and Elizabeth Death Leathes Merry, the artist
painted one of Edward Thornton, the British chargé d’affaires (Madison to Anna Payne
Cutts, 1804,
Dolley
Madison Digital Edition
; Charles Merrill Mount, “Gilbert Stuart in
Washington: With a Catalogue of His Portraits Painted between December 1803 and July
1805,” Columbia Hist. Soc., Records
, 48:85, 123, 127 [1971–1972]).
Margaret Morton (1772–1859) was the older sister of Eliza Susan
Morton Quincy and lived with her sister and Josiah Quincy III from 1800 to 1809. In
1815 she married David Ritzemer Bogert of New York (Memoir of
the Life of Eliza S. M. Quincy, Boston, 1861, p. 17, 265, 266).
Enclosure not found, but see JQA to LCA, 17 June 1804, and note 2, below.
This morning I received your kind favour of the 20th— And am delighted to hear that you and the children are so
well— Mrs: Hellen’s indisposition, I hope will prove only to
be “the pleasing punishment that women bear”—1 I wish we could have here a little of that
superfluity of rain which fell just before you wrote me; as it would bring forward my
garden stuff as we call it.— You have no idea, how in
planting and sowing, and pruning trees, and grafting them &c &c &c—I am
seriously performing my apprencticeship as a farmer— Several of my peach-stones which I
planted last September have come up; and I pay so much attention to the poor Plants from
hour to hour, that the only danger is of my killing them all with 385 kindness— Day before yesterday I went into Boston, to attend a meeting of the Academy
of Sciences—2 I met in the Street Mr: H. G. Otis, whom I had not seen before, since my return— He
asked me to dine with him, and told me I should meet a few of my friends— I accepted
accordingly— But found it was a very splendid dinner—And large Company, of Ladies &
Gentlemen—General Knox and his Lady—Mr: and Mrs: Gore, and the Miss Payne’s, and the like— Among the rest
the celebrated Mrs: Derby, of whom you have heard so much— I
think I have seen her in her better days— Before she had been admired in France and
England.— She has brought home too much naked simplicity, to suit my taste—3 A very little cloathing you know, upon a Lady,
will answer all my purposes; not being at-all fond of Betty Blackberry’s innumerable over-thats—4
But then for that very little I am scrupulous in exacting it— I am still of opinion that
a Lady when she goes to bed at Night, should have something to do, besides opening the
Sheets— Apropos—The Citizen Jerome has abandoned his intention of visiting Boston, and
the report we have is that he has orders to return to France— But whether with or
without his Venus de Medicis I have not heard.5
Yesterday was the day of our General Election— But having been to
Boston the day before, and nothing of interest to attract me there again, I did not go—
Mr: Otis was chosen Speaker of the House of
Representatives again— Mr: Morton had however more votes
than last year— The federal Majority in our Legislature will not be very different from
that of the last year—6
Judge Cushing and his Lady dined here yesterday— They were going to Boston where a Circuit Court sits this and the next week—
We had also yesterday a whole school of young Ladies here at tea—
Mrs: Cranch’s, from Milton—Susan is still here, and grows
sedate.
I cannot express how ardently I long to see you and my dear boys—
I enclose a fifty dollar bill— I hope the things Mrs: Whitcomb got for you have arrived safe ere this.—
Ever faithfully yours.
RC (Adams Papers). Tr (Adams Papers).
Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors,
Act I, scene i, line 46.
Members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences met on 29
May, reelecting the society’s officers, which included JA as president
and JQA as corresponding secretary (D/JQA/27,
APM Reel 30; Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2:pt. 2, p. 162).
The company whom JQA joined at the home of Harrison
Gray Otis included Gen. Henry and Lucy Flucker Knox, Christopher and Rebecca Payne
Gore (b. 1759), and twins Mary and Sarah Payne (b. 1757), Rebecca’s sisters. The
“celebrated Mrs: Derby” was Martha Coffin Derby
(1783–1832), the wife of Richard Crowninshield Derby, both of whom had returned to
Boston the previous year after a European tour (vol. 6:377; Whitmore, Families of Payne and
Gore
, p. 20, 21; LCA, D&A
, 2:563; Kirker, Architecture
of Bulfinch
, p. 371).
Betty Blackberry was a character in John O’Keeffe’s The Farmer: A Comic Opera. In Two Acts, Dublin, 1788.
See JQA to LCA, 23 June, and note 3, below.
For the Massachusetts gubernatorial election, see
AA to JQA, 24
Feb., and note 3, above. Harrison Gray Otis was elected speaker of the Mass.
house of representatives by a vote of 129 to Perez Morton’s 103 votes, a change from
the previous year’s tally of 124 to 73. Local newspapers reported a Federalist
majority but noted gains by Democratic-Republicans (A New Nation Votes; Boston
Commercial Gazette, 31 May; Boston Independent
Chronicle, 31 May).
For Mr. George, Papa expects to find him speaking French perfectly. Otherwise how can we get along. Do you know Mr. George, what strawberries are, and have you begun eating them? They are barely in bloom here, but Papa is busy growing plenty of peach and pear trees, as a treat for George, one of these days— On the condition that he will be a very good boy and he will love his Mama with all his heart.