Papers of John Adams, volume 21

John Adams to Frederick Bull, 7 January 1793 Adams, John Bull, Frederick

To Frederick Bull

Sir, Philadelphia Jany 7th 93—

I thought I had agreed with you at Hartford that you should take my Horses from Mr: David Bulls and send them on to NYork where I expected to hear of their arrival in three or four days, and at an expence of four or five dollars, or at the utmost of seven or eight, for this was the amount of the conversation, between you & Mr. Briesler who attended me.1 You may judge then how much I was surprized, when an account was brought to Philadelphia amounting to more than Five Pounds, of New England Lawful money; barely for riding or leading the Horses and their keeping on the road, and this 162 surprise was not a little encreased when another account arrived amounting to more than Five Pounds more for keeping the horses at Hartford; besides in this last Account, I was charged for keeping the Horses at Hartford from the 19th of Novr:, the day I set off from my own House at Quincy near Boston. It was the 26th of Novr that I left Mr: David Bulls House, and I have his receipt for the money I paid him for keeping the horses, till the time of my departure from his house— In short, I cannot comprehend the Mystery, that an expence which ought to have been four dollars has been swelled to more than Ten Pounds; nor can I see why four days which were amply sufficient to have removed the horses to NYork has been protracted to near as many weeks.

I suppose however it is too late for me to obtain compleat Justice without an appeal to the laws which I have neither liesure nor Inclination to do. I therefore desire that either you or Mr: David Bull would settle with the person who carried the Horses to NYork and correct the manifest errors in both Accounts, form them both into one, sign it, and send it to me, and I will pay what shall be justly due or necessary to be paid.

I am Sir your most obnt: & humle: Sert

J A.—

LbC in TBA’s hand (Adams Papers); internal address: “Mr. Frederick Bull / Hartford. Connectit.”; APM Reel 115.

Capt. Frederick Bull (1753–1797) was a Hartford, Conn., tavern keeper and livestock trader. On the same day JA sent a similar letter of complaint to David Bull (1723–1812), Frederick’s cousin, who also operated a tavern in Hartford, the Bunch of Grapes (LbC, APM Reel 115). This contretemps, however, did not sour JA on staying at David’s inn on his next transit through the city. As he departed on 11 March, JA instructed John Trumbull to pay $20 to Frederick for boarding his horses and equipment during the winter (Mary Louise B. Todd, comp., Thomas and Susannah Bull of Hartford, Connecticut, and Some of Their Descendants in the First Five Generations, Lake Forest, Ill., 1981–85, p. 17, 18, 54; Jay, Selected Papers , 5:344; AFC , 11:420; to Trumbull, 10, 11 March, both NjP:Andre De Coppet Coll.).

the American Philosophical Society to John Adams, 22 January 1793 American Philosophical Society Adams, John

From the American Philosophical Society

Sir. Philadelphia Jan. 22. 1793.

It is with particular satisfaction that, in Obedience to the Orders of the American Philosophical Society established at Philadelphia for promoting usefull Knowledge, We announce your Election into that Body, on the 18th Inst.1

Your Certificate of Membership will be presented as soon as it can be compleated, in the mean time We hope to have the pleasure of seeing you at their meetings as often as may be convenient, and 163 to be honoured with such Communications from Time to Time as may tend to promote the laudable Objects of the Institution.

We have the honor to be / With the greatest Respect / Sir / Your most obedient & / most humble servants

James Hutchinson Jona Williams Corresponding secretaries

RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “The Honble Jno Adams Vice President of the United states &c.”; endorsed: “James Hutchinson / Jonathan Williams / Jan. 22. ansd. 24. 1793. / Certificate of Member / Ship of the Philosophi / cal Society.”; docketed by JA: “answered 24. January 1793.”

JA was previously elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society on 21 Jan. 1780, but poor recordkeeping evidently necessitated this action thirteen years later. The corresponding secretaries were Dr. James Hutchinson (1752–1793), former surgeon general of Pennsylvania, who died during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic; and Philadelphia merchant Jonathan Williams Jr. (1750–1815), who became the first superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1802 ( AFC , 3:299–300; Amer. Philos. Soc., Procs. , 56:xv–xvi, xvii; Washington, Diaries , 5:184; Washington, Papers, Presidential Series , 11:249).