Papers of John Adams, volume 21

36 John Adams to Tench Coxe, 19 June 1791 Adams, John Coxe, Tench

To Tench Coxe

Dear Sir Braintree June 19. 1791

I am under obligations to you, for two kind Letters, in one of which was inclosed Observations on Lord Sheffield, made with So much Candour, Politeness, and Force as must command the attention and Esteem of all Men.1

The Trouble you have taken to inform me of the two hundred Dollars paid to my Steward has my best Thanks.

Unfortunately I am obliged to give you a little more trouble. The Bill for 500 dollars, on General Lincoln, was Sent by Mrs Adams without my Signature upon it. At General Lincolns Office they observed that it was payable to me or my order and that it could not be paid without my order or Indorsement. My son who went with it, after they had taken an Account of the Number of the Bill took it again to bring it home to me to be signed: but having many Errands to do in town, and many Papers in his Pocketts which he had occasion to handle Several times, upon some occasion or another in his hurry this Paper escaped and is lost. I must beg the favour of you sir to send me a Second of the same tenor and date to be paid me, the first being unpaid. As the lost Bill has not my signature and as General Lincolns office is informed of the Accident, there is no danger of an Imposition. The Date of the Bill was 24. May 1791. The Number 1351.

With great Esteem I am, Sir / your most obedient and most / humble servant

John Adams

RC (PHi:Coxe Family Papers); addressed: “Tench Coxe Esqr: / Philadelphia”; internal address: “Tench Coxe Esqr / Assistant to the S: of the Treasury.”; endorsed: “June 19. 91 / John Adams.” FC (Adams Papers).

Coxe sent a copy of his work, A Brief Examination of Lord Sheffield’s Observations on the Commerce of the United States of America, Phila., 1791, Evans, No. 23294. He wrote to JA on 4 May, enclosing a draft for $500, which JQA lost on 16 June. Coxe “continued” the bill’s credit on 30 June, warning that Alexander Hamilton expected JA to “indemnify the United States for any injury that might arise to them from the other bill,” and noting that JQA had correctly alerted Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, the Boston port collector, to the error. Coxe also wrote on 25 May, reporting that he had paid $100 to John Briesler Sr. as JA directed. He included the 1790 census totals for New Jersey and conveyed public attitudes in Virginia toward federal revenue laws (all Adams Papers; D/JQA/16, 16 June 1791, APM Reel 19). For Coxe’s political interactions with JA, see Descriptive List of Illustrations, No. 1, above.