An economic interpretation of the constitution of the United States

148. Ms. Treasury Department: Loan Office, S. C., 1791–1797, folio 128. The entry in the ledger notes the residence of Sarah Butler as Charleston; there was another Sarah Butler in South Carolina at the time, but according to the first Census she did not reside in that city. For the evidence that Sarah Butler was the daughter of Pierce Butler, see Salley, South Carolina Marriages, p. 108, for the record of her marriage.

149. Farrand, Records, Vol. III, p. 93.

150. Madison Ms: Letter to James Madison, October 28, 1787. Library of Congress.

151. State Papers: Finance, Vol. I, p. 6.

152. Ms. Treasury Department: Loan Office, Maryland, 1790–1797, folio 98; Loan Office, Penna., 1790–1791, folio 94; Ledger C, 3% Stock (Pa.), folio 54. Alphabet to Dividend Book of Domestic Debt, Maryland, under “C” (book not found). Charles Carroll was also a holder of securities. Ms. Treasury Department: Maryland Loan Office, 1790–1797, folios 157 and 226 for over $5000 worth of sixes and threes.

153. Scharf, History of Western Maryland, Vol. I, p. 679; H. Crew, History of Washington, p. 108.

154. Magazine of American History, Vol. V, p. 196.

155. Sanderson, Biography of the Signers (1831 ed.), Vol. III, p. 147.

156. Sanderson, ibid., p. 150.

157. Simpson, Lives of Eminent Philadelphians (1859 ed.), p. 693.

158. Sanderson, ibid., p. 147.

159. McMaster and Stone, Pennsylvania and the Federal Constitution, p. 705.

160. Ms. Treasury Department: Ledger C, 3% Stock, Pa., folio 231; see also Ledger E, Treasury, 3%, Vol. 44, folio 170; and Ledger C, Treasury, 6%, Vol. 42, folio 114. The existence of this latter small account in sixes in 1797 is the basis for the surmise above that Clymer held also his quota of sixes. With his business acumen he might very well have disposed of most of this stock after “taking the rise” in 1787–1792, for he could have made more money in business than from the interest which the government paid.

161. Peele, Lives of Distinguished North Carolinians, p. 59.

162. Ibid., p. 69.

163. Ibid., p. 69.

164. Ibid., p. 80.

165. Ibid., p. 78.

166. State Papers: Public Lands, Vol. I, pp. 104–106.

167. Ibid., p. 129.

168. Ibid., p. 118.

169. John Wood, Suppressed History of the Administration of John Adams, pp. 149 ff.

170. Ms. Treasury Department: N. Y. Loan Office, 1791, folio 130.

171. Ibid., N. Y. Office, Deferred 6%, 1790–1796, folio 208.

172. Ibid., Ledger B, New York Office, Deferred 6% Stock, 1790, folio 55.

173. J. Wood, Suppressed History of the Administration of John Adams (1846 ed.), p. 145.

174. Stillé, Life and Times of John Dickinson, p. 14.

175. Ibid., p. 35.

176. Eminent Philadelphians, p. 747.

177. Stillé, p. 331.

178. Ibid., p. 327.

179. The Index in the Treasury Department gives the name of John Dickinson among the security holders, but the volume referred to was not found.

180. Morris Ms. in the Library of Congress, Private Letter Book, Vol. III, p. 160.

181. G. Brown, The Life of Oliver Ellsworth, p. 11.

182. Brown, ibid., p. 23.

183. Ms. Treasury Department: Connecticut Loan Office, Ledgers A, B, and C, folio 21 in each volume.

184. Consult same volumes through the Index.

185. Facts here are taken from his Autobiography, in the Magazine of American History, Vol. VII, pp. 343 ff.

186. Haskins, The Yazoo Land Companies, p. 81.

187. Ms. Treasury Department: Register of Certificates of Public Debt Presented to the Auditor of the Treasury.

188. Volume 31, folio 346.

189. McMaster and Stone, Pennsylvania and the Federal Constitution, p. 706.

190. Simpson, Eminent Philadelphians, p. 373.

191. McMaster and Stone, op. cit., p. 707.

192. Simpson, op. cit., 373.

193. Sumner, The Financier and the Finances of the Revolution, Vol. II, p. 294.

194. Maclay, Journal (1890 ed.), p. 178.

195. Ms. Treasury Department: Register of Certificates of Public Debt Presented to the Auditor of the Treasury.

196. Ibid., See Ledger E, Treasury, 3%, Vol. 44, folio 335. Also Ledger C, Treasury, 6%, Vol. 42, folio 300 for small entries.

197. Morris Mss. in the Library of Congress: Private Letter Book, Vol. I, p. 529. Marshall (a brother of John Marshall) was the confidential and trusted agent of Morris in large transactions in land.

198. Bigelow, Life of Franklin, Vol. III, p. 470.

199. Haskins, The Yazoo Land Companies, p. 62.

200. Bigelow, Works, Vol. X, pp. 206 ff.

201. Farrand, Records, Vol. III, p. 232.

202. Consult the Loan Office Records of New Hampshire in the Treasury Department, passim.

203. Ms. Treasury Department: Ledger C, Treasury, 6%, Vol. 42, folio 368.

204. State Papers: Public Lands, Vol. I, p. 118.

205. Hammond, State Papers of New Hampshire, Vol. XVIII, p. 790.

206. Sanderson, Lives of the Signers (1831 ed.), Vol. I, p. 197; Austin, Life of Gerry.

207. Sanderson, Biography of the Signers, Vol. I, p. 230.

208. Farrand, Records, Vol. II, p. 356.

210. Ms. Treasury Department: Mass. Loan Office, Register of Certificates of Interest Issued (Vellum bound), folios 15 ff.

211. Ibid., Mass. Loan Office, Certificates for Liquidated Debt, folios 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. This paper had evidently been bought by Gerry for speculation.

212. Ibid., Loan Office, Pa., 1790–1791, folio 60.

213. Ibid., Ledger C, 3% Stocks, Pa., folio 37.

214. Ibid., Massachusetts Loan Office, 1791, Item 582; this was also paper bought up by Gerry for speculation.

215. Gerry was accused by Ellsworth (q.v.) of having turned against the new Constitution because the Convention refused to put the old continental paper money on the same basis as other securities. Toward the close of the Convention, “Gerry,” says Ellsworth, “introduced a motion respecting the redemption of the old continental money—that it should be placed on a footing with other liquidated securities of the United States. As Mr. Gerry was supposed to be possessed of large quantities of this species of paper, his motion appeared to be founded in such bare-faced selfishness and injustice, that it at once accounted for all his former plausibility and concession, while the rejection of it by the convention inspired its author with the utmost rage and intemperate opposition to the whole system he had formerly praised.” Ford, Essays on the Constitution, p. 174. Gerry indignantly denied that he ever made such a motion in the Convention, or that he held much continental money. Ibid., p. 127. It does not appear in Farrand, Records, that any such motion was made in the Convention; and under the circumstances it seems not unjust to remark that Ellsworth’s charges were made with very bad grace, particularly in view of the fact that he and members of his family and intimate friends held considerable amounts of public securities. “Bare-faced selfishness” was not monopolized by Gerry in the Convention.

216. See above, p. 49.

217. King, Life and Correspondence, Vol. I, p. 72.

218. A. M. Dyer, The Ownership of Ohio Lands, p. 68.

219. Sumner, The Financier and the Finances of the Revolution, Vol. II, pp. 253 ff. See Turner, Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of Western New York, pp. 326 ff.

220. T. Wyman, Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, Vol. I, p. 424.

221. To be found in the Hamilton Mss., Library of Congress.

222. Haskins, The Yazoo Land Companies.

223. State Papers: Finance, Vol. I, p. 8.

224. Hamilton, Works (Lodge ed.), Vol. VI, p. 453.

225. Ibid., Vol. VI, p. 454; Annals of Congress, Vol. III, pp. 900 ff.

226. See below, p. 112.

227. Mr. Lodge calls the three investigators “inquisitors,” but this seems like a strong word to apply to members of Congress engaged in running down rumors relative to the official conduct of a government officer. Works (Lodge ed.), Vol. VI, p. 450 note. The impropriety of Monroe’s action in allowing the story to escape is another matter.

228. The pamphlet by Hamilton in his defence is printed in the Lodge edition, Vol. VI, pp. 449 ff.

229. Compare the date of the receipts on page 20 of Mr. Fox’s A Study in Hamilton with the date in the pamphlet (Lodge ed.), Vol. VI, p. 494.

230. Works of Hamilton (Lodge ed.), Vol. VIII, p. 268. Perhaps the remnant of an old account of Hamilton on the Treasury Books in 1797 refers to this petty holding. Ms. Treasury Department: Ledger E, Treasury, 3%, Vol. 44, folio 434.

231. J. A. Hamilton, Reminiscences, p. 18.

232. W. Maclay, Journal (1890 ed.), p. 188.

233. State Papers: Finance, Vol. I, p. 188.

234. Reminiscences of J. A. Hamilton, p. 18.

235. Ms. Treasury Department: N. Y. Loan Office, 1791, folio 24. See also the volume of N. Y. Loan Office Receipts in the Mss. Division of the Library of Congress for General Schuyler’s receipts for interest on securities. The intimate correspondence between Hamilton and General Schuyler during the period of the formation of the Constitution was destroyed by a son of one of the latter’s executors. American Historical Review, Vol. X, p. 181. See Tuckerman, Life of General Schuyler.

236. Ms. Treasury Department: N. Y. Office, Deferred 6%, 1790–1796, folio 325.

237.

Philadelphia, Feby. 24^th, 1790.

[Alexander Hamilton, Esq.,
Secretary of the Treasury at New York.]
Sir:

I have had this day the honor of yours inclosing your power of substitution on behalf of Mr. Church. At present the sale of stock, and indeed every other money transaction is nearly at a stand. The produce of the State and the sale of Bills of Exchange will alone command it, untill we receive a supply from sea.

Mr. Constable has informed me of the purchase he had made of 20 shares and when they appear the transfer will be compleated.

I observe what you say respecting the sale of what remains of Mr. Church’s shares and shall do whatever may be in my power to dispose of them, whenever I receive the certificates and your orders to make the sale. I am, Sir, with great respect,

Y^r Obed^t Serv^t

Thos. Willing.

Hamilton Mss., Vol. XXIII, p. 1.

238. Library of Congress: Hamilton Mss., Vol. XX, p. 180.

239. Ibid., Vol. XX, pp. 182 ff. Lodge omits references to this correspondence on Seton’s part, although he gives selected letters from Hamilton to Seton. Works of Alexander Hamilton, Vol. VIII, pp. 231 ff.

240. Library of Congress: Hamilton Mss., Vol. XXIII, p. 180.

241. A. M. Dyer, The Ownership of Ohio Lands, p. 69.

242. Mss. Library of Congress: Treasury Department, 1790–1792 (Washington papers), folio 291.

244. Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, Vol. I, p. 402.

245. Library of Congress, Hamilton Mss., Vol. XVI, p. 126. The editor of King’s letters says this letter is lost.

246. Hamilton’s Works (Lodge ed.), Vol. VIII, p. 234.

247. Ibid., Vol. VIII, p. 240, date March 14, 1792.

248. Ms. Treasury Department: Ledger B, N. Y. Office, 1790, Deferred 6% Stock, folio 260; also N. Y. Office, Deferred 6%, 1790–1796, folio 144.

249. T. A. Glenn, William Churchill Houston, pp. 71–72 (Privately printed), copy in Library of Congress.

250. Farrand, Records, Vol. III, p. 97.

251. Simpson, Eminent Philadelphians, p. 596.

252. His private fortune was much impaired by the failure of Robert Morris, for whom he had pledged his faith in several transactions. Morris Mss., Library of Congress: Private Letter Book, Vol. II, pp. 193, 261, 327, 351, 414.

253. H. Binney, Leaders of the Old Philadelphia Bar, p. 83; State Papers: Finance, Vol. I, p. 81.

254. Farrand, Records, Vol. III, p. 93.

255. Census of 1790: Heads of Families, p. 51; consult Index.

256. Appleton, Encyclopædia of American Biography, Vol. III, p. 426.

257. Ms. Treasury Department: Maryland Loan Office, 1790–1797, folio 14.

258. Ibid., folio 134.

259. Beardsley, Life and Times of William Samuel Johnson, pp. 8–9.

260. Writings of Jefferson (Ford ed.), Vol. I, p. 223.

261. Ms. Treasury Department: Ledger B, New York Office, Deferred 6%, 1790, folios 10, 152, 457.

262. Folios 152 and 457 of above Ledger B.

263. Ms. Treasury Department: Connecticut Loan Office, Ledger A, folio 15; Ledger B, folio 15; Ledger C, folio 15. Connecticut Loan Office Receipts, Library of Congress, Mss. Division.

264. Ibid., New York Loan Office, 6% Ledger, 1791–1797, folio 161; ibid., New York Office, Deferred 6%, 1790–1796, folio 107—two entries of about $25,000 each. Ledger B, New York Office, Deferred 6% Stock, 1790, folios, 152, 457. Ledger E, Treasury, 3%, Vol. 44, folio 529. There can be no question of the identity of the Robert Charles Johnson who appears on the public security records and the Robert Charles Johnson who was the son of William Samuel. The cross entries between father and son in the records constitute one piece of evidence. The residence of Robert Charles in Stratford presents another, for that was the family place. Furthermore, the signature to the Loan Office Receipts is the signature of Robert Charles, son of William Samuel Johnson.

265. Rufus King, Life and Correspondence, Vol. I, 132.

266. Life and Correspondence of King, Vol. I, p. 624.

267. Writings (Ford ed.), Vol. I, p. 223. Maclay makes some quite uncomplimentary remarks about King, Journal, p. 315.

268. Dunlap’s Daily Advertiser, October 23, 1791.

269. Ms. Treasury Department: N. Y. Office, 6%, Ledger, 1791–1799, folio 14. Ibid., Ledger B, N. Y. Office, Deferred 6%, 1790, folio 60; ibid., Deferred 6%, 1790–1796, folio 14. The Treasury Index gives a number of references to volumes not found.

270. See above, p. 112.

271. C. W. Brewster, Rambles about Old Portsmouth (1859), pp. 360–361.

272. Farrand, Records, Vol. III, p. 233.

273. Batchellor, New Hampshire State Papers, Vol. XXI, p. 804 note.

274. Ibid., Vol. XX, p. 868.

275. Batchellor, New Hampshire State Papers, Vol. XX, p. 872.

276. Journal of William Maclay (1890 ed.), p. 178.

277. Ms. Treasury Department: See Loan Office Certificate Book, New Hampshire (Loan of 1777 passim).

278. Ibid., New Hampshire Loan Office, Journal A, folio 4, date March, 1791, and passim.

279. Hammond, State Papers of New Hampshire, Vol. XVIII, p. 824.

280. Farrand, Records, Vol. III, p. 90.

281. Ms. Treasury Department: New York Loan Office, 1791, folio 97.

282. Johannis, Garrit, Abraham, John J., Henry R., and other Lansings appear on Ledger C, Funded 6%, 1790, Ms. Treasury Department. Consult Index.

283. L. Elmer, The Constitution and Government of New Jersey (1872), pp. 57–59.

284. Ms. Treasury Department: Ledger B, N. Y. Office, Deferred 6% Stock, 1790, folios, 72, 306, etc.

285. Ibid., N. Y., 6%, Ledger, 1791–1797, folio 123.

286. Ibid., Virginia Loan Office, 1791, under date of September 30, 1791; Ledger A, Funded 6% Stock, 1790, folio 123.

287. In a letter of February 13, 1791, Madison advises his father to fund his Virginia certificates at Richmond: “I do not see what better you can do with your certificates than to subscribe them to the public fund at Richmond.” Writings of James Madison (1865 ed.), Vol. I, p. 529.