Jefferson in New York

On the Tuesday afternoon after I managed to pull myself away from lunch, came back to the library at Kenwood and went to a very good talk on Jefferson's time in New York.

Tea-time talk: Thomas Jefferson in New York
Richard Goodman, author of French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France and The Soul of Creative Writing will discuss the period when Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton were all living in New York city. Goodman has written on a variety of subjects for many national publications, including the New York Times and Harvard Review, has taught writing in New York for many years, and was a founding member of the New York Writers Workshop. His new book, A New York Memoir, will be published in August 2010. Tea at 3:30pm; the talk begins at 4pm.


Very good speaker and a very interesting talk - Jefferson was there for the six months when New York was the capital of America whilst they were working out where the capital should be. He also wrote four letters to Alexander from New York. 


The first, on 8 April, was how Jefferson had intervened over an abusive letter about Alexander sent to Alexander Hamilton from Colonel Heth (letter to track down!) - "He seemed very ready to suppose that passion might have mingled itself in the representations which had been made to him". Jefferson then goes on to say that Hamilton would be writing to Alexander - something else to track down! "I trust that he will do this immediately, and that a proper opinion of you will temper whatever he may conceive himself obliged to do on fuller information of the fact before him."

The second, on 11 April, was Jefferson returning £50 he had borrowed from Alexander for his journey. He hadn't had to use it as he had managed to get to New York on his last guinea - "An Irishman would say 'twas well I had a last one."

The third letter, on 13 June - Jefferson writes of his migraine that made him stay in bed for a month during his time in New York - "nor am I yet quite clear, as the bark has this time failed to produce a cure". Richard Goodman talked about how much money he spent on the bark during his time in New York. Jefferson then reassured Alexander that his reputation over the Heth letter had "suffered in nobody's estimation here. For that I will answer for you, because I have known you too long to have any doubts myself, or suffer anybody else to have them."

The fourth letter, on 29 August is a reply to Alexander's letter of 2 July 1790. In this Alexander pushed his friend the son of Carter Braxton to be Consul to the West Indies. Then he starts pushing himself in a none too subtle fashion:

"I have another friend to mention to you, but I wlil not presume to say so much in his favour. Seeing that Consuls are appointed for the Ports of Liverpool and Cowes, I would think it the most honourable feather in my Cap, could I obtain the same appointment for the Port of London. The Emolument of office is no object to me, but the Office itself I would always consider as a very flattering proof of the good opinion my Fellow Citizens have of me."

He then bangs on about why he is about to renounce his citizenship which he held from 1785 to 1790 (he also held it in the 1760s) before ending:

"I do not with My Dear Sir that you should move in this business if any other Person has applied that is more capable, or one to whom the emoluments of office would be an object."

Jefferson's reply was a bit of a brush off: "The consulates of the W. Indies had already been filled. Mr Braxton's name however shall be kept on the list of candidates, and all shall be done for him which can be justly done, that is to say, between equal competitors your recommendation shall turn the scale in his favour as far as shall depend on me. The suggestion for your other friend was also too late. Mr Joshua Johnson had been already decided on by the President."

Not much arguing with that.

Richard made much of the fact that this was the time that Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson fell out over where the capital should be - eventually they reached a compromise that it should be in Philadelphia for 10 years and then move south again - which it did and ended up in Washington. So during all this time with the debate going on, Alexander was bothering Jefferson to go and discuss the whole Heth letter with him.