Williams, Samuel

REQUESTING THAT A FRIEND WRITE LETTERS ON HIS BEHALF TO GOVERNOR [JOHN] HANCOCK, MR. [JOHN] ADAMS, GENERAL [GEORGE] WASHINGTON, MR. STRONG, [etc.], in an autograph letter signed.

Salem, [MA]: 17 Feb. 1789. Single sheet, [1 1/2] pp., approx. 400 words, asking an unidentified friend to write letters to Hancock, Adams, Washington, as well as Ellsworth, [John] Langdon, and [Elbridge] Gerry, and anyone else he thinks "most likely to favor me through your interest" and promising to repay him for "the expense of paper & what ever you think proper shall be refunded." The letter does not make the matter entirely clear and his correspondent is not identified, but it is evident Williams seeks a substantial position, probably Federal. Williams mentions that "the matter, wich [sic] you and I talked of at your house" he had since discussed with Capt. B. Goodhue. Goodhue informed him he had already been approached by Wm. Pickman to whom he felt an obligation. [Benjamin Goodhue was a privateer, and Salem's representative to the new Federal Congress; in 1796 he became a senator from Massachusetts]. Williams asks his correspondent to send most of the letters directly to him as he intends to call on all the gentlemen he knows, and "take time by the forelock." In a postscript, he discusses Pickman's character. In a second postscript, Williams writes: "What passes between us tis supposed to be private..." Old fold lines, a short split along one fold. Docketed on verso: "a letter from Capt. Sam'l Williams 17th Feb. 1789." Item #65186

Capt. Samuel Williams was likely a Federalist hoping to appeal to Benjamin Goodhue and other members of the Essex Junto, a powerful group of Federalist politicians in Massachusetts, for a political appointment. It appears he was disappointed. In a letter from Goodhue to George Washington, dated New York, June 30, 1789, William Pickman was put forth as Collector of Revenue for the district of Salem. [see the Washington Papers, National Archives Founders on Line].

Price: $300.00