Description:

James Monroe
Richmond, VA, November 4, 1802
James Monroe Recommends Dr. Henry Rose of Alexandria
AL

James Monroe (1758-1831). Autograph Letter Fragment potentially written to James Madison that includes 90 words in James Monroe's hand. 1 p, 8" x 4.5", Richmond, Virginia, November 4, 1802. Bottom of sheet clipped away; irregular bottom edge; general toning - else near fine.

This letter introduces the recipient, who may have been James Madison, to Dr. Henry Rose, whom Monroe met in Philadelphia in 1793, when Monroe was a U.S. Senator from Virginia, and Rose was a medical student.

Complete Transcript
"Richmond Novr. 4, 1802.
Dear Sir
Dr Rose of Fairfax county has requested me to make his merit known to you in the light in which it is to me, with which I comply with pleasure. I became acquainted with him in 1793, while he was attending the medical course in Phila, had much communication with him at that time, and since my return to Virga more especially in this office, as he was last session a member of the legislature. I consider Dr Rose to be founded on my own"

James Monroe (1758-1831) was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, and he attended the College of William and Mary before dropping out to serve as an officer in the Revolutionary War. He studied law under Thomas Jefferson from 1780 to 1783, and served as a delegate to the Continental Congress. He represented Virginia as a U.S. Senator (1790-94) and twice served as governor of Virginia (1799-1802, 1811). From 1794 to 1796, Monroe served as the U.S. minister to France. In 1803, he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase for President Jefferson and then served as ambassador to the United Kingdom (1803-1807).

Monroe served as President James Madison's Secretary of State (1811-1817) and briefly as Secretary of War (1814-1815). Elected President in 1816 and again in 1820, receiving 231 out of 232 electoral votes in his reelection bid, his party's ascendancy was heralded as the Era of Good Feelings. His administration is notable for the recognition of the new Latin American republics and, of course, the Monroe Doctrine, written by his Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. In Monroe's Annual Message of 1823, he responded to European threats of encroachment on Latin American land by declaring that the American continents, "by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European Power." Although Monroe could do little to back up these statements, the doctrine influenced American foreign policy through the rest of the century. Through the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819, the United States gained Florida and a clearer demarcation of its border with New Spain in the West. Monroe retired to Monroe Hill, now part of the University of Virginia, and Oak Hill, his plantation in Loudoun County, for the remainder of his life.

Henry Rose (1772-1810) was born in Virginia and studied medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1795, he married his stepsister Ann Washington Robinson (1778-1860), and they had one child. They settled at Union Hill, a plantation near modern Fairfax City. He speculated in land in Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Georgia. In 1799, he was listed as owning 20 enslaved persons over the age of 16, but his estate lists no slaves that he owned at his death. In 1801-1802, he represented Fairfax County as a Democratic-Republican in the Virginia General Assembly. He died in Occoquan, Virginia.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8" x 4.5"
  • Medium: AL

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