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New York Loyalist Writes to his Congressman Uncle about the Contested Election of 1800: "The Votes for Messrs Jefferson and Burr being a Tie, is as extraordinary, as it is unpleasant to many, that they have carried their Election"
New York Loyalist Writes to his Congressman Uncle about the Contested Election of 1800: "The Votes for Messrs Jefferson and Burr being a Tie, is as extraordinary, as it is unpleasant to many, that they have carried their Election"
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Jefferson Thomas

New York Loyalist Writes to his Congressman Uncle about the Contested Election of 1800:  “The Votes for Messrs Jefferson and Burr being a Tie, is as extraordinary, as it is unpleasant to many, that they have carried their Election.”

 

JACOB GLEN, Autograph Letter Signed, to Henry Glen, February 7, 1801, Schenectady, New York. 2 pp., 7.5" x 12.25"  Expected folds and some browning. Several tears on folds repaired with tape.

 

Complete Transcript

Dear Uncle

            Your favor of the 19th Ulto afforded me the heartfelt pleasure of hearing that you was perfectly recovered, and hope you may long, long enjoy your Health. The Votes for Messrs Jefferson and Burr being a Tie, is as extraordinary, as it is unpleasant to many, that they have carried their Election. I give the preference to Burr. Jefferson’s religious Principles are much talked of. It is by some here imagined, that there will be no Choice. Let this be as it will, I hope whatever may be the Result, will terminate in the welfare of our Country. The appointment of Chief Justice, I hope is a judicious one. The great and good Mr Jay after a Series of eminent Services to his Country, retires, where the best Wishes of every real American will follow him, as well as of every good Man, for the Enjoyment of an uninterrupted Happiness here and hereafter. He has deserved well of his Country. The Lt Governor has been prevailed upon to be the federal Candidate, this Man so universally esteemed, cannot fail of carrying his Election; and then We shall have one good Man succeed another, many of the opposition will give him their Votes for Governor. The Information of Mr Thomas Auldjo being Vice Consul for Cowes on the Isle of Wight, Poole &ca, I first heard when my Father in Law lived at Norris Farm, Cowes, and have since regularly seen his name in the small pocket Almanacks, out of one for last year, I enclose you a leaf, by which you’ll see, there are in addition to the Minister Plenipotentiary and his Secretary, an Agent, six Consuls and a Vice-Consul for Great Britain and Ireland. As the Secretary of State makes no mention of these in his Estimates, they must be paid out of some contingent Money, not included in the diplomatic Estimate. I should esteem the favor of knowing the Pay and Emoluments of the Agent, Consuls & Vice for Gt Britain, if you can ascertain it, and if you cannot, I am sure I need not apply to any other Person.

            Cousin Cornelius was here this afternoon, my Aunt and Family are well. Mrs Glen, Caty, John and little ones join with me in every Wish for your Health and Welfare, and believe me to be with Respect

                                                                        Dear Uncle

                                                                        Your Affectionate  Jacob Glen

The Honorable Henry Glen Esquire                                       Schnectady February 7th 1801

 

The American Revolutionary War shocked and divided the Dutch families of Schenectady, New York. Militia officers and soldiers who had served King George III in the French and Indian War dropped off the rolls, while others joined the Revolutionary army. Brothers John and Henry Glen chose to join the patriots. John Glen (1735-1828) had served as a quartermaster in the French and Indian War with the rank of colonel. He also served as a quartermaster for the Americans, and his younger brother Henry Glen served as his deputy. John Glen’s oldest son, Jacob, in contrast, joined the loyalist “King’s Royal Regiment of New York,” in which he served for three years.

 

In this letter to his uncle, who had been a member of Congress for eight years, Jacob Glen comments on the 1800 election that resulted in a tie in electoral votes between Presidential candidate Thomas Jefferson and Vice-presidential candidate Aaron Burr. According to the Constitution, the House of Representatives had to decide the election. There were sixteen states, and each state delegation received a single vote, requiring the winning candidate to obtain at least nine votes. Because the Federalists opposed Jefferson, they attempted to elect Burr to the Presidency. Six of the eight states controlled by Federalists voted for Burr, while seven states controlled by Republicans voted for Jefferson. He also picked up Georgia, but two divided states cast blank ballots, giving Jefferson only eight of the necessary nine votes. Over 35 ballots from February 11 to 17, Jefferson received eight votes each time. On the 36th ballot, Federalists in Delaware, Maryland, and Vermont cast blank ballots, giving Jefferson Maryland’s and Vermont’s votes and the Presidency.

 

Glen hopes that the appointment of John Marshall (1755-1835) as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is “a judicious one.” Indeed, it was. President John Adams nominated Marshall, who had served briefly as his Secretary of State, to the lame duck Federalist Senate shortly before he left office. The Federalist Senate quickly confirmed Marshall, and he received his commission on January 31, 1801. He served as Chief Justice for the next thirty-four years, during the administrations of six presidents. Under Marshall’s active leadership, the U.S. Supreme Court became an equal branch of the federal government with Congress and the Presidency.

 

Glen also comments on the impending retirement of Federalist John Jay (1745-1829) as governor of New York, a position he had held since 1795, when he resigned as the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court to take the gubernatorial position. Despite Glen’s predictions, Democratic-Republican George Clinton (1739-1812) defeated Federalist Stephen Van Rensselaer (1764-1839) for the position of Governor of New York. Clinton had been governor before Jay, from 1777 to 1795, while Van Rensselaer had served as Jay’s lieutenant governor. Clinton went on to succeed Burr as vice president, serving under both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison from 1805 to 1812.

 

Glen believes that the United States had too many consuls in Great Britain, at too great expense. In June 1790, President George Washington had nominated Thomas Auldjo (1757-1823), a Scottish merchant, as Vice-Consul of the United States at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in southern England. After the British objected that no foreign consuls had been received at that port, Auldjo’s post was changed to Poole, thirty miles to the west on the southern coast of England.

 

 

Jacob Glen (1761-1843) was born in Glens Falls, New York. During the Revolutionary War, Glen was a loyalist and served for three years as an ensign in the King’s Royal Regiment of New York.  He married English-born Frances Southouse (1765-1840) in 1784, and they had six children between 1785 and 1807. Her father Edward Southouse was a lawyer and judge in Quebec. In 1803, he received a land grant in Quebec from the Crown, likely for his service in the Revolutionary War. He moved there in 1806 and died in Quebec.

 

Henry Glen (1739-1814) was born in Albany, New York, and grew up in the Dutch culture of Albany and Schnectady. He became a merchant and was an early settler of Schnectady. He served as town clerk from 1767 to 1809. During the Revolutionary War, he served in the militia, on Schenectady’s Committee of Safety, and in the New York Provincial Congress. He supported the Federalist Party and served in the New York State Assembly in 1786 and 1787. He represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1793 to 1801. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1800, so his term ended on March 3, 1801. He married Elizabeth Vischer in 1762, and they had six children.

 

 

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