Handwritten letter by Madison requesting the deed for his "House and Lotts in Washington
SCARCE handwritten letter, one page, 7.75" x 9.75", August 4, 1828. Bold handwritten letter to Richard Smith, cashier of the Bank of the United States, evidently referring to his purchase of the Cutts-Madison House. In full: "The Bank having now received the final payment for the House and Lotts in Washington which I purchased from it, I have to request that the proper deed of conveyance to me be executed & recorded in the manner conformable to the Law of the place. Should any expence in so doing devolve on me, be so good as to let me know it. I cannot let this occasion pass, Sir, without acknowledging the kind attentions to my concerns with the Bank which I have experienced from you, and offering the sincere thanks due for them, with assurances of my cordial esteem & very friendly wishes." In fine condition.
In the early 1820s, Richard Cutts, husband of Dolley Madison's sister Anna, had fallen into difficult financial circumstances and was forced to sell the home he had built on Lafayette Square in Washington, DC. James Madison, given his 'regard for Mrs. Cutts & her Children & his anxiety to save her from the immediate mortification of being obliged to leave her house & home,' opted to purchase the property during bankruptcy proceedings through Cutts' trustee, Richard Smith. Though the purchase agreement was made in 1822, it took much of the rest of the decade to resolve the complicated financial proceedings.
Authenticated and encapsulated by Beckett Authentication Services (BAS).