Adams Papers Digital Edition

Papers of John Adams, volume 11

Enclosure: Key for a Code System

John Thaxter to C. W. F. Dumas
483 From Job Field and Others, 8 September 1781 Field, Job Newcomb, Briant Curtis, Samuel Bass, Jeriah Savil, Edward JA From Job Field and Others, 8 September 1781 Field, Job Newcomb, Briant Curtis, Samuel Bass, Jeriah Savil, Edward Adams, John
From Job Field and Others
Dear Sir Mill Prison September 8th. 1781 Plimouth In England

We Are Extreamly Sorry To Troughble you with A Letter of this Kind, But Our Unfortunate Situation In A Kingdom Remote From All Our friends And Distitute of Cash, Drives Us to the Necessity of Requesting You for the Sake of our Parents Wich Ware Your Neighbours and Acquaintances To Supply Us With Some Small Sums of Cash—Wich You may Either Carge to Our Parents, or Our Selfs, And the Same Shall be faithfully Paid to Mrst. Adams In Brantree, Who Was In Good Health On the 22th. of April Last, When We Left our Native Place—We Wrote You A Letter Some time Past on this Same Subject, But Immagin It Miscarryd, We Can Not Point out any Person For Your Purpouse of Sending to—We Leave It To Your Judgment, and Would Conclude Beging of you As Our Only friend, Not to forget Your Unfortunate Friends—And Neighbours1

Job Field Briant Newcombe Samuel Curtis Jeriah Bass Edward Savil

RC (Adams Papers); addressed: “Mr John Adams Embasador At Paris”; in another hand: “chez m grand Banquire”; endorsed: “Job Fields. Letter. Septr. 8. 1781 ansd. Oct. 24.”

1.

This is the first of over twenty letters JA exchanged over the next twelve months concerning twelve of his neighbors from Braintree and Milton. All had been captured in June on board the Salem privateer Essex, Capt. John Cathcart, and committed to Mill Prison in July. In addition to the five men who signed the letter, the prisoners included Nathaniel Beale, an unnamed Beale, Gregory and Lemuel Clark, Lewis Glover, William Horton, and Thomas Vinton. For the most detailed and informative account of JA's efforts on behalf of the prisoners, see AA's letter of 9 Dec., and note 3 ( Adams Family Correspondence , 4:255–261); and for criticism of the aid JA provided, see Isaac Collins' letter dated March 1782 (Adams Papers).