ALS signed “A. Burr,” one page, 7.75 x 9.5, April 27, 1801. Handwritten letter to Pierpont Edwards, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. In full: "I forgot to ask, what will be an essential document, some certificate of the clerk or judge, or of yourself, that the sum of Twenty thousand dollars has been deposited in Court by Buisson—pray send me something to this effect to satisfy the treasury—I propose to be at Washington at the Supreme Court in June on this business—so much for your quarrel with the Clerk. I have little doubt of our complete success in the approaching election." Addressed on the reverse in Burr's hand, and franked over a "Free" stamp in the upper right, "A. Burr." In fine condition. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder.
This letter likely relates to the case of United States v. Schooner Peggy, in which Burr acted as an attorney for the claimant Joseph Buisson when the case was heard in the Circuit Court of Connecticut in September 1800. Unique given their tense relationship, Alexander Hamilton begrudged acting as an intermediary between Buisson and Burr on at least one occasion, writing to Burr in April 1802: 'Your Protege Buisson has addressed to me the inclosed letter. Why he did not immediately write to you I cannot tell unless it be that he is conscious he has used your politeness sufficiently, and imagines an intermediary to be hereafter necessary. Perhaps you may be able to decipher his wishes from the letter; which I confess is beyond my skill…Knowing that you are disposed to do for him whatever is proper and practicable, I will only be the vehicle of his wishes; to relieve his delicacy from the embarrassment of a direct application.'
