ALS signed “J. Madison, Jr.,” one page, 7.25 x 7.5, no date but circa April 1788. Letter to Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia. In full: “I find that in consequence of a draught on the Treasury which I exchanged with Mr. Gou[verneu]r Morris for a bill on New York, that a surplus of £30 regular currency has passed into his hands. I have requested him to hand it over to you, whom I must trouble with a request to forward it by the first safe conveyance to Mrs. Carr of Goochland, and to transmit me her receipt for it whenever you may receive it.” Addressed on the reverse in Madison’s hand, “His Excellency Governor Randolph,” and also docketed by Randolph, “Mr. Madison,” and erroneously dated 1782. In very good to fine condition, with toning and splitting along fold, and a circular stain from wax seal on reverse. This letter features a scarce example of Madison signing with his seldom-seen suffix, which he most probably stopped using after his father’s death in 1801.
Several letters from Madison to Randolph became misdated over time, with some of the errors managing to perpetuate through various editions of Madison’s collected papers. As Randolph only served as governor from 1786 to 1788, the date notation on this letter is certainly incorrect. However, it can be dated based on a letter from Randolph to Madison of April 17, 1788, in which he writes, ‘I have sent to Mrs. Carr to inform her, that I had thirty pounds from you for her.’ Mrs. Carr is undoubtedly Thomas Jefferson’s younger sister, the widowed Martha Jefferson Carr, who lived in Goochland County. A close friend of Jefferson, Madison helped take care of his sister’s finances while Jefferson was employed abroad as minister to France from 1785 to 1789.
Madison and Edmund Randolph had been two of Virginia’s delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and were instrumental advocates of the ‘checks and balances’ that became a central tenet of the American government. Their ‘Virginia Plan,’ which was drafted by Madison but officially sponsored by Randolph, set forth the idea of population-weighted representation in the federal legislature. Gouverneur Morris, a New Yorker, was also a delegate to the convention and known for drafting large sections of the Constitution; he is generally credited as the author of the famous preamble. An excellent early Madison letter presenting a desirable connection between four founders. Pre-certified PSA/DNA.
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