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A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Journals of the Continental Congress --SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 1783
On motion of Mr. [Hugh] Williamson, seconded by Mr. [Arthur] Lee,
Resolved, That the Secretary at War be directed to grant furloughs to the troops in Maryland and Virginia.3
[Note 3: 3 This motion, in the writing of a clerk, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 36, II, folio 199.]
On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. [James] Duane, Mr. [Ralph] Izard and Mr. S[amuel] Huntington, to whom were referred a petition of Captain Clement Gosselin, in behalf of the officers, Canadians and other refugees, residing at Fish-kill, in the State of New York, to the number
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of eighty men and women, besides children; and the letter from Brigadier General Hazen and others;
That the case of the petitioners formerly inhabitants of Canada deserves the attention of Congress; that it is truly represented in their favor that they have left their Country their Friends and their Substance in support of the Liberties and rights of America; that they were encouraged by assurances of protection, and a prospect of Liberty, to take up arms in the Common Cause; that they have persevered thro' all the dangers and difficulties of a distressing war until it has happily terminated in the establishment of the Peace and Independence of the United States; that they nevertheless remain exiles from their native country, without any security from treaty, any stipulation for their return, or any means for their subsistance; and that their merit and distresses call upon the United States, to whose security their efforts have contributed, for a suitable provision.
That, under these circumstances, your Committee are only withheld, by the present exhausted state of the publick Finances, from recommending such a provision to be made for these unfortunate people as would afford them immediate relief, and would lay a foundation for the comfortable establishment of their families in future.
For the present your Committee submit the following resolutions:
Resolved, That it be, and is hereby recommended to the State of New York, to receive the officers and men under the above description, agreeably to the prayer of their petition, as citizens of the said State.
And to grant them such lands and aids as the legislature of the said State may in their wisdom think fit.1
[Note 1: 1 In Elias Boudinot's hand is the following:
A motion for amendment not put; and that they be further recommended to the benevolence of the state of N. Y. to grant them such aids as they in their wisdom may think fit.]
Resolved, That the officers of the regiment lately commanded by Brigadier General Hazen, who at the commencement of the war, were inhabitants of Canada, shall continue to receive their former subsistence, until the further order of Congress: and that each of the men, women and children, referred to in the petition of the said officers, shall respectively
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receive a ration per day for their subsistence, until such further order.
Resolved, That the commissioner appointed to settle the public accounts for the State of New York, be authorised and directed to settle the claims for advances represented to have been made by the said officers, for the use of the United States, and report the same to Congress.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, in the writing of James Duane, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 22, folio 219. According to the indorsement, it was delivered August 6, entered and read.]
Princeton Augt 9, 1783.
Sir
On the memorial of philip Dejean I beg leave to submit the following report:
That as the United States axe not now in possession of Detroit and the adjacent country, no letters going from them to the commanding officer can be binding on him, nor is it probable they would avail Mrs. Dejean. When we shall be in possession of that country, I cannot conceive that there will be any objections to his making sale of his estate there and removing it to Maryland, where he intends, by leave of the State, to become a citizen. Nor do I think when such an event shall have taken place that he will need any other passport or protect,on for Mrs. Dejean than what the Governour can give him.
He appears to have had a good knowledge of the country about Detroit and its neighboring rivers and Lakes, but as he has been absent from it for about four years he can give but little or no information of the present temper of the inhabitants.2
[Note 2: 2 This report, from the Secretary at war, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 149, III, folio 127. According to the indorsement it was read on this day.
On this day, as the indorsement indicates, a letter of August 8 from the Secretary at War, recommending promotion of Colonel Kosciuszko to the rank of brigadier general, was read and referred to Mr. [Richard] Peters, Mr. [James] McHenry and Mr. [James] Duane. It is in No. 149, III, folio 123.
Also, as shown by the indorsement, a petition from John Irwin, late Deputy Commissary General of Issues for the Western Department, was read, and referred to Mr. [Theodorick] Bland, Mr. [John Francis] Mercer and Mr. [Stephen] Higginson. It is dated Philadelphia, August 6th, 1783, and is in No. 42, IV, folio 66.]
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