[Letter] July 5, [1813], Quincy (Mass.) [to] Mathew Carey, Esquire / John Adams.

Date written as 1513; hand written note reads "Rec'd July 10." See also Adams' biography and the research collections of his papers (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=A000039).

Adams explains to Mathew Carey that he is sending papers delivered to him by John Marston and vouches for their authenticity. He requests that a particular letter by Captain Hoisted [Hoystead] Hacker be returned to him and describes John Marston as an ardent supporter of the views of Mathew Carey and Mr. Clark. Adams mentions Captain Simpson and relates that Simpson served as the First Lieutenant of Captain John Paul Jones when he captured a twenty-gun ship (HMS Drake) in 1778. Adams remarks that Captain Simpson's name "ought to be more known in History than it is." Adams asks that Carey question Captain Jonathan Williams if he differs in that sentiment, and states that he will dispute the matter with him. In 1778, Captain John Paul Jones arrested his Lieutenant Thomas Simpson for disobedience shortly after the mentioned capture of the HMS Drake while aboard the Ranger. Jones only dropped the charges after much correspondence with Adams and the other statesmen stationed in France, finally allowing Simpson to take command of the Ranger, while he went on to command the Bonhomme Richard. Jonathon Williams was a commercial and diplomatic agent in France at the time of the Drake's capture and, along with his great uncle, Benjamin Franklin, he was a supporter of John Paul Jones. Thomas Simpson is often characterized as a fiery and mutinous lieutenant, but Adams suggests in his autobiography (1802-1807) that "the arbitrary Conduct of Jones was the cause of great Injustice to him." Adams served as a Member of the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence, and was the first Vice President of the United States during George Washington's term of office; he was elected President and served from 1797-1801. He is the father of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. Mathew Carey, a Philadelphia based publisher, published Thomas Clark's _Naval History_ (1813, 1814) and received frequent suggestions from Adams while expanding this work for its second edition. John Marston, who was a midshipman at the time, would eventually became a rear-admiral and would have a continued relationship with John Adams, being one of the last people to see the former president before his death.