Selected Letters of John Jay and Sarah Livingston Jay

This collection of letters chronicles the personal lives of founding father John Jay and his wife, Sarah Livingston Jay, in the tumultuous times during and after the American Revolution. The letters showcase Sarah as a devoted wife and mother who also helped further her husband’s political career. Their correspondence reveals the abiding love of husband and wife, their concern for their children, the dangers and difficulties of travel, descriptions of the lands they visited and events they witnessed, as well as a sense of the effort it took to survive in the era even with the buffer of wealth.
The book includes essays on the Jay and Livingston families, family trees, and information about the character and appearance of both husband and wife,and other topics. Importantly, there are textual bridges between the letters where necessary.

Both John Jay and Sarah Livingston Jay are deceased.
Independent researcher Landa M. Freeman, lives in Guilford, Connecticut.
Louise V. North, also an independent researcher, lives in Pompton Plains, New Jersey.
Janet M. Wedge is a writing consultant and adjunct professor of English composition at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. She lives in Ossining, New York.

John Jay and Sarah Livingston Jay
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 319
Bibliographic Info: 16 photos, appendices, chronology, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010 [2005]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4504-2
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      viii

Preface      1

Introduction      7

Chronology      21

Part I. Ardor and Pain Amid the Anxieties of War

January 11, 1773–October 7, 1779      25

Part II. Together in Europe

December 12–26, 1779–December 30, 1783      63

Part III. The Demands of Public Service and Family

November 28, 1784–July 13, 1793      165

Part IV. Separated, Reunited, Parted

April 9–10, 1794–January 20, 1803      217

Epilogue      285

Appendix: Issues of Daily Life      289

Bibliography      301

Index

“excellent”—Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies.