William Jackson to John Quincy Adams (October 19, 1818)

Philadelphia, October 19th, 1818

I had the honor of receiving your letter of the 16th instant, this morning; and I regret that the means of complying with your request, as it regards any documents connected with the proceedings of the Convention, which formed the Constitution of the United States, are not within my power— Every Document, relative thereto, having been delivered to President Washington on the day when I left Philadelphia for New York, to present the Constitution to Congress.

It is almost impossible, in the lapse of thirty years, to state occurrences with accuracy; but I am inclined to believe that the Convention adjourned from friday, the 14th of September 1787 to Monday the 17th, and on that day no other transaction passed in Convention, than to sign the Constitution and the letter to Congress.

There is no Person so capable of giving correct answers to your several enquiries as President Madison, who was certainly among the most efficient Members of the Convention. I expect to have the honor of paying my respects to you before the Meeting of Congress, and should anything occur to improve my recollection of the facts, to which you refer, it shall be faithfully communicated.