John Kaminski’s talk, "Premier John Jay: The Most Important Man in America," delivered at the celebration of the publication of the Selected Papers of John Jay, volume 1, on March 25, 2010, is now available at Columbia University Library’s Academic Commons. "When John Jay returned from France in 1784, the Confederation Congress asked him to […]
Tag: Jay family
The Fourth of July
The Jays celebrated the Fourth of July, 1783, at Passy, outside Paris, in the company of Benjamin Franklin and various American and French friends. Franklin began this practice in 1778. The following is an excerpt of a letter from Sarah Livingston Jay to her sister, Kitty Livingston, of 16 July 1783, describing her feelings on […]
Bullfight, part 1
The recent moves to ban bullfighting in France and Catalonia brought to mind a letter written by Henry Brockholst Livingston (Sarah Livingston Jay’s brother) to his father William Livingston, on 12 July 1780. Brockholst (as he was known) was in Spain with John Jay, acting as his brother-in-law’s secretary during the Spanish mission (1779-1782). When […]
John Jay, Skier?
Vincent Jay, of France, has won the gold medal in the Biathlon 10K sprint (beating the legendary Norwegian, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen) and the bronze in the 12.5km pursuit. Is he a relative of our Jay’s? Well, the Jay family has its origins in France. John Jay’s grandfather, Auguste (or Augustus) was born in La Rochelle […]