Letter to an Unknown Recipient

In this letter to a friend, Jonathan Sayward shared his uncertain feelings about American independence. Though he survived “the Grand Revolution,” Sayward worried for family members who “attached themselves to the Royal cause and have shared in my hard fate.”  

While Sayward claimed to feel no ill will toward his “unhappy countrymen,” he had little faith in the fledgling government of the United States. He asked his friend if they would live to see the day “when my bitterest persecutors may think, if not say, it would have been happy for America if your sentiments and mine had been adopted & attended to.” 

A Letter from Jonathan Sayward to an Unidentified Recipient, August 22, 1784, Sayward Family Papers. Gift of the Heirs of Elizabeth Cheever Wheeler.