President of the Continental Congress
What position did John Jay take from Dec 1778 to Sep 1779?
John Jay John Jay ( December 12 , 1745 – May 17 , 1829 ) was an American statesman , patriot , diplomat , Founding Father , abolitionist , negotiator , and signatory of the Treaty of Paris of 1783 . He served as the second Governor of New York and the first Chief Justice of the United States ( 1789–1795 ) . He directed U.S . foreign policy for much of the 1780s and was an important leader of the Federalist Party after the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788 . Jay was born into a wealthy family of merchants and New York City government officials of French Huguenot and Dutch descent . He became a lawyer and joined the New York Committee of Correspondence , organizing American opposition to British policies such as the Intolerable Acts in the leadup to the American Revolution . Jay was elected to the Second Continental Congress , and served as President of the Congress . From 1779 to 1782 , Jay served as the ambassador to Spain ; he persuaded Spain to provide financial aid to the fledgling United States . He also served as a negotiator of the Treaty of Paris , in which Britain recognized American independence . Following the end of the war , Jay served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs , directing United States foreign policy under the Articles of Confederation government . He also served as the first Secretary of State on an interim basis . A proponent of strong , centralized government , Jay worked to ratify the United States Constitution in New York in 1788 . He was a co-author of The Federalist Papers along with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison , and wrote five of the eighty-five essays . After the establishment of the new federal government , Jay was appointed by President George Washington the first Chief Justice of the United States , serving from 1789 to 1795 . The Jay Court experienced a light workload , deciding just four cases over six years . In 1794 , while serving as Chief Justice , Jay negotiated the highly controversial Jay Treaty with Britain . Jay received a handful of electoral votes in three of the first four presidential elections , but never undertook a serious bid for the presidency . Jay served as the Governor of New York from 1795 to 1801 . Although he successfully passed gradual emancipation legislation as governor of the state , he himself owned five enslaved people as late as 1800 . In the waning days of President John Adamss administration , Jay was confirmed by the Senate for another term as Chief Justice , but he declined the position and retired to his farm in Westchester County , New York . Early life and education . Family history . The Jays were a prominent merchant family in New York City , descended from Huguenots who had come to New York to escape religious persecution in France . In 1685 , the Edict of Nantes had been revoked , thereby abolishing the rights of Protestants , and the French Crown proceeded to confiscate their property . Among those affected was Jays paternal grandfather , Auguste Jay . He moved from France to Charleston , South Carolina and then New York , where he built a successful merchant empire . Jays father , Peter Jay , born in New York City in 1704 , became a wealthy trader in furs , wheat , timber , and other commodities . Jays mother was Mary Van Cortlandt , of Dutch ancestry , who had married Peter Jay in 1728 in the Dutch Church . They had ten children together , seven of whom survived into adulthood . Marys father , Jacobus Van Cortlandt , was born in New Amsterdam in 1658 . Cortlandt served in the New York Assembly , was twice elected as mayor of New York City , and also held a variety of judicial and military offices . Both Mary and his son Frederick Cortlandt married into the Jay family . Jay was born on December 23 , 1745 ( following the Gregorian calendar , December 12 following the Julian calendar ) , in New York City ; three months later the family moved to Rye , New York . Peter Jay had retired from business following a smallpox epidemic ; two of his children contracted the disease and suffered blindness . Education . Jay spent his childhood in Rye . He was educated there by his mother until he was eight years old , when he was sent to New Rochelle to study under Anglican priest Pierre Stoupe . In 1756 , after three years , he would return to homeschooling in Rye under the tutelage of his mother and George Murray . In 1760 , 14-year-old Jay entered Kings College ( later renamed Columbia College ) in New York City . There he made many influential friends , including his closest , Robert Livingston , the son of a prominent New York aristocrat and Supreme Court justice . Jay took the same political stand as his father , a staunch Whig . Upon graduating in 1764 he became a law clerk for Benjamin Kissam ( 1728–1782 ) , a prominent lawyer , politician , and sought-after instructor in the law . In addition to Jay , Kissams students included Lindley Murray . Entrance into law and politics . In 1768 , after reading law and being admitted to the bar of New York , Jay , with the money from the government , established a legal practice and worked there until he created his own law office in 1771 . He was a member of the New York Committee of Correspondence in 1774 and became its secretary , which was his first public role in the revolution . Jay represented the conservative faction that was interested in protecting property rights and in preserving the rule of law , while resisting what it regarded as British violations of American rights . This faction feared the prospect of mob rule . He believed the British tax measures were wrong and thought Americans were morally and legally justified in resisting them , but as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in 1774 , Jay sided with those who wanted conciliation with Parliament . Events such as the burning of Norfolk , Virginia , by British troops in January 1776 pushed Jay to support independence . With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War , he worked tirelessly for the revolutionary cause and acted to suppress the Loyalists . Jay evolved into first a moderate , and then an ardent Patriot , because he had decided that all the colonies efforts at reconciliation with Britain were fruitless and that the struggle for independence , which became the Revolutionary War , was inevitable . In 1780 , Jay was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society . Marriage and family . On April 28 , 1774 , Jay married Sarah Van Brugh Livingston , eldest daughter of the New Jersey Governor William Livingston and his wife . At the time of the marriage , Sarah was seventeen years old and John was twenty-eight . Together they had six children : Peter Augustus , Susan , Maria , Ann , William , and Sarah Louisa . She accompanied Jay to Spain and later was with him in Paris , where they and their children resided with Benjamin Franklin at Passy . Jays brother-in-law Henry Brock Livingston was lost at sea through the disappearance of the Continental Navy ship Saratoga during the Revolutionary War . While in Paris , as a diplomat to France , Jays father died . This event forced extra responsibility onto Jay . His brother and sister Peter and Anna , both blinded by smallpox in childhood , became his responsibility . His brother Augustus suffered from mental disabilities that required Jay to provide not only financial but emotional support . His brother Fredrick was in constant financial trouble , causing Jay additional stress . Meanwhile , his brother James was in direct opposition in the political arena , joining the loyalist faction of the New York State Senate at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War , which made him an embarrassment to Jays family . Jay family homes in Rye and Bedford . Two of Jays homes , both located in Westchester County , have been designated National Historic Landmarks . From the age of three months old until he attended Kings College in 1760 , Jay was raised in Rye , on a farm acquired by his father Peter in 1745 that overlooked Long Island Sound . After negotiating the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War , Jay returned to his childhood home to celebrate with his family and friends in July 1784 . Jay inherited this property upon the death of his older brother Peter in 1813 after Jay had already established himself at Katonah . He conveyed the Rye property to his eldest son , Peter Augustus Jay , in 1822 . What remains of the original property is a parcel called the Jay Estate . In the center rises the 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House , built by Peter Augustus Jay over the footprint of his fathers ancestral home , The Locusts ; pieces of the original 18th century farmhouse were incorporated into the 19th century structure . Stewardship of the site and several of its buildings for educational use was entrusted in 1990 by the New York State Board of Regents to the Jay Heritage Center . In 2013 , the non-profit Jay Heritage Center was also awarded stewardship and management of the sites landscape which includes a meadow and gardens . As an adult , Jay inherited land from his grandparents and built Bedford House , located near Katonah , New York where he moved in 1801 with his wife Sarah to pursue retirement . This property passed down to their younger son William Jay and his descendants . It was acquired by New York State in 1958 and named The John Jay Homestead . Today this 62 acre park is preserved as the John Jay Homestead State Historic Site . Both homes in Rye and Katonah are open to the public for tours and programs . Personal views . Record on slavery . In spite of being a founder of the New York Manumission Society , Jay is recorded as owning five slaves in the 1790 and 1800 U.S . censuses , and one slave in the 1810 census . Rather than advocating immediate emancipation , he continued to purchase enslaved people and to manumit them once he considered their work to have afforded a reasonable retribution.” Abolitionism following the American Revolution contained some Quaker and Methodist principles of Christian brotherly love , but was also influenced by concerns about the growth of the black population within the United States and the degradation of blacks under slavery . In 1774 Jay drafted the Address to the People of Great Britain , which compared American chattel slavery to British tyranny . Such comparisons between American slavery and British policy had been made regularly by American Patriotsstarting with James Otis , but took little account of the far harsher reality of chattel slavery . Jay was the founder and president of the New York Manumission Society in 1785 , which organized boycotts against newspapers and merchants involved in the slave trade , and provided legal counsel to free blacks . The Society helped enact the 1799 law for gradual emancipation of slaves in New York , which Jay signed into law as governor . An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery provided that , from July 4 of that year , all children born to slave parents would be free ( subject to lengthy apprenticeships ) and that slave exports would be prohibited . These same children would be required to serve the mothers owner until age 28 for males and age 25 for females , years beyond the typical period of indenture . It did not provide government payment of compensation to slave owners , but failed to free people who were already enslaved as of 1799 . The act provided legal protection and assistance for free blacks kidnapped for the purposes of being sold into slavery . All slaves were emancipated by July 4 , 1827 . In the close 1792 election , Jays antislavery work was thought to hurt his election chances in upstate New York Dutch areas , where slavery was still practiced . In 1794 , in the process of negotiating the Jay Treaty with the British , Jay angered many Southern slave-owners when he dropped their demands for compensation for slaves who had been freed and transported by the British to other areas after the Revolution . Religion . Jay was a member of the Church of England , and later of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America after the American Revolution . Since 1785 , Jay had been a warden of Trinity Church , New York . As Congresss Secretary for Foreign Affairs , he supported the proposal after the Revolution that the Archbishop of Canterbury approve the ordination of bishops for the Episcopal Church in the United States . He argued unsuccessfully in the provincial convention for a prohibition against Catholics holding office . While considering New Yorks Constitution , Jay also suggested erecting a wall of brass around the country for the exclusion of Catholics . Jay , who served as vice-president ( 1816–21 ) and president ( 1821–27 ) of the American Bible Society , believed that the most effective way of ensuring world peace was through propagation of the Christian gospel . In a letter addressed to Pennsylvania House of Representatives member John Murray , dated October 12 , 1816 , Jay wrote , Real Christians will abstain from violating the rights of others , and therefore will not provoke war . Almost all nations have peace or war at the will and pleasure of rulers whom they do not elect , and who are not always wise or virtuous . Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers , and it is the duty , as well as the privilege and interest , of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers . He also expressed a belief that the moral precepts of Christianity were necessary for good government , saying , No human society has ever been able to maintain both order and freedom , both cohesiveness and liberty apart from the moral precepts of the Christian Religion . Should our Republic ever forget this fundamental precept of governance , we will then , be surely doomed . During the American Revolution . Having established a reputation as a reasonable moderate in New York , Jay was elected to serve as delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses which debated whether the colonies should declare independence . Jay was originally in favor of rapprochement . He helped write the Olive Branch Petition which urged the British government to reconcile with the colonies . As the necessity and inevitability of war became evident , Jay threw his support behind the revolution and the Declaration of Independence . Jays views became more radical as events unfolded ; he became an ardent separatist and attempted to move New York towards that cause . In 1774 , upon the conclusion of the Continental Congress , Jay elected to return to New York . There he served on New York Citys Committee of Sixty , where he attempted to enforce a non-importation agreement passed by the First Continental Congress . Jay was elected to the third New York Provincial Congress , where he drafted the Constitution of New York , 1777 ; his duties as a New York Congressman prevented him from voting on or signing the Declaration of Independence . Jay served for several months on the New York Committee to Detect and Defeat Conspiracies , which monitored and combated Loyalist activity . New Yorks Provincial Congress elected Jay the Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court of Judicature on May 8 , 1777 , which he served on for two years . The Continental Congress turned to Jay , a political adversary of the previous president Henry Laurens , only three days after Jay became a delegate and elected him President of the Continental Congress . In previous congresses , Jay had moved from a position of seeking conciliation with Britain to advocating separation sooner than Laurens . Eight states voted for Jay and four for Laurens . Jay served as President of the Continental Congress from December 10 , 1778 , to September 28 , 1779 . It was a largely ceremonial position without real power , and indicated the resolve of the majority and the commitment of the Continental Congress . As a diplomat . Minister to Spain . On September 27 , 1779 , Jay was appointed Minister to Spain . His mission was to get financial aid , commercial treaties and recognition of American independence . The royal court of Spain refused to officially receive Jay as the Minister of the United States , as it refused to recognize American independence until 1783 , fearing that such recognition could spark revolution in their own colonies . Jay , however , convinced Spain to loan $170,000 to the U.S . government . He departed Spain on May 20 , 1782 . Peace Commissioner . On June 23 , 1782 , Jay reached Paris , where negotiations to end the American Revolutionary War would take place . Benjamin Franklin was the most experienced diplomat of the group , and thus Jay wished to lodge near him , in order to learn from him . The United States agreed to negotiate with Britain separately , then with France . In July 1782 , the Earl of Shelburne offered the Americans independence , but Jay rejected the offer on the grounds that it did not recognize American independence during the negotiations ; Jays dissent halted negotiations until the fall . The final treaty dictated that the United States would have Newfoundland fishing rights , Britain would acknowledge the United States as independent and would withdraw its troops in exchange for the United States ending the seizure of Loyalist property and honoring private debts . The treaty granted the United States independence , but left many border regions in dispute , and many of its provisions were not enforced . John Adams credited Jay with having the central role in the negotiations noting he was of more importance than any of the rest of us . Jays peacemaking skills were further applauded by New York Mayor James Duane on October 4 , 1784 . At that time , Jay was summoned from his family seat in Rye to receive the Freedom of New York City as a tribute to his successful negotiations . Secretary of Foreign Affairs . Jay served as the second Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1784 to 1789 , when in September , Congress passed a law giving certain additional domestic responsibilities to the new Department and changing its name to the Department of State . Jay served as acting Secretary of State until March 22 , 1790 . Jay sought to establish a strong and durable American foreign policy : to seek the recognition of the young independent nation by powerful and established foreign European powers ; to establish a stable American currency and credit supported at first by financial loans from European banks ; to pay back Americas creditors and to quickly pay off the countrys heavy War-debt ; to secure the infant nations territorial boundaries under the most-advantageous terms possible and against possible incursions by the Indians , Spanish , the French and the English ; to solve regional difficulties among the colonies themselves ; to secure Newfoundland fishing rights ; to establish a robust maritime trade for American goods with new economic trading partners ; to protect American trading vessels against piracy ; to preserve Americas reputation at home and abroad ; and to hold the country together politically under the fledgling Articles of Confederation . The Federalist Papers , 1788 . Jay believed his responsibility was not matched by a commensurate level of authority , so he joined Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in advocating for a stronger government than the one dictated by the Articles of Confederation . He argued in his Address to the People of the State of New-York , on the Subject of the Federal Constitution that the Articles of Confederation were too weak and an ineffective form of government , contending : The Congress under the Articles of Confederation may make war , but are not empowered to raise men or money to carry it on—they may make peace , but without power to see the terms of it observed—they may form alliances , but without ability to comply with the stipulations on their part—they may enter into treaties of commerce , but without power to [ e ] nforce them at home or abroad .. . —In short , they may consult , and deliberate , and recommend , and make requisitions , and they who please may regard them . Jay did not attend the Constitutional Convention but joined Hamilton and Madison in aggressively arguing in favor of the creation of a new and more powerful , centralized but balanced system of government . Writing under the shared pseudonym of Publius , they articulated this vision in The Federalist Papers , a series of eighty-five articles written to persuade New York state convention members to ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States . Jay wrote the second , third , fourth , fifth , and sixty-fourth articles . The second through the fifth are on the topic Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence . The sixty-fourth discusses the role of the Senate in making foreign treaties . Jay court . In September 1789 , Jay declined George Washingtons offer of the position of Secretary of State ( which was technically a new position but would have continued Jays service as Secretary of Foreign Affairs ) . Washington responded by offering him the new title , which Washington stated must be regarded as the keystone of our political fabric , as Chief Justice of the United States , which Jay accepted . Washington officially nominated Jay on September 24 , 1789 , the same day he signed the Judiciary Act of 1789 ( which created the position of Chief Justice ) into law . Jay was unanimously confirmed by the US Senate on September 26 , 1789 ; Washington signed and sealed Jays commission the same day . Jay swore his oath of office on October 19 , 1789 . Washington also nominated John Rutledge , William Cushing , Robert Harrison , James Wilson , and John Blair Jr . as Associate Judges . Harrison declined the appointment , however , and Washington appointed James Iredell to fill the final seat on the Court . Jay would later serve with Thomas Johnson , who took Rutledges seat , and William Paterson , who took Johnsons seat . While Chief Justice , Jay was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1790 . Jay served as Circuit Justice for the Eastern Circuit from the Spring of 1790 , until the Spring of 1792 . He served as Circuit Justice for the Middle Circuit from the Spring of 1793 , until the Spring of 1794 . The Courts business through its first three years primarily involved the establishment of rules and procedure ; reading of commissions and admission of attorneys to the bar ; and the Justices duties in riding circuit , or presiding over cases in the circuit courts of the various federal judicial districts . No convention then precluded the involvement of Supreme Court Justices in political affairs , and Jay used his light workload as a Justice to participate freely in the business of Washingtons administration . Jay used his circuit riding to spread word throughout the states of Washingtons commitment to neutrality and published reports of French minister Edmond-Charles Genets campaign to win American support for France . However , Jay also established an early precedent for the Courts independence in 1790 , when Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton wrote to Jay requesting the Courts endorsement of legislation that would assume the debts of the states . Jay replied that the Courts business was restricted to ruling on the constitutionality of cases being tried before it and refused to allow it to take a position for or against the legislation . Cases . The Court heard only four cases during Jays Chief Justiceship . Its first case did not occur until early in the Courts third term , with West v . Barnes ( 1791 ) . The Court had an early opportunity to establish the principle of judicial review in the United States with the case , which involved a Rhode Island state statute permitting the lodging of a debt payment in paper currency . Instead of grappling with the constitutionality of the law , however , the Court unanimously decided the case on procedural grounds , strictly interpreting statutory requirements . In Hayburns Case ( 1792 ) , the Jay Court made no decision other than to continue the case later , and in the meantime , Congress changed the law . The case was about whether a federal statute could require the courts to decide whether petitioning veterans of the American Revolution qualified for pensions , a non-judicial function . The Jay Court wrote a letter to President Washington to say that determining whether petitioners qualified was an act .. . not of a judicial nature and that because the statute allowed the legislative branch and the executive branch to revise the courts ruling , the statute violated the separation of powers of the US Constitution . In Chisholm v . Georgia ( 1793 ) , the Jay Court had to decide if the state of Georgia was subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the federal government . In a 4–1 ruling ( Iredell dissented , and Rutledge did not participate ) , the Jay Court ruled in favor of Loyalists of two South Carolina whose land had been seized by Georgia . That ruling sparked debate , as it implied that old debts must be paid to Loyalists . The ruling was overturned when the Eleventh Amendment was ratified , which stated that a state could not be sued by a citizen of another state or foreign country . The case was brought again to the Supreme Court in Georgia v . Brailsford , and the Court reversed its decision . However , Jays original Chisholm decision established that states were subject to judicial review . In Georgia v . Brailsford ( 1794 ) , the Court upheld jury instructions stating you [ jurors ] have .. . a right to take upon yourselves to .. . determine the law as well as the fact in controversy . Jay noted for the jury the good old rule , that on questions of fact , it is the province of the jury , on questions of law , it is the province of the court to decide , but that amounted to no more than a presumption that the judges were correct about the law . Ultimately , both objects [ the law and the facts ] are lawfully within your power of decision . 1792 campaign for Governor of New York . In 1792 , Jay was the Federalist candidate for governor of New York , but he was defeated by Democratic-Republican George Clinton . Jay received more votes than George Clinton ; but , on technicalities , the votes of Otsego , Tioga and Clinton counties were disqualified and , therefore , not counted , giving George Clinton a slight plurality . The State constitution said that the cast votes shall be delivered to the secretary of state by the sheriff or his deputy ; but , for example , the Otsego County Sheriffs term had expired , so that legally , at the time of the election , the office of Sheriff was vacant and the votes could not be brought to the State capital . Clinton partisans in the State legislature , the State courts , and Federal offices were determined not to accept any argument that this would , in practice , violate the constitutional right to vote of the voters in these counties . Consequently , these votes were disqualified . Jay Treaty . Relations with Britain verged on war in 1794 . British exports dominated the U.S . market , and American exports were blocked by British trade restrictions and tariffs . Britain still occupied northern forts that it had agreed to abandon in the Treaty of Paris . Britains impressment of American sailors and seizure of naval and military supplies bound to French ports on neutral American ships also created conflict . Madison proposed a trade war , A direct system of commercial hostility with Great Britain , assuming that Britain was so weakened by its war with France that it would agree to American terms and not declare war . Washington rejected that policy and sent Jay as a special envoy to Great Britain to negotiate a new treaty ; Jay remained Chief Justice . Washington had Alexander Hamilton write instructions for Jay that were to guide him in the negotiations . In March 1795 , the resulting treaty , known as the Jay Treaty , was brought to Philadelphia . When Hamilton , in an attempt to maintain good relations , informed Britain that the United States would not join the Danish and Swedish governments to defend their neutral status , Jay lost most of his leverage . The treaty ended Britains control of their northwestern forts and granted the U.S . most favored nation status . The U.S . agreed to restricted commercial access to the British West Indies . The treaty did not resolve American grievances about neutral shipping rights and impressment , and the Democratic-Republicans denounced it , but Jay , as Chief Justice , decided not to take part in the debates . The continued British impressment of American sailors would be a cause of the War of 1812 . The failure to receive compensation for slaves which were freed by the British and transported away during the Revolutionary War was a major reason for the bitter Southern opposition . Jefferson and Madison , fearing that a commercial alliance with aristocratic Britain might undercut republicanism , led the opposition . However , Washington put his prestige behind the treaty , and Hamilton and the Federalists mobilized public opinion . The Senate ratified the treaty by a 20–10 vote , exactly by the two-thirds majority required . Democratic-Republicans were incensed at what they perceived as a betrayal of American interests , and Jay was denounced by protesters with such graffiti as Damn John Jay ! Damn everyone who wont damn John Jay! ! Damn everyone that wont put lights in his windows and sit up all night damning John Jay!! ! One newspaper editor wrote , John Jay , ah ! the arch traitor – seize him , drown him , burn him , flay him alive . Jay himself quipped that he could travel at night from Boston to Philadelphia solely by the light of his burning effigies . Governor of New York . While in Britain , Jay was elected in May 1795 , as the second governor of New York ( succeeding George Clinton ) as a Federalist . He resigned from the Supreme Court service on June 29 , 1795 , and served six years as governor until 1801 . As governor , he received a proposal from Hamilton to gerrymander New York for the presidential election of 1796 ; he marked the letter Proposing a measure for party purposes which it would not become me to adopt , and filed it without replying . President John Adams then renominated him to the Supreme Court ; the Senate quickly confirmed him , but he declined , citing his own poor health and the courts lack of the energy , weight and dignity which are essential to its affording due support to the national government . After Jays rejection of the position , Adams successfully nominated John Marshall as Chief Justice . While governor , Jay ran in the 1796 presidential election , winning five electoral votes , and in the 1800 election he won one vote cast to prevent a tie between the two main Federalist candidates . Retirement from politics . In 1801 , Jay declined both the Federalist renomination for governor and a Senate-confirmed nomination to resume his former office as Chief Justice of the United States and retired to the life of a farmer in Westchester County , New York . Soon after his retirement , his wife died . Jay remained in good health , continued to farm and , with one notable exception , stayed out of politics . In 1819 , he wrote a letter condemning Missouris bid for admission to the union as a slave state , saying that slavery ought not to be introduced nor permitted in any of the new states . Midway through Jays retirement in 1814 , both he and his son Peter Augustus Jay were elected members of the American Antiquarian Society . Death . On the night of May 14 , 1829 , Jay was stricken with palsy , probably caused by a stroke . He lived for three days , dying in Bedford , New York , on May 17 . Jay had chosen to be buried in Rye , where he lived as a boy . In 1807 , he had transferred the remains of his wife Sarah Livingston and those of his colonial ancestors from the family vault in the Bowery in Manhattan to Rye , establishing a private cemetery . Today , the Jay Cemetery is an integral part of the Boston Post Road Historic District , adjacent to the historic Jay Estate . The Cemetery is maintained by the Jay descendants and closed to the public . It is the oldest active cemetery associated with a figure from the American Revolution . Legacy . In place names . Geographic locations . Several geographical locations within his home state of New York were named for him , including the colonial Fort Jay on Governors Island and John Jay Park in Manhattan which was designed in part by his great , great granddaughter Mary Rutherfurd Jay . Other places named for him include the towns of Jay in Maine , New York , and Vermont ; Jay County , Indiana . Mount John Jay , also known as Boundary Peak 18 , a summit on the border between Alaska and British Columbia , Canada , is also named for him , as is Jay Peak in northern Vermont . Schools and universities . The John Jay College of Criminal Justice , formerly known as the College of Police Science at City University of New York , was renamed for Jay in 1964 . At Columbia University , exceptional undergraduates are designated John Jay Scholars , and one of that universitys undergraduate dormitories is known as John Jay Hall . In suburban Pittsburgh , the John Jay Center houses the School of Engineering , Mathematics and Science at Robert Morris University . High schools named after Jay include : The John Jay Institute , located outside Philadelphia , is the only independent faith-based organization in America exclusively dedicated to preparing principled leaders for public service . Their website is https://www.johnjayfellows.com/ Postage . In Jays hometown of Rye , New York , the Rye Post Office issued a special cancellation stamp on September 5 , 1936 . To further commemorate Jay , a group led by Congresswoman Caroline Love Goodwin ODay commissioned painter Guy Pene du Bois to create a mural for the post offices lobby , with federal funding from the Works Progress Administration . Titled John Jay at His Home , the mural was completed in 1938 . On December 12 , 1958 , the United States Postal Service released a 15¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Jay . Papers . The Selected Papers of John Jay is an ongoing endeavor by scholars at Columbia Universitys Rare Book and Manuscript Library to organize , transcribe and publish a wide range of politically and culturally important letters authored by and written to Jay that demonstrate the depth and breadth of his contributions as a nation builder . More than 13,000 documents from over 75 university and historical collections have been compiled and photographed to date . In popular media . Literature . John Jays childhood home in Rye , The Locusts , was immortalized by novelist James Fenimore Cooper in his first successful novel The Spy ; this book about counterespionage during the Revolutionary War was based on a tale that Jay told Cooper from his own experience as a spymaster in Westchester County . Film and television . Jay was portrayed by Tim Moyer in the 1984 TV miniseries George Washington . In its 1986 sequel miniseries , , he was portrayed by Nicholas Kepros . Notable descendants . Jay had six children , including Peter Augustus Jay and abolitionist William Jay . In later generations , Jays descendants included physician John Clarkson Jay ( 1808–1891 ) , lawyer and diplomat John Jay ( 1817–1894 ) , Colonel William Jay ( 1841–1915 ) , diplomat Peter Augustus Jay ( 1877–1933 ) , writer John Jay Chapman ( 1862–1933 ) , banker Pierre Jay ( 1870–1949 ) , horticulturalist Mary Rutherfurd Jay ( 1872–1953 ) , and academic John Jay Iselin ( 1933–2008 ) . Jay was also a direct ancestor of Adam von Trott zu Solz ( 1909–1944 ) , a resistance fighter against Nazism .