On February 7, 1814, Secretary of the Navy William Jones sent a reply to Master Commandant Spence in Fell’s Point, firmly rejecting his request to recruit in New York to find sailors for the USS Ontario:
Robert T. Spence Esquire
Navy Department
U.S. Navy Baltimore.
February 7th. 1814
Sir
I have received your letter of yesterday. The reiteration of your request to recruit in New York is superfluous, you were explicitly informed, that it was inadmissible. The recruiting for the Lake service at New York will require all that can be obtained there. A surgeon will be ordered to the Ontario in a few days.—
I am respectfully your Obedt. Servant
William Jones