May 9, 1800). The letter of Samuel McKeen attesting to the declaration of John Sappington (which exonerated Cresap) is dated from Madison County, February 13, 1800, almost two months earlier than
the latest deposition included in the first issue (April 4, 1800). There is no information as to why Sappington’s letter had
not been received by Jefferson at the time it was written.
Luther Martin, 1748-1826, first Attorney-General of the State of Maryland, was the son-in-law of Captain Cresap, described by Jefferson
in the
Notes on Virginia
as
a man infamous for the many murders he had committed on those much injured people (i.e., the Shawnee tribe) (1782 edition, page 115). Jefferson recounted in the
Notes how Cresap had murdered the Logan family. Luther Martin protested against this as shown above, and Jefferson wrote the Appendix,
printed in two issues in a separate publication in 1800, and appended to the 1800 and all later editions of the Notes on Virginia.
Martin became involved again with Jefferson during the trial of Aaron Burr at which time Jefferson described him to George
Hay as “
this unprincipled & impudent federal bull dog.”
For a pamphlet by B. S. Barton on this subject see no. 3343.
John Henry, 1750-1798, Governor of Maryland, was appointed on November 13, 1797. He was a lawyer by profession, and had been a delegate to the Continental Congress and a Senator from the State of Maryland.
Henry Tazewell, 1753-1799, lawyer, judge, and senator, was born in Virginia and educated at William and Mary College. He was attacked by Jefferson for his conciliation policy at the time of the Revolution.
George Rogers Clark, 1752-1818, born near Charlottesville, was responsible for the conquest of the Northwest during the Revolution. In 1772 and later Clark made extensive explorations in the Western country, and in 1783 was invited by Jefferson to lead an exploration party to the Pacific. His brother William was the partner of Meriwether Lewis in the Lewis and Clark expedition, q.v. no. 4168.
Samuel Brown, 1769-1830, physician, was for a time a private pupil of Benjamin Rush. He studied at the Universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen, returned to the United States, and founded the Kappa Lambda Society of Hippocrates. In 1797 and 1798, at the time of this correspondence, he was living with his brother James, a lawyer, in Lexington, Kentucky.
James Logan,c. 1725-1780, a Mingo leader and orator, whose real name was Tahgahjute, was called Logan in honor of James Logan, the Secretary of Pennsylvania. Following the Yellow Creek massacre of April 1774, his friendship for the colonists changed to hatred. Lord Dunmore, the colonial Governor, sent John Gibson to obtain Logan’s presence at the making of the treaty, and his reply was that “morsel of eloquence” printed in the newspapers and made famous by Jefferson in his Notes on the State of Virginia. John Gibson rather than Logan is now thought to have been the real author of the speech read at the conference, and it has been proved that Michael Cresap was not the leader of the Yellow Creek massacre. See the additional note to no. 3343 in this volume, and for other references to Logan and his speech see the Index.
Nathaniel Niles, 1741-1828, was born in Rhode Island and educated at Harvard and at the College of New Jersey. He studied medicine, law, and theology but was never ordained. He served in the Connecticut legislature, was a trustee of Dartmouth College, and eventually settled in Vermont. In politics Niles was a Jeffersonian Democrat.
Michael Cresap, 1742-1775, border leader and Revolutionary soldier. Cresap was one of the leaders in what is now known as Cresap’s or Dunmore’s war.
On July 20, 1814, John Crookes wrote to Jefferson from the Office of the Mercantile Advertiser: “I inclose you a Versification of the Speech of Logan, which I have just published. The knowledge that it has your approbation would be more gratifying to me than the applauses of the million.”
Jefferson replied on August 8: "Th. Jefferson returns his thanks to mr Crookes for the copy he has favored him with of the versification of the speech of Logan, the Mingo chief: acceptable as it is in every form, he thinks m(~r) Crookes has strictly preserved the strong & dignified sentiments of his original. he salutes m(~r) Crookes with respect and consideration. (MHS)
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5. [LINN,
William.]
Serious considerations on the election of a President: addressed to the citizens of the United States.
Trenton: printed by
Sherman, Mershon & Thomas,
m,dccc
. [1800.]
8vo. 16 leaves.
Sabin 41347.
Not in Sprague.
Johnston, page 28, cites only the New York edition of the same year, evidently in error as he quotes it as Jefferson’s own
copy in the Library of Congress with the author’s name supplied in Jefferson’s handwriting.
On the title-page Jefferson has written:
by the rev
d. D
r. Linn of New York
.
For Jefferson’s opinion of this pamphlet see his letter to De Witt Clinton, who sent him a copy of his reply, no. 3197. William Linn was a Reformed Dutch clergyman who had some correspondence with Jefferson to whom he sent a copy of one of
his sermons in 1798, see no. 1647. This is the only copy listed by Sabin, whose note reads:
Contains stories calculated to ruin Jefferson among all pious people. Dr. John M. Mason assisted in the performance.
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6. SIMONS,
James.
A Rallying point for all true friends to their country. [
Charleston,
1800.]
8 leaves, no title-page, half-title only. The preliminary letter, addressed to General Christopher Gadsden, is dated from
Charleston, South-Carolina, October 10, 1800.
With the name
James Simons, Collector, written at the end.
James Simons was Collector of the Port of Charleston. He was one of the founders of the Botanic Garden at Charleston, and as Chairman
of the Standing Committee sent to Jefferson, in 1805, a circular concerning its establishment.
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7. [DESAUSSURE,
Henry William.]
Address to the citizens of South-Carolina, on the approaching election of President and Vice-President of the United States.
By a Federal Republican.
Charleston: printed by
W. P. Young,
1800.
8vo. 17 leaves.
Sabin 19682 (this copy only).
Johnston, page 27.
On the title-page Jefferson has written the name of the author
Mr Desaussure.
Written to prove Jefferson’s unsuitability to the Presidency of the United States.
The indictments against him are varied, and include his conduct as Governor of Virginia; his negotiations for the establishment
of the
National Gazette
; his anti-Washington attitude; the fact that
he wishes the 500,000 blacks in America should be emancipated--he wishes their condition, both of body and mind raised--as
the expression applies to the blacks in slavery, it can mean nothing, if it does not mean emancipation
, and others.
Extracts from Jefferson’s letters are quoted in proof of the points raised. Beside some of these is written in ink
false quotation. The letters are falsely quoted and vary in words and in sense from the actual letters of which Jefferson’s autograph polygraph
copies are in the Jefferson Papers in the Library of Congress.
Henry William Desaussure, 1763-1839, lawyer, a director of the United States Mint, and for some years Chancellor of South Carolina.
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