Thomas Jefferson Papers

John Vaughan to Thomas Jefferson, 30 July 1817

From John Vaughan

Philad. 30 July 1817

Dear Sir

Your favor of 28 June was rcvd, it was accidentally mislaid, until this day—I shall see Mr Biddle & Mrs Barton & do all in my power relative to the papers of Lewis & Clarke, & advise results—We have reason to be very thankful to you for what you are doing relative to this Subject & also relative to Birds private Journal

We have lately recieved from the Adj. Gen. Office (D Parker) Pikes Journal Part 1st of his work—Hunter’s & Dunbars Journals up the Washita & to the Hot Springs all Manuscript—Pikes has been published & I believe Mr Dunbars, except the Astronl Survey—I do not know whether Hunters has—we are only in possession of Pikes printed Journal—We are now examining—

I hand you your Ballance due You 3428100—which I hope will prove Correct

I remain Yours &c

Jn Vaughan

RC (MHi); at head of text: “Thomas Jefferson Monticello”; endorsed by TJ as a letter of 31 July 1817 received 5 Aug. 1817 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found.

birds private journal was the secret account by William Byrd (1674–1744) of the 1728 expedition to survey Virginia’s southern boundary.

The American Philosophical Society recorded on 18 July 1817 that they had recieved from Daniel Parker some manuscript expedition journals, including two volumes in which William Dunbar documented his journey with George Hunter, “by order of the government,” up the Red and Ouachita rivers to the Hot Springs of Arkansas, 1804–05, and the first part of Zebulon Montgomery Pike’s journal of his voyage to the source of the Mississippi, 1805–06 (APS description begins American Philosophical Society description ends , Minutes [MS in PPAmP]; PPAmP: Expedition Journals). Pike was the author of An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi, and through the Western Parts of Louisiana … And a Tour through the Interior Parts of New Spain (Philadelphia, 1810; Sowerby, description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, comp., Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 1952–59, 5 vols. description ends no. 4169; Poor, Jefferson’s Library description begins Nathaniel P. Poor, Catalogue. President Jefferson’s Library, 1829 description ends , 7 [no. 371]). Dunbar published numerous articles drawn from his travel observations in APS description begins American Philosophical Society description ends , Transactions 6 (1809).

Index Entries

  • American Philosophical Society; and papers of Lewis and Clark Expedition search
  • American Philosophical Society; works given to search
  • An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi (Z. M. Pike) search
  • Barton, Mary Pennington (Benjamin Smith Barton’s wife); and journals of M. Lewis search
  • Biddle, Nicholas; and Lewis and Clark Expedition search
  • Byrd, William (1674–1744); The Secret History of the Line search
  • Clark (Clarke), William; and journals of Lewis and Clark Expedition search
  • Dunbar, William; writings of search
  • Hunter, George; expedition of search
  • Jefferson, Thomas; Business & Financial Affairs; account with J. Vaughan search
  • Lewis, Meriwether; papers of search
  • Lewis and Clark Expedition; journals of search
  • Parker, Daniel (of War Department); sends manuscripts to American Philosophical Society search
  • Pike, Zebulon Montgomery; An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi search
  • Pike, Zebulon Montgomery; journal of search
  • The Secret History of the Line (W. Byrd [1674–1744]) search
  • Vaughan, John; account with TJ search
  • Vaughan, John; and American Philosophical Society search
  • Vaughan, John; letters from search