To James Madison from John Coburn (Abstract), 26 June 1805
§ From John Coburn
26 June 1805, Mason County, Kentucky. “In consequence of the determination of Mr. Sebastian, not to accept the appointment of a Commissioner, to adjust the claims to land in the vicinity of N Orleans1—I am induced to communicate to the President of the United States, the wish of Genl. Henry Lee of Kentucky, to receive this appointment. The character and qualifications of this Gentleman, place him among the most respectable of our Citizens, and his private and public conduct justly entitle him to the confidence of his Country.”
RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1801–9, filed under “Lee, Henry”). 1 p.; docketed by Jefferson.
1. On 3 June 1805 Benjamin Sebastian of Frankfort, Kentucky, declined his appointment as land commissioner in Orleans Territory on the grounds that it was a temporary position for which it would not be worth his leaving his permanent state position in Kentucky. In December of 1806 the Kentucky legislature found Sebastian, who was appointed to the Kentucky appellate court in 1792, guilty of having received payments from Spain and having illicit communications with Spanish agents during his time on that court (Sebastian to Albert Gallatin, 3 June 1805 [DNA: RG 59, LRD]; Russellville, Kentucky, Mirror, 9 Jan. 1807).