To James Madison from Horace C. Story, 8 April 1822
From Horace C. Story
Washington City April 8th 1822.
Lieut. Story1 of the U.S. Corps of Engineers presents his most respectful compliments to the Hon. Mr. Madison, & transmits from this place the accompanying pamphlet intrusted to his charge by the Salem East India Marine Society.2 He regrets that no more appropriate mode of forwarding it to its place of destination is within his power.
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.
1. Horace Cullen Story (1792–1823), the brother of associate Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, was a graduate of Harvard College (1811) and a veteran of the War of 1812. A lieutenant in the U.S. Corps of Engineers, Story was superintending the construction of fortifications at Fort St. Philip at Plaquemine in Louisiana at the time of his death (Perley Derby, comp., “Elisha Story of Boston and Some of His Descendants,” Essex Institute Historical Collections 51 [1915]: 50–51).
2. The East-India Marine Society of Salem (Salem, Mass., 1821; Shoemaker 6699). The society was established in 1799 for the relief of disabled seamen, widows, and families, and to promote the knowledge of navigation and trade to the East Indies. Membership was restricted to Salem residents or those sailing Salem vessels who had navigated the seas around Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. The society kept members’ journals of observation of their voyages, and operated a museum, or “Cabinet of Curiosities,” collected by the members (“Salem East India Marine Society,” North American Review 6 [1818]: 283–85).