James Madison Papers

Presidential Proclamation, 16 March 1811 (Abstract)

§ Presidential Proclamation

16 March 1811, Washington. “Whereas by an Act of the Congress of the United States, passed on the second day of March 1811, it has among other things been declared, ‘That the Office of the Collector of the Customs for the District of Buffaloe Creek, shall be kept at such place or places in the Town of Buffaloe as the President of the United States shall designate.’1

“Now Know ye, that I James Madison President of the United States by virtue of the power & authority in me vested by the Act aforesaid, have decided, and by these presents do decide, that from the first day of April to the first day of December in every year, Black Rock shall be the port of Entry for the District of Buffaloe Creek, and that for the residue of each & every such year, the Village of Buffaloe, shall be the port of Entry for the District aforesaid.”2

Tr (NBuHi: Erastus Granger Papers). 1 p. In the hand of Edward Jones, with a note certifying “the foregoing to be a true Copy of the original Act on file in the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury.”

1U.S. Statutes at Large description begins The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America … (17 vols.; Boston, 1848–73). description ends , 2:657.

2On the 10 Dec. 1810 motion of Peter B. Porter, the House of Representatives had resolved “That the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures be instructed to inquire into the expediency of removing the office of the Collector of customs for the District of Buffalo, in the state of New York, from the village of Buffalo, to Black Rock” (Annals of Congress description begins Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States … (42 vols.; Washington, 1834–56). description ends , 11th Cong., 3d sess., 401).

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