To Thomas Jefferson from Abraham Baldwin, Peter Early, and Joseph Bryan, 1 March 1805
From Abraham Baldwin, Peter Early, and Joseph Bryan
March 1st. 1805—
Sir—
Understanding that the office of a Judge for the Mississippi Territory is vacant & will probably be filled during the present session of Congress—We take the liberty to recommend Mr. Obadiah Jones of Georgia as a gentleman whom we consider well qualified for that station—
We have the honor to be Your Obt. Servts—
Abr Baldwin
Peter Early
Joseph Bryan
RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR); in Baldwin’s hand, signed by all; endorsed by TJ as received March 1805, but recorded in SJL as received 1 Mch.; also endorsed by TJ “Jones Obadiah of Georgia to be judge Mispi.” and so recorded in SJL.
Joseph Bryan (1773-1812) of Georgia served as a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1803 until 1806, when he resigned his seat. A wealthy lowcountry planter educated in Europe, Bryan was a protégé of James Jackson and close friend of Virginia representative John Randolph (Biog. Dir. Cong.; George R. Lamplugh, Politics on the Periphery: Factions and Parties in Georgia, 1783-1806 [Newark, Del., 1986], 181-4; Frank B. Screven, “The Georgia Bryans and Screvens, 1685-1861,” Georgia Historical Quarterly, 40 [1956], 340-3).
In a brief letter of 14 Feb. to Gallatin, Baldwin enclosed unidentified recommendations for an individual named James Cooper from “Gentlemen in whom I have great confidence” (DNA: RG 59, LAR, 2:447-8; endorsed by TJ: “Cooper James Georgia a schoolmaster. bkr. mercht. office Civil or military Louisa”).