To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 29 November 1800
From James Wilkinson
City of Washington Novr. 29th. 1800
Sir
I enclose you a series of the Meteorological observations, which, should they be deemed worthy of record, may I hope be ascribed to the Author, the Honble Willm: Dunbar of the Forest near Natchez.—
Some petrifactions, an Indian Knife, & a Sketch of the settled parts of the Mississippi Territory, are also offered for your amusement, but I must request that no copy of the Sketch may be allowed to be taken, as it is intended to publish a correct Map of that & the adjacent Spanish Territory.—With the most respectful consideration I have the Honor to be sir
Your Obliged & Obedt Servant
Ja Wilkinson
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “The Honble T. Jefferson Esqr”; endorsed by TJ as received 3 Dec. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: “Meteorological Observations For One entire year,” made by William Dunbar at “The Forest,” near the Mississippi River, from 1 Feb. 1799 to 31 Jan. 1800 (MS in DLC: TJ Papers, 106:18106–13; in an unidentified hand); enclosed in TJ’s first letter to Caspar Wistar of 16 Dec. 1800, given to the American Philosophical Society on 16 Jan. 1801, and approved for publication on 6 Feb. (, Proceedings, 22, pt. 3 [1884], 308–9); printed in , Transactions, 6 [1809], 9–23. Other enclosure not found.