Thomas Jefferson Papers
Documents filtered by: Author="Henderson, William" AND Period="Jefferson Presidency"
sorted by: editorial placement
Permanent link for this document:
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-42-02-0489

To Thomas Jefferson from William Henderson, 28 February 1804

From William Henderson

Sumner County State of Tennessee
February 28th 1804

Dear Sir

I congratulate you upon the Session of the Louisiana Country to the United States, we are informed that it will be divided into two Teritorial destricts, I suppose each destrict will have a Governor and am apprehensive that Andrew Jackson of this State has by some of his friends & connections been recommended to you as a proper person to fil One of those important Offices As I have some expectations of being a Citizen of that Country I feel myself somewhat interested in those appointments,

Sir from my long Acquaintance with you I have taken the liberty of droping a few hints (to you) for the good of the Public & Citizens at large respecting that Gentleman I have been Acquainted with Mr Jackson for several years and view him as a man of Violent passions, Arbitary in his disposition and frequently engaged in broils and disputes, No character escapes him, is now sued for an Assault & Battery, & in a few days will be indicted for a breach of the peace, Such a character I conceive is not a proper one to fill the Office of Governor tho he is a man of talents And were it not for those dispottic principles he might be a usefull Man—

I am Dr Sir Respectfully Your Mo: Ob. & Huml. Sevt

William Henderson

RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR); endorsed by TJ as received 13 Mch. and “Jackson not to be Govr. Louisa.” and so recorded in SJL.

William Henderson (1752-1807), a former officer in the Continental Army from Albemarle County, Virginia, settled in Sumner County, Tennessee, around 1790. He became postmaster of Hendersonville in 1800 (Stets, Postmasters description begins Robert J. Stets, Postmasters & Postoffices of the United States 1782-1811, Lake Oswego, Ore., 1994 description ends , 240; Heitman, Register description begins Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution, April, 1775, to December, 1793, new ed., Washington, D.C., 1914 description ends , 285; Larry L. Miller, Tennessee Place Names [Bloomington, Ind., 2001], 97; Walter T. Durham, Old Sumner: A History of Sumner County, Tennessee, From 1805 to 1861 [Gallatin, Tenn., 1972], 15, 27).

John C. Henderson sued Andrew Jackson for an assault that had taken place on 13 Feb. (Harold D. Moser and others, eds., The Papers of Andrew Jackson, 9 vols. [Knoxville, 1980- ], 2:xxiii, 16n, 527).

Index Entries

    You Are Looking At

    Source Project
    Jefferson Papers
    Title
    To Thomas Jefferson from William Henderson, 28 February 1804
    Author
    Henderson, William
    Recipient
    Jefferson, Thomas
    Date
    28 February 1804

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To Thomas Jefferson from William Henderson, 28 February 1804,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-42-02-0489. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 42, 16 November 1803–10 March 1804, ed. James P. McClure. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016, p. 562.]