To James Madison from William McKinley, 1 May 1809
From William McKinley
West Liberty May 1st 1809
Sir,
I have taken the liberty of enclosing Some addresses &c in order that you may be able to form a corect Idea of your friends & enemies in this part of the U. S.
Enclosure A. is a statement of our election.
B. Federal resolutions & Address
C. Republican Address
D. a reply & remarks upon said Address, so far as they relat⟨e⟩ to me personally they are false, I had determined to have Sued the Authors, but upon Mature reflection have concluded that it will be most proper to answer them in print, to do which with effacasy I shold be glade to have T. Pickerings letter and Somthing official respecting the money said to be paid to Genl. Wilkinson.1
Cou⟨ld yo⟩u direct Some of your Secretarys or Clerks to procure & fo⟨r⟩ward them to me by Post?
The following is exstrected from a letter dated Pittsburgh 27th ulto. The Writer is a decided repn. an honest & influencial man. “Baldwin of our place is gone sometime since to washington City, it is rumored to make fair weather with President Madison, a greater enemy the Madison Administration has not in this Country than Henry Baldwin, Would it not be proper to give the alarm through Mr. Jackson, in order that he might be prevented from injuring the republican Standing & Intrest.” Accept my best respects
Wm. McKinley2
[Enclosure A]
Congressional Election in the Monongalia Destrit of Virginia.
| John G. Jackson Esqr. | Noah Linsley Esqr. from yale College3 | ||
| Wood County | 107. | 72. | |
| Harison | 411 | 218 | |
| Monongalia | 320 | 284. | |
| Ohio | 167. | 169. | |
| Brooke | 206 | 37 | |
| 1211 | 780 | ||
Have not heard from Randolph4 but as it does not give more than 150 Votes Mr. Jackson is at all events elected.
RC and enclosure (DLC). RC docketed by JM. Enclosure in McKinley’s hand. The other enclosures have not been found.
1. In his running feud with James Wilkinson, John Randolph moved in February 1809 for an investigation of rumors that the War Department had illegally advanced money to the general (, 10th Cong., 2d sess., 1331). Senator Pickering charged Secretary of War Dearborn “with having approved the General’s improper financial claims against the Government” (Thomas P. Abernethy, The Burr Conspiracy [New York, 1954], p. 266).
2. William McKinley lived in Ohio County, which JM’s brother-in-law John G. Jackson failed to carry. McKinley served as an Ohio County delegate in the Virginia General Assembly between 1798 and 1807 and was elected to succeed Jackson when the latter resigned from Congress in 1810 (, p. 1384). JM appointed him revenue collector for his district in 1814 (, 2:456).
3. Noah Linsly graduated from Yale in 1791 (Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates of Yale University … 1701–1915 [New Haven, 1916], p. 88).
4. Randolph County in western Virginia.