To James Madison from Benjamin Rush, 30 March 1811 (Abstract)
§ From Benjamin Rush
30 March 1811, Philadelphia. Introduces the bearers, Mr. Caldwell1 and Major Plenderleath,2 who were introduced to him as gentlemen of “uncommon worth” by his son-in-law in Quebec.3 They hold, respectively, civil and military commissions under the British government. On their travels in the U.S. they wish “to do homage to the person and Character of the President of the United States.”
RC (DLC). 1 p. Docketed by JM.
1. James Caldwell (d. 1815) was a merchant, militia officer, and magistrate in Lower Canada (Frances G. Halpenny, ed., Dictionary of Canadian Biography [10 vols.; Toronto, 1966–91], 5:133–34).
2. Charles Plenderleath was a major in the Forty-ninth Foot Regiment. He later fought with distinction against American forces in the War of 1812 (William Woods, ed., Select British Documents of the Canadian War of 1812 [3 vols.; Toronto, 1920–28], 1:320).
3. Rush’s eldest daughter, Anne Emily Rush, had married Ross Cuthbert of Quebec in 1799 (Butterfield, Letters of Benjamin Rush, 2:783 n. 4).