To James Madison from Joseph Wheaton, [9 October 1824]
From Joseph Wheaton
[9 October 1824]
Dear Sir
By the above1 you will See I am making an humble effort to get into the Sun Shine of the House of Representatives a Situation I was dr[i]ven from by the intreagues & false representations of Gideon Granger opperating on certain minds.2 Will you have the goodness to afford me your influence with your friend Mr. Barber. I am very poor, and it is not an error to say by the injustice of the 3d auditor of the Treasury.3 Mr. Geo Hay Supports me in this by a Statement which he made for the information of the President.* I rejoice to See the gratitude poured in torrents on General Lafayette for the Sacrifice he made to the cause of our freedom & Independence. I too have made Sacrifices to the Same Object but am too familliar to the Eye to be regarded. I forbear to dwell on that Subject—accept the Homage of my heart
Joseph Wheaton
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM. The letter was written at the foot of a printed circular from dated 9 Oct. 1824 (see n. 1 below).
1. Wheaton’s circular letter (1 p.) solicited the office of sergeant at arms of the U.S. House of Representatives, lately vacated by the death of Thomas Dunn. Wheaton noted that he had been sergeant at arms from 1789 until October 1807, and that his original appointment was made “on the score of Revolutionary services and sacrifices, … And as to the late war, there are many living witnesses, who have testified to the ardor and zeal with which I discharged the duties intrusted to me.” Wheaton did not receive the appointment; it was given to John Oswald Dunn, the son of the deceased (Salem Essex Register, 16 Dec. 1824).
2. Wheaton had been charged with the misuse of federal funds under an 1806 contract he had made with Postmaster General Gideon Granger to cut a post road and carry mail from Athens, Georgia, to Fort Stoddert, Mississippi Territory. For a further description of this matter, see Wheaton to Thomas Jefferson, 20 July 1809, Looney et al., Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, 1:350–52 and n,; and Henry Aborn and others to JM, ca. 28 Oct. 1811, , 3:502–3 and nn. 5–6.
3. For Wheaton’s claim for compensation for services rendered during the War of 1812, see Wheaton to JM, 20 Oct. 1821, , 2:412–13. The third auditor of the Treasury was Peter Hagner.