Thomas Jefferson Papers

To Thomas Jefferson from Joseph Pannill, 12 September 1802

From Joseph Pannill

Natchez Missisippi Territory.
September—12th. 1802

Sir

From the slight acquaintance I had with your Excellency, at the city of Washington, in June last, I take the liberty of soliciting from you the appointment of Surveyor of this Territory.—

Should you think proper, or be pleased to bestow the same upon me, your Excellency may depend upon a faithful discharge of the duties of the office, and that I shall act in all respects agreeable to my instructions. The occupation I have been long and constantly engaged in, both before and since the War, and had once the honor of being appointed Surveyor General of the state of Georgia—

I am Sir, With the greatest respect Your obt. Servant.—

Joseph Pannill

RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR); at foot of text: “His Excellency Thomas Jefferson Esqr. President of the Unites States”; endorsed by TJ as received 30 Nov. and “to be Surveyor Missipi terry.” and so recorded in SJL.

Joseph Pannill (d. ca. 1811) was a former Continental army officer and surveyor from Georgia. He acquired land grants in Mississippi and relocated to the region around 1795. In 1802, the territorial legislature named Pannill one of the initial trustees of Jefferson College (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 , 424; Georgia Historical Quarterly, 38 [1954], 346, 348; JHR description begins Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1826, 9 vols. description ends , 4:283; Statutes of the Mississippi Territory [Natchez, 1816], 310; J. Estelle Stewart King, Mississippi Court Records, 1799–1835 [Baltimore, 1969], 16).

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    Jefferson Papers
    Title
    To Thomas Jefferson from Joseph Pannill, 12 September 1802
    Author
    Pannill, Joseph
    Recipient
    Jefferson, Thomas
    Date
    12 September 1802

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To Thomas Jefferson from Joseph Pannill, 12 September 1802,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-38-02-0342. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 38, 1 July–12 November 1802, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011, p. 387.]