To James Madison from Caleb Atwater, 18 March 1823
From Caleb Atwater
Circleville Ohio March 18, 1823.
Dear Sir,
I herewith forward to you, the Report of our commissioners of common schools, to our late General Assembly.1 The bill is badly printed, which I have corrected. This system is now before the people of this state and will be acted on at the next Session of our Legislature. Should your leisure permit, I should feel myself greatly obliged to you, for any suggestions you may think proper to make, as to any amendments which in your opinion, ought to be made to our bill.
You will perceive, that although our bill, contains the substance of the New York common school system, yet we have not one fourth part as many officers as they have, and our commissioners are appointed by our courts.
We have learned that some officers ought not to be elected by the people en masse, where intrigue exerts an undue influence on the minds of the electors. Any aid, you may think proper to render us, in our attempt to introduce a system of education for our common schools, will be thankfully received and gratefully acknowledged by the good people of Ohio. I am respectfully Your’s truly
Caleb Atwater2
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.
1. Report of the Commissioners, of Common Schools. Published by Authority (Columbus, Ohio, 1822; 9767). JM’s copy is in the Madison Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress.
2. Caleb Atwater (1778–1867) was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, graduated from Williams College, and read law in upstate New York. In 1815 he moved to Circleville, Ohio, where he practiced law and served in the state legislature. He was a lifelong advocate of public education and internal improvements. Atwater wrote several books, including A History of the State of Ohio (1838) (Clement L. Martzolff, “Caleb Atwater,” Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly 14 [1905]: 247–71).