List of Interim Appointments from the State Department, with Jefferson’s Queries, 11 November 1803
List of Interim Appointments from the State Department, with Jefferson’s Queries
[on or before 11 Nov. 1803]
Appointments by the President during the recess of the Senate.
| 1803. | |||
| 15 | March 4. | Hore Browse Trist, | of the Missipi territory Collector for the District of Mississippi. vice Carmichael removd. |
| 9 | Same, | Inspector of the Revenue for the post of Fort Adams, in the Mississippi District. | |
| 14 | Joseph Turner, | of Georgia Inspector of the Revenue for the post of Brunswick, in Georgia. v. Claud Thompson become incapable | |
| Same— | Collector of the Customs for the District of Brunswick. | ||
| 1 | Henry Warren— | of Mass. Inspector of the Revenue for the port of Plymouth, in Massachusetts. v. Wm. Watson removd. | |
| Same— | Collector of the Customs for the District of Plymouth. | ||
| 12 | 15. | Thomas Dudley— | of N. Carola, now Surveyor of Swansboro’ to be Inspector of the Revenue for the same port of Swansborough, in North Carolina. v. Alexr Carmalt dead. |
| 2 | April 20. | Isaac Ilsley— | of Mass. Collector for the District of Portland and Falmouth, in Massachusetts instead of Daniel Ilsley jr. which was a misnomer |
| 10 | May 10. | Jeremiah Bennet junr— | of N.J. Collector for the District of Bridge Town, in New Jersey. v. Eli Elmer removd. for delinquency |
| Same— | Inspector of the Revenue for the several ports within the District of Bridge Town. | ||
| 7 | Samuel Osgood— | of N.Y. Naval Officer for the District of New York, in the State of New York. v. Richd Rogers removd. | |
| 3 | Samuel Ward— | of Mass. Naval Officer for the District of Salem and Beverly, in Massachusetts. v. Joseph Story declined. | |
| 13 | June 16. | Brian Hellen— | of N.C. Collector for the District of Beaufort, in North Carolina. a new district |
| Same— | Inspector of the Revenue for the port of Beaufort. | ||
| 4 | Thomas Durfee— | of R.I. Inspector of the Revenue for the port of Tiverton, in Rhode Island. new. | |
| 11 | Charles Gibson— | of Maryld Inspector of the Revenue for the port of Easton, in Maryland. new. | |
| 16. June 1803. | |||
| Charles Gibson— | Surveyor of the port of Easton, in Maryland. | ||
| 5 | Thomas Durfee— | Surveyor for the port of Tiverton, in Rhode Island. | |
| 8 | Augt 24. | Callender Irvine— | of N.Y. Inspector of the Revenue for the port of Buffaloe Creek. new |
| Same— | Surveyor of the port of Buffaloe Creek. | ||
| 9 | Robert Lee— | of N.Y. Collector for the District of Niagara. new? | |
| Same— | Inspector of the Revenue for the port of Niagara. | ||
| 6 | Sep: 16. | Abraham Bishop— | of Conn. Collector for the District of New Haven, in Connecticut. v. Saml. Bishop dead. |
| A | James Monroe 1 | ||
| e. | Edward Turner, | of the Mississippi Territory Register of the Land office within the same, for the Lands lying west of Pearl River, in the County of Adams.* | |
| d. | Isaac Briggs, | of Maryland, Surveyor of the Lands of the US. South of the State of Tennessee, | |
| f. | Charles Jones Jenkins | of South Carolina—a Commissioner of the US. under the act of Congress of the 9th July 1798 providing for the valuation of Lands & dwelling houses & the enumeration of slaves—for the 5th. Division of said State v. Saml Hay resd. | |
| James Wilkinson, | Benjamin Hawkins and Robert Anderson—Commissioners for the purposes of treating with the Creek nation of Indians for a cession of their lands.2 | ||
| a. | Thomas Rodney | of Delaware. a Judge of the Mississippi Territory. | |
| g | Tench Coxe | of Pennsa. Purveyor of Public Supplies of the US. v. Israel Wheelen resd. | |
| b | Nathan Sanford | of N.Y. Attorney of the US for the District of New York—v. Edwd. Livingston | |
| c | Jared Mansfield | of Connecticut Surveyor General of the3 lands of the US. N.W. of the Ohio v. Rufus Putnam removd for incompet.4 | |
| Consuls | |||
| E | John Leonard— | of New Jersey Vice Consul of the US for the Port of Barcelona v. Wm. Willis5 resigned | |
| F | Isaac Cox Barnet | N.J.6 Commercial Agent for the port of Havre de Grace in France v. Peter Dobell resd. | |
| G | Levitt Harris of Pennsa. |
Consul for St. Petersburg in Russia | |
| C | James L. Cathcart | Consul of the US for the City and Kingdom of Tunis v. Wm. Eaton resd. | |
| D | John M Goetschius of N.York7— |
Consul for the port of Genoa v. Fred. H. Walloston superseded. | |
| B | Tobias Lear of Virginia— | Consul Genl. for the City and Kingdom of Algiers; also a Commissioner to treat of peace with the Bashaw of Tripoli. v. James Leander Cathcart translated to Tunis. | |
[Queries by TJ:]
| 1803. | Supplement. | ||
| Mar. 1. | Zachariah Stevens Survr. & Inspectr. Gloster Mass. |
 |
these were nominated to the Senate Feb. 2. and commissions were signed Mar. 1. qu. whether they had been approved by the Senate? |
| Wm Patterson N.Y. Coml. Agt. Nantz |
|||
| John Martin Baker N.Y. Consul Minorca |
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| Isaac Ilsley jr. Collector of Portland. in the nominaton to the Senate he was, by misinformation called Danl. Ilsley jr. by what name was he approved by Senate? | |||
| ___________ | |||
| Mr. Wagner’s list has enabled me to supply some omissions in my own, & particularly the blanks filled up in my absence: but if my list is not erroneous, the following are omitted in his: & if so I must ask the precise designation of their office, mine being entered shortly. | |||
| Apr. 18. | James Monroe. M. P. to London. | ||
| May 4. | Commercial Agent at Antwerp v. Barnet. with whose name is the blank filled? | ||
MS (DLC); undated; in the hands of Daniel Brent and two other clerks, with TJ’s emendations rendered in italics; numerals and letters in left margin added by TJ in pencil as he arranged the nominations for his letter to the Senate of 11 Nov.; TJ later drew two diagonal strokes through his queries; endorsed by TJ: “Renominations, Nov. 11. 1803.”
Daniel Brent and two other clerks, under the direction of Jacob Wagner, worked on this list of temporary commissions issued by the State Department after the 3 Mch. adjournment of Congress. Brent wrote the caption and entered, in chronological order, custom house officers, that is, collectors, surveyors, and naval officers, appointed between 4 Mch. and 16 Sep. A second clerk entered the territorial, land office, and other appointments, from Edward Turner to Jared Mansfield. A third person entered the consular appointments. Upon receipt of this list, TJ added information—rendered in italics in the document above—including the names of those removed or replaced and the reason for the change. TJ also added the numerals and the lowercase and capital letters to the left of the entries as he rearranged the appointments for submission to the Senate. In his message to the Senate of this date, he began with the diplomatic appointments, the first entry being James Monroe, whom TJ had added to the list above (see note 1, below) and noted with an “A” in the margin. He continued with the consular nominations, ending with Levitt Harris, “G.” TJ next listed the territorial, land office, and other entries, next to which he placed lowercase letters, from Thomas Rodney, “a,” to Tench Coxe, “g.” Finally TJ entered the names of the custom house officers, which he rearranged, as indicated by the numerals placed in the left margin, from chronological to geographical order, beginning with the Massachusetts nominees and ending with those from Georgia and Mississippi Territory (see TJ to the Senate, 11 Nov.).
instead of daniel ilsley jr. which was a misnomer: in January 1803, Republicans recommended Isaac Ilsley to replace Nathaniel F. Fosdick as collector. In the nominations he sent to the Senate on 2 Feb., however, TJ wrote “Daniel Illsley junr.” In the letter to the Senate, a clerk interlined “Isaac” in place of “Daniel,” but TJ’s retained copy remained unaltered. On his personal chronological list, TJ entered “Isaac Illsley jnr.” at 1 Mch., the person confirmed by the Senate. On 20 Apr., when TJ became aware of the mistake, he entered “Isaac Illsley” on his personal list in place of “Isaac Illsley, junr. by misnomer” (Vol. 39:415n, 437, 438n, 634; Vol. 40:243n, 717).
Robert Lee was the first collector appointed for the district of niagara, although Congress had authorized its organization in 1799 (Vol. 40:585-6, 592).
register of the land office: on 15 July, TJ instructed Ephraim Kirby to select Edward Turner’s counterpart for lands lying east of Pearl River. On 16 Dec., Kirby informed TJ that he had filled the blank commission entrusted to him with the name of Joseph Chambers.
treating with the creek nation: for the appointment of the commissioners and their failure, in the summer of 1803, to procure “an additional cession of lands,” see Dearborn to TJ, printed at September 1803. There was no longer any need to have the nominations confirmed by the Senate. TJ canceled the entry and did not include the commissioners on his list to the Senate of this date.
On 3 Mch., Senator Thomas Sumter of South Carolina informed the secretary of state that john leonard would readily accept the position of vice consul at Barcelona and would leave immediately (RC in DNA: RG 59, LAR; endorsed by TJ: “Sumter Genl. to mr Madison. Leonard to be Consul at Barcelona”). The State Department issued his temporary commission on 7 Mch. (MS in DNA: RG 59, PTCC). For the resignation of William willis, see Madison, Papers, Sec. of State Ser., 4:357, 358n).
The 2 Feb. nominations of Stevens, Patterson, and Baker were among those referred to a Senate committee on 8 Feb. The committee reported on 1 Mch. and on the same day the nominees were approved by the senate (Vol. 39:436-7, 438n).
omissions in my own: see Appendix I.
On 5 May, Madison sent Robert R. Livingston a blank commission for the appointment of a commercial agent at antwerp, with instructions to name either Daniel Strobel or Jacob Ridgway to the position. Ridgway accepted the appointment. His was among the nominations TJ sent to the Senate on 9 Dec. (Vol. 40:719n; TJ to the Senate, 9 Dec. 1803).
1. Entry interlined by TJ in pencil.
2. Preceding entry canceled with a diagonal stroke.
3. As he emended this entry, TJ canceled “U. States,” written in a clerk’s hand.
4. MS: “inompet.”
5. TJ here canceled “removd.”
6. Interlined by TJ in place of “Pensva,” an emendation also in his hand.
7. MS: “N. York of.”