To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Ragsdale, 9 May 1804
From Benjamin Ragsdale
Petersburg. Va. 9 May 1804
Sir,
By the mail which arrived last evening from Savannah in Georgia I recd. the inclosed extra Sheet, and supposing the conduct of Judge Bowen to be of a very extraordinary nature, have taken the liberty of transmitting the Sheet to you for your perusal,
and am Sir with sentiments of esteem Yr friend & fellow Citizen
Ben: Ragsdale
RC (ViW: Tucker-Coleman Collection); endorsed by TJ as received 14 May and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Georgia Republican Extra, Savannah, 25 Apr. 1804, publishing a letter from editor Samuel Morse to Judge Jabez Bowen, Jr., explaining his refusal to print Bowen’s 23 Apr. charge to the Chatham County grand jury and condemning the judge’s comments as “uncommonly fraught with evil, its language disrespectful and inflammatory, and wholly extrajudicial”; also including the resolutions of a 25 Apr. meeting of Savannah citizens, Joseph Clay, chairman, unanimously declaring their approbation of the actions of the grand jury that Bowen has imprisoned and their opposition to the publication of his charge; a subscription is to be opened in support of the incarcerated jurors; the citizens call on the state legislature to investigate Bowen’s conduct and will confer with a committee of attorneys to secure the jurors’ release; they also condemn Bowen for drawing a pistol in court and using “indecent and profane language,” which has “prostituted” the dignity of his office and the respectability of the government (printed broadside in DLC: Rare Book and Special Collections Division; No. 3310).
conduct of judge bowen: a native of Rhode Island, Jabez Bowen, Jr., had been appointed a judge of the superior court for the eastern district of Georgia in 1802. On 23 Apr. 1804, in his charge to the grand jury of Chatham County, Bowen delivered a vehement condemnation of the institution of slavery and called on the legislature to introduce a plan of gradual emancipation in the state. Appalled by Bowen’s comments, the grand jury issued a presentment on 25 Apr. condemning the judge’s address and refused to conduct further business. The jurors further recommended that Bowen’s charge not be published, but that a copy be sent to the governor and legislature for their consideration. In retaliation, Bowen jailed the grand jury and quelled unrest in his court by presenting a pair of loaded pistols. That evening, Bowen was arrested for attempting “to excite domestic insurrection.” The grand jury was released the following day. In May, Bowen was removed from office, and he returned to Rhode Island the following month (Providence Phoenix, 4 Dec. 1802; Columbian Museum & Savannah Advertiser, 28 Apr., 26 May 1804; New-York Herald, 4 July 1804). The text of Bowen’s charge appeared in the Providence Gazette, 7 July 1804.