To Thomas Jefferson from Albert Gallatin, 16 June 1804
From Albert Gallatin
[on or before 16 June 1804]
Deshon had complained to the Secry. of State. The only question which arises is whether Collectors should be permitted to hold themselves the office of notary public. In the large ports, a son or friend who is notary is allowed a room within the walls of the custom house, the collectors always paying for the rent of sd. house. Mr Madison had raised the doubt. It may be liable to some abuses, but is in many respects convenient.
A. G.
RC (DLC); undated; endorsed by TJ as received from the Treasury Department on 16 June 1804 and “Hill. collector & Notary” and so recorded in SJL.
In November 1803, the British impressed two crewmen off a ship commanded by Captain Daniel deshon. According to U.S. law, shipmasters were to report impressment at the first American port entered after an incident. Deshon did so at Biddeford, Maine, where, he complained, the collector of the port, Jeremiah Hill, “Oblidged me to Protest before him,” then charged six dollars in notary public fees. When Deshon questioned the charge and refused to pay, Hill sued him for recovery of the money. On 18 May 1804, Deshon wrote Madison asking his opinion. Madison responded that shipmasters, when reporting an impressment, did so at their own expense and to any notary they might prefer (, 1:477-8; , Sec. of State Ser., 7:229, 261).